From Emory University Athletics
The No. 5-ranked Emory volleyball team earned a pair of Friday victories on the opening day of its Classic. The Eagles recorded 3-0 victories over Howard Payne University and Chapman University, raising their season record to 4-1.
Emory posted a .376 hitting percentage (45-13—85) in the contest against Howard Payne, using a varied attack that saw four players chalk up eight or more kills. Conversely, the Yellow Jackets were held to just .066 hitting (15-10—76). Sophomore Sara Carr topped the squad with 10 terminations while finishing with a .474 (10-1—19) hitting mark. Sophomore Morgan McKnight and freshman Leah Saunders each chipped in nine terminations, with McKnight hitting .400 (9-3—15) and Saunders contributing three block assists. Junior Sydney Leimbach hit .583 on the strength of eight successful attack attempts with just one error in 12 swings. Sophomore Elyse Thompson led all players with 14 digs, helping Emory to a 42-25 bulge in that department. In addition, Thompson doled out five of the team's 15 service aces, the first time an Emory team had reached that total since September of 2008 when finished with 16 in a 3-0 victory over Mount Union.
Emory enjoyed a .321 (50-15—109) to .085 (22-14—94) margin in hitting against Chapman with McKnight ending the night with a match-high 13 terminations to go along with a hitting performance of .379 (13-2—29). Carr was second high in the bout with 11 terminations. Leimbach closed out an efficient first day of the Classic with a .429 attack percentage (9-3—14) while producing a match-leading five (2-3) total blocks. Sophomore Sarah Porter led the team with 25 assists. After cruising in the first two sets, the Eagles bolted out to a 14-8 lead in the third game, only to see the Panthers go on an 8-1 spurt to claim a 16-15 edge. The Eagles responded by scoring four of the set's next five points, capped by kill from Leimbach to take a 19-17 edge. After a CU point, kills by Leimbach and junior Mady Arles extended Emory to a 21-18 advantage. Down by four points, Chapman closed to 22-24 before Saunders sealed the win for the Eagles with a kill.