Emory Volleyball To Make 2010 Home Debut

EMORY CLASSIC FACTS – Looking to continue its winning ways, the Emory volleyball team makes its 2010 home debut this Friday and Saturday (Sept. 10-11) when it hosts the Emory Classic.  Emory opens play on Friday with a 5:00 p.m., match against St. Catherine University before taking on Tufts University at 7:30 p.m.  On Saturday, the Eagles have a noon encounter against Springfield College before closing things out against Texas Lutheran University in a 4:00 p.m. start.

All of the Emory matches will be webcast.  Handling the play-by-play will be Mike Lyle.  For more on the webcasts, go to www.emoryathletics.com

THE COACHES – Emory Head Coach Jenny McDowell (Georgia, ’89) is in her 15th year at the helm of the Eagles’ program.  During her stint at Emory, McDowell has posted a school and career won-lost ledger of 446-118.  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.

St. Catherine is led by first-year head coach Corey Phelps (Graceland, 1995).  Prior to his current post, he had served as an assistant coach for 12 years, most recently at the University of Wisconsin River Falls for a couple of seasons.

Cora Thompson (Tufts, 1999) will begin her eighth year in charge of the Tufts program on Friday night when she takes her squad into a match vs. St. Catherine.  A three-time NESCAC, she owns a school and career record of 180-54.

Guiding the fortunes of the Springfield College program for 23 years is Joel Dearing (Springfield College, 1979).  During his tenure with the Pride,  has registered a record of 568-191.  Named by the AVCA as the Coach of the Year in the New England Region in 2008, he owns a 30-year career won-lost slate of 701-305.

Texas Lutheran is directed by fifth-year head coach Tiffany Davis (Texas State, 2003).  Heading into a Sept. 8 match vs. Howard Payne University, Davis had compiled a school and career ledger of 80-37.  She has led the Bulldogs’ program to three American Southwest Conference West titles.

2010 RECORDS – Emory stands 6-0 heading into the weekend.  On Tuesday (Sept. 7), the Eagles kept their perfect record intact, defeating the University of West Georgia, 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-22).  Over the weekend, Emory rattled off four victories en route to capturing the Maryville College Tournament.

St. Catherine will take a 1-3 mark into the Wednesday night battle against Wisconsin-Stout.  The Wildcats opened their 2010 season last weekend at the Sugar Loaf Tournament where it won one of four matches.

Ranked No. 23^rd nationally in this week’s AVCA Top 25 Poll, Tufts will be hitting the court for the first time this season.  Last year, the Jumbos churned out a 31-5 won-lost record that included the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

Springfield College comes to town with a 4-0 effort after winning all of its matches at the Springfield College Invitational last weekend. 

Texas Lutheran was looking to even its record at 1-1 when it met Howard Payne on Wednesday after dropping a 3-1 decision to nationally ranked Trinity on Sept. 1.

SERIES RECORDS – Emory and Saint Catherine have met on just one occasion, that being in 1992, with the Eagles winning that affair.

Emory’s match against Springfield College will represent the initial meeting between the two programs.

Emory posts a 1-0 edge over the Jumbos of Tufts with that only match being played in 2005 (3-0).

Emory was won all seven meetings against Texas Lutheran.  The last match took place during the 2006 campaign with the Eagles notching a 3-1 decision at the Woodruff PE Center.

EMORY PLAYERS EARN ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS – Senior Amelia McCall (Montgomery, AL) and sophomore Breanah Bourque (Houston, TX) each were recognized for their fine play at the Maryville College Tournament last weekend with McCall capturing MVP honors while Bourque captured a spot on the all-tournament team.

McCall was credited with 38 kills, hit 30.3 percent against the opposition and chalked up 28 digs.

Borque hit 51.5 percent (56-6—97) in the four victories victories and included in her totals was a career-high 19-kill performance in a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Mount St. Joseph.

EMORY NO. 3 IN AVCA POLL – For the second straight week, Emory holds down the No. 3 spot among Division III teams in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 Poll.  The Eagles own 540 points and trail No. 1-ranked and defending NCAA champ Washington University (600 pts.) and No. 2 Juniata (574 pts.).

EAGLES WELCOME BACK ALL-AMERICANS – Emory welcomes back a pair of 2009 All-Americans to its roster in junior setter Natalie Schonefeld (Riveria, TX) and junior outside hitter Jessica McAlvany (Roswell, GA). 

Schonefeld garnered first-team honors in 2009 after claiming second-team kudos in 2008.   The 5-foot-8 performer directed the Emory attack with a steady hand, ending the year No. 2 in the UAA and No. 9 nationally with a 10.73 assists per-set average.  Her total of 1,405 assists placed her fifth on the school's seasonal list while her assists per-set effort ranked seventh.  In addition, she was named the UAA's Most Valuable Player, the fourth Emory spiker to earn that distinction.

McAlvany, 6-foot-1, was selected to the first team as well,  pacing the team with 362 kills while her team-leading 3.15 kills per set placed her eighth among UAA players. She finished third on the squad with 59 total blocks (0.60 bps) and totaled 18 matches of double-figure kills.

EAGLES DUO TO SERVE AS CAPTAINS – Serving as captains for the 2010 Eagles will be seniors Natalie Schonefeld and Amelia McCall (Montgomery, AL).

NUMBERS TO WATCH –  Through six matches, junior Ali Wright (Matteson, IL) has a team-high 17 total blocks (0.74 bps) and has moved into 17^th place on the school’s all-time list in that category with 188 … Wright picked up a season-high 10 kills vs. West Georgia, her eighth career outing of double figures in that category … Junior Natalie Schonefeld cracked the 3,000-career assists plateau over the weekend and in the process moved past Remley Dodge (2002-03) into fourth place on the Emory career chart with 3,039 assists … Emory will enter this weekend with five straight matches of hitting over 30 percent to its credit … Bourque has picked up double digits in kills in five matches and leads the team with a 47.0 attack percentage (75-12—134) … Senior Kelsey Krzyston has doled out nine services to date and over the weekend she moved into sole possession of 12^th place on the Eagles’ all-time ladder with 164 aces … Krzyston is two shy of tying Audrey Jones (1996-99) for 11^th place.