Emory Volleyball Prepares For Home-Opening Weekend
MATCH FACTS – – After opening the 2011 season on the road, the Emory volleyball squad will make its home debut this Friday and Saturday (Sept. 9-10) when it hosts the Doc Partin Classic. On the first day of action, the Eagles battle Wheaton (5:00 p.m.) and Trinity University (7:30 p.m.). On Saturday, Emory will meet Birmingham Southern at 2:00 p.m., and Eastern University at 4:30 p.m.
The schedule of games for the Doc Partin Classic is as follows
Friday, Sept. 9
12:00 p.m. – Faulkner vs. Birmingham Southern
2:30 p.m. – Faulkner vs. Eastern University
2:30 p.m. – Birmingham Southern vs. Wheaton
5:00 p.m. – Emory vs. Wheaton
7:30 p.m. – Emory vs. Trinity
Saturday, Sept. 10
11:30 a.m. – Trinity vs. Wheaton
11:30 a.m. – Birmingham Southern vs. Eastern
2:00 p.m. – Emory vs. Birmingham Southern
2:00 p.m. – Trinity vs. Faulkner
4:30 p.m. – Emory vs. Eastern
4:30 p.m. – Wheaton vs. Faulkner
THE COACHES – Emory Head Coach Jenny McDowell (Georgia, '89) is in her 16th year at the helm of the Eagles' program. During her stint at Emory, McDowell has posted a school and career won-lost ledger of 479-124. She has 12 campaigns of 30 or more wins, including last year's school-record setting 36-5 record, and has directed the program to 15 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament. She has steered the Eagles to three berths to the national semifinals and has a national championship to her credit in 2008.
Wheaton College is guided by Jennifer King Soderquist (Wheaton, '77), who is in her 26th year as the head coach of the Thunder program. During her stint at Wheaton, Soderquist has recorded a won-lost slate of 579-475 and has seen her squads post 24 or more victories on nine occasions. In 29 seasons as a head coach, which includes a three-year stint at John Brown University, Soderquist has compiled a career record of 609-524.
In her 27th season in calling the shots at Trinity is head coach Julie Jenkins (William and Mary, 1981). Heading into the weekend, Jenkins sports a school ledger of 678-292 and has directed the program to 17 consecutive NCAA Tournaments. Ranked among the top-10 among active coaches in victories, she has been chosen as the South Region Coach of the Year on six occasions.
In her first season as the head coach at Birmingham Southern College is Judy Green (Western Carolina, 1984). Appointed to her current post in November of 2010, Green came to the Panthers' program after a 15-year stint as the head coach at the University of Alabama where she manufactured a record of 237-234. In addition, she was the head coach at the University of Montevallo for 10 years (1986-95).
The 2011 season marks the 22nd year that Mark Birtwistle has served as the head coach at Eastern University. Heading into the Doc Partin Classic, he is the owner of a 501-182 school and career record. His teams have earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament on 11 occasions and have advanced to the Round of 16 five times.
2011 RECORDS – Emory heads into home-opening weekend with an overall record of 3-1. The Eagles started the 2011 season at the Wittenberg University Invitational where they split a pair of matches, defeating Maryville, 3-1, and losing to No. 5 –ranked Wittenberg, 3-1, on the first day of action before notching 3-0 decisions over Hanover and No. 6 Juniata on Saturday. Emory holds down the No. 4 spot in this week's AVCA Top 25 Poll.
Wheaton College will start the weekend with an overall record of 3-2. A member of the College Conference of Illinois Wisconsin, the Thunder are coming off a 3-0 victory against Lake Forest College on Tuesday (Sept. 6).
Trinity, ranked No. 16 in the nation, starts the Doc Partin Classic with a 5-0 ledger. The Tigers hosted the Trinity Fall Classic last weekend and earned four victories.
Birmingham Southern is off to a 4-0 start after sweeping through the McK Attack Tournament last weekend on its home floor.
Eastern University, ranked No. 6 among D-III Teams, invades Atlanta with a 4-0 record. Last weekend, the Eagles captured the Gettysburg Invitational that included second-day wins over the University of Scranton and Gettysburg. The win over Scranton marked Coach Birtwistle's 500th career victory.
SERIES RECORDS – Emory stands 1-0 against Wheaton College with the only meeting taking place during the 1998 season.
Trinity posts a slim 10-9 lead in the all-time series with Emory. The teams last met in the 2009 NCAA Tournament with the Tigers coming away with a 3-0 win.
The series with Birmingham Southern is knotted at four wins apiece. Emory has captured the last two meetings including last season's 3-0 outcome in Atlanta.
Emory has a 2-0 all-time mark against Eastern. Last year, the squads met in the Wid Guisler Invitational, hosted by Juniata College, where Emory prevailed by a 3-0 margin.
BOURQUE & RANSOM EARN ALL-TOURNEY HONORS – Juniors Breanah Bourque and Alena Ransom landed all-tournament berths following their play at the Wittenberg Invitational. Bourque led the Eagles in both kills (44) and hitting percentage (.374), leading or sharing for team honors in terminations in all four matches including 15 put-aways in a four-set battle against No. 5 Wittenberg that represented the high-water mark by an Emory player during the weekend. Ransom averaged 1.69 kills per set and totaled five block assists.
EAGLES QUARTET TO SERVE AS CAPTAINS – Serving as captains for the 2011 Eagles will be seniors Natalie Schonefeld, Amelia McCall and Kelsey Freeman (Orinda, CA) and junior Breanah Bourque.
NUMBERS TO WATCH – Bourque's 15 terminations against Wittenberg and 12 vs. Juniata represented her 38th and 39th career contests of double-figure kills … Bourque has 659 career kills, just 41 shy of reaching 700 … Amelia McCall rang up 36 kills last weekend and in the process moved past Maggie Baird (2005-08) into 10th place on the school's all-time list with 1,081 kills …McCall enters the weekend with 46 career matches of 10 or more terminations to her credit … Natalie Schonefeld has 4,473 career assists, just 27 shy of reaching the 4,500 mark … She is No. 2 on Eagles' career chart in the category, trailing only Amy Shapiro's (1996-99) No. 1 mark of 4,878 … Emory posted a higher attack percentage than the in three of four matches last weekend … Sophomore Molly Landers paced the team in digs in the last three matches of the Wittenberg Invitational with her 21 defensive saves vs. Juniata her third career outing of 20 or more digs … Jessica McAlvany moved into 20th place on school's career ladder in kills with her 20 terminations last weekend boosting her total to 845.
