Emory Volleyball To Host UAA Round Robin I

ROUND ROBIN FACTS –  The Emory volleyball team, ranked No. 3 nationally, returns home to the Woodruff PE Center this Saturday and Sunday (Cot. 2-3) to host the University Athletic Association Round Robin I.  All eight of the league’s teams will invade Atlanta for the first of two Round Robins with the second one slated for Oct. 16-17 in Waltham, Mass.

The Eagles open the Round Robin against New York University on Saturday starting at 12:30 p.m.  On Sunday, Emory will take on Carnegie Mellon at 10:00 a.m., before closing out the weekend with a 2:00 p.m. bout vs. Case Western Reserve University. 

A list of the of matches follows

Saturday, Oct. 2
12:30 p.m. – Emory vs. NYU
12:30 p.m. – Washington University vs. Brandeis
2:30 p.m.—Case vs. Carnegie Mellon
2:30 p.m. – Chicago vs. Rochester

Sunday, Oct 3
10:00 a.m. – Washington vs. Rochester
10:00 a.m. – Emory vs. Carnegie Mellon
10:00 a.m. – Case Western vs. NYU
12:00 p.m. – Washington vs. Chicago           
12:00 p.m. – Brandeis vs. Rochester
12:00 p.m. – NYU vs. Carnegie Mellon
2:00 p.m. – Chicago vs. Brandeis
2:00 p.m. – Emory vs. Case Western

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 453-120.  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.

NYU is led by Chris Pinto (C.W. Post, 2005), who is in his first campaign as interim head coach. Prior served as an assistant coach for the NYU women’s team during the 2008 and 2009 campaigns and for the Violets’ men’s squad for three years (2007-09).

In her sixth season as the head coach at Carnegie Mellon is Kim Kelly (Gettysburg, 1992).  During her stint with the Tartans, she has compiled a won-lost slate of 114-87. In 15 years of head coaching, which includes a nine-year run at Gettysburg (1996 through 2004), Kelly has complied a career effort of 364-169.   

Karen Farrell (Brandeis, 1993) is in her second go-around as head coach at Case, originally serving in that capacity for the Spartans from 1995 through 1998.  She then moved on to Clark University before returning to Case in time for the 2006 season. Heading into this weekend’s action, she has 169 wins at Case to her credit.   

2010 RECORDS – Emory stands 13-2 following its participation at the UW-Whitewater Invitational where it won three of four encounters.  After falling, 3-0, to Carthage in their opening match, the Eagles regrouped to post a 3-2 triumph over No. 5 UW-Whitewater and 3-0 decisions over Finlandia and St. Ambrose.

NYU, ranked 23^rd nationally, claims a won-lost showing of 18-2.  Heading into a Sept. 29 home match vs. Vassar, the Violets have won 12 straight affairs including four last weekend at the NYU Violet Classic.

After going 2-2 last weekend at the York College Tournament, Carnegie Mellon owns a 9-8 record.

Case has gotten off to a good start this year, winning 11 of 14 matches.  In their last outing, the Spartans edged Wooster by a 3-1 score back on Sept. 21.  Before competing at the Round Robin, Case will play host to John Carroll University (Sept. 28) and Hiram College (Sept. 29).

SERIES RECORDS – Emory owns a 27-13 edge in the all-time series with NYU.  The Eagles and Violets met once last season with the Eagles earning a 3-1 triumph.

Emory has captured 24 of the 34 meetings against Carnegie Mellon.  The programs met twice during the 2009 season with Emory nailing down 3-0 victories on both occasions.

Emory posts an all-time slate of 30-3 against Case Western.

McALVANY NAMED UAA CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Junior Jessica McAlvany (Roswell, GA) was named the UAA Co-Player of the Week following her performance at the UW-Whitewater Invitational last weekend.

The 6-0 McAlvany played all 14 of the team’s sets and averaged a squad-best 3.79 kills per game while posting an impressive 41.7 attack percentage (53-13—96).  McAlvany recorded double-figure terminations in all four matches and recorded a team-high 15 kills against St. Ambrose in a 3-0 win, while tying for the team high with 10 put-aways against No. 14 Carthage.  Against No. 5 UW-Whitewater, she was second on the team with 16 kills, while hitting 50.0 percent, and also contributed four digs and four total blocks (1-3).  In addition to her offensive numbers, she averaged 0.93 digs and 0.50 blocks per set. 

In UAA statistics released at the start of the week, McAlvany is No. 4 in kills (3.31 kps) and 11^th in hitting percentage (.297).

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 –  Senior Amelia McCall (Montgomery, AL) recorded a career-high 18 kills and hit a blazing 53.3 percent (18-2—30) against UW-Whitewater over the weekend … McCall has nine outings of double-figure terminations to her credit and ranks 10^th among conference players with a 2.90 kills per set average … Over the weekend, McCall cracked the 700-career kills plateau and she resides in 20^th place on the school’s all-time list in that category with 706 successful attacks … Junior Natalie Schonefeld (Riviera, TX) is just 36 assists shy of becoming the fifth player in school history to record 3,000 assists in a career … Schonefeld, who has 2,964 assists during her stint at Emory, is 47 assists shy of moving past Remley Dodge (2002-03) into fourth place on the school’s all-time ladder … Sophomore Breanah Bourque’s (Houston, TX) 12 kills in the UW-Whitewater match marked her eighth performance of double digits in that category … At the start of the week, Bourque topped all UAA players with a 39.9 hitting percentage (144-31—283) … Junior Ali Wright (Matteson, IL) totaled a season-high eight total blocks (3-5) against UW-White while contributing 10 put-aways … Wright is second on the UAA list with a 38.4 attack percentage (107-29—203) … Emory leads the UAA in hitting percentage (.317) … Senior Kelsey Krzyston (Noblesville, IN) dished out two service aces against St. Ambrose and in the process moved into 10^th place on Emory’s all-time chart with 169 aces.