For the second straight day, the No. 5-ranked Emory volleyball staged an intense rally from a 0-2 deficit before regrouping to come away with a win, this time against Trinity University, in its finale at the Trinity University Invitational. The Eagles upped their overall record to 11-2 following a 15-25, 22-25, 25-18, 25-19, 15-11 decision over the Tigers. The win enabled the team to salvage of split of a pair of Saturday contests with the Eagles coming out on the short end of a 3-2 verdict to Southwestern (26-24, 24-26, 25-23, 24-26, 12-15) earlier in the day.
After going through a rocky first two sets against a determined Trinity team, the Eagles regrouped and trailed only once (0-1 in the fifth set) over the final three games. Senior Breanah Bourque highlighted the team's offensive attack with an outstanding .519 hitting percentage, pounding out 15 kills with just one miscue in 27 swings and also recording three solo blocks. Sophomore Kate Bowman totaled 16 terminations along with 20 digs while senior Alex Duhl chipped in eight kills and a pair of solo blocks. Junior Sarah Taube was credited with 28 digs and was aided in the department by freshman Taylor Erwin who came up a 15 digs along with five service aces. In the fifth set, Emory used a 7-1 spurt to bolt out to a 7-2 advantage. After a 3-0 Tigers' run, the Eagles came up with a five of the next six points to take a commanding 12-6 lead. TU drew to within 14-11 but Emory was able to end any comeback ambitions by the Tigers.
Emory and Southwestern engaged in a defensive bout that featured a combined 364 attack attempts and 181 digs. Bowman and Bourque recorded 29 of the team's 59 kills with 15 and 14 terminations, respectively. Erwin spearheaded the team's effort in the digs category with 31 with Bowman chipping in 24. Freshman Sydney Miles finished with 36 assists and eight digs. In the decisive fifth set, a 4-0 run by Southwestern put it ahead by a 10-6 count before Emory surged back with a 4-0 charge of its own to knot the game. After exchanging points, a Pirates' kill followed by a pair of Emory hitting errors put Emory down by a 14-11 score. A successful put-away by sophomore Leah Jacobs kept Emory's hopes alive but a kill by SU's Lacey Strickland closed out the match.
Head coach Jenny McDowell and her Eagles return to action next Friday (Sept. 21) when they host the first day of the Emory Invitational, taking on Randolph-Macon at 5:00 p.m. and Elmhurst at 7:30 p.m.
Trinity Invitational All-Tournament Team
Abby Hogge, CNU (MVP)
Jessie Kolden, CNU
Chandler Lentz, SU
Katie Foster, SU
Breanah Bourque, EU
Shannon Pearson, CLU
Meredith Erwin, TU
