The No. 4-ranked Emory volleyball team was firmly tested on Friday on the first day of the Emory Volleyball Classic, but the Eagles emerged with two hard-fought wins.  Emory opened with a 3-1 (18-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-20) victory over Transylvania before posting a come-from-behind five-set verdict against No. 7 St. Thomas (MN),
22-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-15, 16-14.  The two triumphs upped the Eagles' record to 6-1.

The marathon match against the Tommies of St. Johns was a defensive clinic with the teams combining for 205 digs.  Emory hit .158 (62-29—209) while the visitors finished with a mark of .091 (57-37—220).   The Eagles chalked up 106 digs on the night, tying the fourth-game match mark in school history, while St. Thomas recorded 99 defensive saves.   Emory also finished with a slight 11-9 edge in total blocks.

Sophomore Kate Bowman led all players with a career-high 18 kills, her fourth outing this year of double-figure terminations, while contributing 18 digs.  Senior Alex Duhl also came through with a career night, racking up 17 terminations to go along with a solid .389 attack percentage (17-3—36).  Duhl also topped all performers with six total (3-3) blocks.  Senior Breanah Bourque rounded out the team's double-digit attackers with 12 put-aways.  She also was a big presence at the net with five solo blocks.  Freshman Sydney Miles dished out 49 assists along with two service aces while classmate Ashley Crawford came up with a squad-best 24 digs.

After splitting the first two sets, Emory held a 13-9 edge in the third game before a 7-0 spurt by the Tommies put them ahead by a 16-13 margin.  The Eagles scored three straight points, capped by a Bourque kill, to tie the set at 16 apiece before St. Thomas surged ahead, accounting for six of the next eight points en route to claiming a 22-18 margin.  Emory battled back to knot things up again at 22-22 following a kill by Bowman  but the Tommies scored the next three points to close out the set.

Emory bounced back strongly in the fourth set, leading from start to finish and hitting .357 (12-2—28) compared to UST's mark of .091 in tying the match.  In the fifth and deciding set, Emory faced an 11-8 obstacle following a kill by Paige Brimeyer but responded with a 4-1 run that evened the set at 12-12.  After exchanging points, St. Thomas went ahead, 14-13, and was serving for the match.  However, a kill by Bourque, followed by an attack error by the visiting, squad put Emory in the position to win the match which it did when Bowman recorded a successful attack.

Against Transylvania, Bowman led a balanced offensive attack with 14 kills with Duhl and Bourque each adding nine.  The Eagles hit .230 in the match (52-21—135) compared to the Pioneers' .098 (44-30—143) and held cushions in both digs (58-49) and total blocks (9-1).   Freshman Taylor Erwin led three Emory players who totaled double figures in digs with 15.   Miles dished out 19 assists while sophomore Dana Holt contributed.
Emory returns to action on Saturday when it plays Averett at 11:30 a.m., before meeting Berry at 4:30 p.m.