The No. 2-ranked Emory volleyball team remained undefeated Friday evening as it came away with a pair of wins on the opening day of competition at the Emory Volleyball Classic.  The Eagles opened with a 3-0 triumph (25-13, 25-13, 25-18) over Millsaps before defeating No. 12 Christopher Newport, 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-14, 25-18).  Emory now stands 9-0 on the season.

Emory spread around its offensive attack in the Millsaps contest with five players totaling five or more kills including junior Cat McGrath who produced a team-high eight terminations to go along with a keen .545 attack percentage (8-2—11).  Junior Leah Jacobs chalked up seven successful attack attempts and finished with a .375 hitting mark.  Freshman Jessica Holler posted six kills and was second high on the team with four blocks.  For the match, Emory hit .277 (39-16—83) while limiting the Majors to .000 (22-22—90).  Sophomore Taylor Erwin led all players with 13 digs and helped the Eagles to a 39-25 edge in that category. 

Playing before a large and boisterous crowd against Christopher Newport, the Eagles broke a 1-1 deadlock in the match with an efficient offensive attack that saw it hit .338 (27-5—65) over the final two sets while limiting the Captains to an effort of .005 (21-17—80).  Emory concluded the battle with a .272 hitting (60-20—147) performance vs. CNU's .097 (41-26—154).   Junior Kate Bowman led a quartet of Eagles to finish in double figures with a match-high 16 terminations while also contributing 15 digs, her fourth double-double of the campaign.  McGrath was a dominant force both offensively and defensively with 13 kills, a .407 attack percentage (13-2—27) and a career-high seven total blocks (2-5).  The Eagles enjoyed a 10-6 advantage in blocks as well as a decisive 72-58 cushion in digs.  Jacobs and freshman Jessica Holler rounded out the squad's double-figure terminators with 11 kills each.  Erwin paced all players with 23 digs, her fifth match of 20 or more this year, while sophomore Sydney Miles dished out 49 assists.