The No. 3-ranked Emory University volleyball team remained undefeated on its home floor Friday evening after defeating St. Mary's College in the opening match of its Invitational. The Eagles boosted their record to 20-2 following a 3-0 decision (25-18, 25-15, 25-14) over the Belles who slipped to 10-14. Emory is now 10-0 in matches played at the Woodruff PE Center.
The Eagles registered an attack percentage of .337 (44-13—92), the fourth time this season it finished with an effort of .300 or higher, vs. SMC's mark of .051 (24-19—98). Emory held a 46-30 bulge in digs and a 6-5 advantage in total blocks.
Emory had a pair of players finish with double-digit kills, led by senior Morgan McKnight's match-high of 12, her fourth straight and 14th contest of the season with 10 or more terminations. Junior Leah Saunders came through with her ninth double-double of the campaign, tallying 10 successful attack attempts, hitting a season-best .714 (10-4—14) in the process, and a match-best 13 digs. Sophomore Tara Martin aided in the triumph, hitting .389 on the strength of nine kills with two miscues in 18 swings. Giving the Emory lineup a big boost was sophomore Charlese Blair who rang up six kills, hit .500 (6-1—10) and paced all players with a personal-best six (1-5) total blocks. Senior Elyse Thompson kept the Belles off balance with her strong serving that netted five aces, her 12th outing of the season with two or more.
For St. Mary's, who earned a 3-1 victory over No. 7 UW-Whitewater earlier in the day, Nicole Lukens totaled nine kills while Megan Collantes finished with nine digs.
The Eagles continue Invitational play on Saturday with an 11:00 am bout vs. Roanoke followed by a 4:00 pm encounter vs. No. 7 UW-Whitewater.
Emory Volleyball Tops St. Mary's
Posted: Oct 25, 2019