The Emory University volleyball team will see another appearance in the UAA Championship title match after defeating Rochester and Chicago on Friday afternoon in the opening rounds.
 
The No. 1 seeded Eagles improve to 25-2 on the season and remain undefeated in the UAA this season. Emory defeated the No. 8 seed Rochester, 3-0, before facing the No. 5 seed Chicago in the semifinals.
 
Senior Madison Cail led the way offensively for the Eagles with 24 kills and totaled four blocks against the YellowJackets while junior Kate LaRocco posted 22 kills including 14 in game one. Senior Deborah Hong had a career day totaling a career-high 40 digs against the Maroons.
 
Quarterfinals: Emory 3, Rochester 0
 
The first set was a back and forth battle on both sides of the net with sophomore Sophia Luo opening with three kills for the Eagles. The Jackets continued a fight tying the match at 5 apiece before the Eagles went on a huge 10-1 scoring run taking advantage of both kills and attack errors to hold a 15-6 lead. Rochester followed with a scoring run of their own looking for a comeback cutting into Emory's lead, 19-16. The Eagles finished the set with six more points to take set one, 25-18.
 
After Emory opened up the second set with a 7-4 run highlighted by kills from Cail and LaRocco, Rochester answered with three straight points to tie the set at seven. The Eagles followed with a 6-1 run followed by another five points from the Jackets for another tie in the set. Both teams went back and forth towards the end of the set with LaRocco and Dawson helping the offense with kills. Emory finished the set with three kills to finish the second set with a 25-19 line.
 
Junior Sophie Zerrouki helped Emory start the third set with a 7-0 lead. The Jackets were not going down without a fight coming back to cut into the Eagles' lead, 14-12. Kills from Kate LaRocco continued the scoring for Emory but Rochester later tied the set at 18 apiece. The third set saw three more ties before kills from LaRocco and Luo finished the match for the Eagles with a 25-23 third-set win.
 
Semifinals: Emory 3, Chicago 1
 
The Maroons opened the first set with a 4-3 lead before the Eagles answered with three points of their own to take over the lead. The scoring continued back and forth between both teams but Emory was able to maintain a 14-10 lead halfway through the set. After Chicago tried for a comeback, the Eagles took advantage of attack errors from the Maroons to hold a 22-13 lead before finishing the set with a 25-17 line.
 
Chicago opened strong with a 10-5 advantage in set two but kills from LaRocco and Luo helped the Eagles tie the set at 10 apiece. The Maroons ran with their momentum going on a 9-2 run while Emory continued to fight in the set. The energy from Chicago was too much and Emory fell in set two, 25-20.
 
LaRocco continued her offensive power helping the Eagles open with a 7-1 lead before Chicago looked to tie the set. Emory continued their offensive power pulling away with an 18-9 lead with senior Jessica Majka and Cail leading the run with kills. After the Eagles took a 20-11 lead, the Maroons answered with nine straight points to tie the set at 20 apiece. Emory finished the set strong with a 25-23 score heading into set four.
 
The start of the fourth set was a back and forth battle between the two team with each team holding eight points to start the set. The Eagles went on another scoring run to hold a 15-11 advantage halfway through the set. The next few points went between both teams before Emory finished with a 25-19 score to clinch the win and advance to the championship match.
 
The Eagles will face the WashU Bears in the championship match on Saturday, November 16 at 1:00 PM.