Emory Volleyball Looks Forward To UAA Round Robin I

Hoping to continue its winning ways, the Emory volleyball team will participate in the University Round Robin I this Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 3-4).  The Eagles will play three matches on the weekend, starting with a Saturday afternoon bout against the University of Chicago starting at 12:30 p.m.  On Sunday, Emory will tangle with New York University at 9:00 a.m. before closing out the weekend with a meeting against Carnegie Mellon at 11:30 a.m.

THE COACHES - Emory Head Coach Jenny McDowell (Georgia, '89) is in her 14th year at the helm of the Eagles' program.  During her stint at Emory, McDowell has posted a school and career won-lost ledger of 421-114.  She has 11 campaigns of 30 or more wins and has directed the program to 14 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament.  She guided Emory to its first-ever national title in 2008 and was named as the AVCA National Coach of the Year.

Chicago is led by Vanessa Walby (UW-Walby, ‘02) who is in her second year at the helm of the Maroons' program.  Heading into a Oct. 1 match against Benedictine, she had compiled a school mark of 30-14. Last year, she directed Chicago to an overall slate of 19-17.

Ed Caesar (NYU, '93) is in his eighth campaign as the head coach at NYU and brings a school and career record of 241-80 into the weekend.  During his stint with the Violets, he has guided the program to five NCAA Tournament appearances.

Kim Kelly (Gettysburg, '92) is in her fifth year as head coach at Carnegie Mellon and she will enter the Round Robin I with a school record of 97-70.  In 14 years as a head coach, which includes a nine-year stay at Gettysburg College, Kelly has manufactured a career slate of 347-152.

RECORDS - Emory, ranked No. 3 nationally among Division III  teams,  has won its last seven matches and stands 15-2 on the year.  Last week, the Eagles posted a 5-0 record, topping Division II member Alabama-Huntsville, 3-0, before notching four wins at the Emory Tournament.  

Chicago stands 11-7 heading into its Thursday encounter against Benedictine.  Last weekend, the Maroons went 2-2 at the Wheaton College (IL) Tournament.

NYU stands 15-3 following its 3-0 win against Vassar College on Wednesday.  The Violets open the Round Robin with a match against Carnegie Mellon on Saturday.

Carnegie Mellon played at Geneva College on Wednesday evening and fell by a 3-2 margin that dropped its record to 9-6.

SERIES RECORDS - Emory owns a 25-11 lead in the all-time series against Chicago. The Eagles topped the Maroons twice last year by 3-0 scores.

Emory stands 26-13 all-time against NYU and has captured the last nine meetings between the programs.  The teams met one time in 2008 with Emory laying claim to a 3-0 victory.

Emory will battle Carnegie Mellon Sunday with a 22-10 advantage in the all-time series.  Last season the teams met once with the Eagles posting a 3-0 triumph.

EMORY TOUGH AT THE WOODPEC - Emory has proved to be a tough opponent on its home court at the Woodruff PE Center.  Since 1992, the Eagles have compiled an overall record of 246-45, good for an 84.5 winning percentage.  Since the 2004 campaign, Coach McDowell has seen her club fashion a classy 86-13 slate (.868).  Last season, Emory finished with a mark of 11-1 in home matches.

NUMBERS TO WATCH - Sophomore Jessica McAlvany, named the UAA Player of the Week after helping the Eagles to five wins last week, posted a 70.6 attack percentage (12-0-17) against Shorter College on Saturday, the high-water mark by an Emory player this season ... McAlvany, who has 10 matches of double-figure kills to her credit, ranks No. 3 among UAA players in hitting percentage (39.3%) and No. 7 in kills (3.20 kps) ... Senior Vista Murphy's 10 digs in the Lynchburg match was her eighth performance of double-figures in that category this year ...  Murphy is No. 2 on the squad with a 2.53 digs per set average ... Sophomore Alexandra Wright recorded 10 kills vs. Washington & Lee on Friday and her 56.2 hitting percentage (10-1-16) was her second-highest mark of the season ... Sophomore Brannan O'Neill came through with a season-high 18 digs against Washington & Lee and will enter the Round Robin I in the No. 12 position among league players in digs (3.21 dps) ... Freshman Alex Duhl stands second on the UAA ladder with a 39.9 hitting percentage (73-18-138) ... As a team, Emory ranks first in the UAA in hitting percentage (30.9%) and is second in kills (13.46 kps) ... Sophomore Natalie Schonefeld is averaging 11.04 assists per set and is No. 2 in that department among UAA performers ... Senior Alysse Meyer has 1,416 career kills and moved into fifth place on the school's all-time list last weekend ... Meyer is 30 terminations from moving past Jennifer Naeger (1996-99) into fourth place and 33 shy of jumping ahead of Megan Williams (1997-2000) into third ... Meyer is in 13^th place on Emory's career chart with 144 service aces ... Schonefeld cracked the 2,000 career-assists plateau last weekend and enters the weekend with 2,006 to her credit, good for sixth place on the school's all-time ladder.

ON THE HORIZON - Following the UAA Round Robin I, Emory returns home for a Friday (Oct. 9) contest against Armstrong Atlantic.  Match time is slated for 6:00 p.m.

EAGLES TRIO TO SERVE AS CAPTAINS - Serving as captains for the 2009 Eagles are senior Vista Murphy (Laguna Beach, CA), Natalie Schonefeld (Riveria, TX) and junior Amelia McCall (Montgomery, AL).