The No. 1-ranked Emory University volleyball team suffered its first defeat of the year Friday afternoon as it came out on the short end against No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in its opening match of the East-To-West Challenge.  CMS raised its record to 7-1 following a sweep (25-18-26-24, 25-18) of the Eagles who slipped to 6-1.

KEY TEAM STATISTICS
** CMS was the first team this season out outhit Emory, posting an attack percentage of .379 (46-13—87) compared to the Eagles' mark of .147 (28-14—95).
** The Athenas finished with a 46-25 advantage in digs
** CMS held a 6-4 edge in total blocks

SET 1
** CMS ends the opening set hitting .367 (15-4—30) to Emory's .156 (9-4—32)
** Holding an 8-5 lead, the Athenas go on a 4-1 run to assume a 12-6 lead
** Trailing by a 15-9 count, Emory uses kills by freshman Cassie Srb and senior Morgan McKnight, along with a block solo by rookie Amanda Meyer, creep back to within three points.
** A termination by sophomore Tara Martin keeps Emory in the set, down by a 19-15 margin.
**The Athenas take control by accounting for five of the next six points to move to a 24-16 cushion.
** Back-to-back kills by Martin and McKnight stave off two set points but CMU takes the opening game following a kill by Phoebe Madsen

SET 2
**Junior Maggie Rimmel turns in a big set for the Eagles, totaling four of her five total kills.
**Junior Leah Saunders also comes through with four successful attack attempts for Emory.
** CMS keeps up its efficient hitting with an effort of .400 (17-5—30) while Emory posts a mark of .200 (10-4—30).
**A pair of kills by Saunders keys an early 4-0 Eagle spurt, giving them a 6-4 lead.
** The set is knotted at 15-15 before a kill by Saunders followed by a CMS hitting miscue gives the Eagles a 17-15 edge.
** A service ace by sophomore Roisin O'Dowd enables the Eagles to take a 20-19 lead.
** Tied at 22-22, a kill by Saunders and a picture-perfect service ace by senior Elyse Thompson puts Emory one point from tying the match score.
**However, CMS closes out the game on a 4-0 run to move to a 2-0 edge for the match.

SET 3
**CMS leads wire-to-wire in closing out the match.
**Martin (4) and Saunders (3) combined for seven of Emory's nine kills in the set.
**After falling behind, 5-1, Emory sees CMS score seven of the next 11 points to assume a 12-5 lead.
**Later in the set, a 5-1 CMS run pushes it to a 21-12 margin.
**The Eagles respond with a 6-2 charge, highlighted by a pair of kills by Saunders to draw to within five points (18-23), but the Athenas seal the outcome by coming through with the next two points.

Saunders and Martin tie for the team lead with eight kills with Saunders hitting .368 (8-1—19).  Rimmel posts an attack percentage of .429 on the strength of five kills with two errors in seven swings.

Emory continues its participation at the East-To-West Challenge later on Friday when it tangles with No. 6 Juniata in a 5:45 pm (EDT) scheduled start.