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No. 2 Emory Volleyball Drops Four-Set Battle To No. 5 Wittenberg
In an early-season match that had the atmosphere of the
postseason, No. 5-ranked Wittenberg University topped No. 2-ranked
Emory University before a boisterous crowd on the Wittenberg
campus. The Tigers captured their season opener with a 26-24,
20-25, 25-23, 25-17 decision over the Eagles who slipped to
1-1.
Thanks to a solid defensive effort, Wittenberg held Emory
to just a .085 hitting percentage (43-27—188) for the match
while finishing a .226 effort (56-18—168) in that
department. The Tigers were credited with a 94-79 advantage
in the digs and held a decisive 11-1 cushion in total blocks.
Junior Breanah
Bourque paced Emory with 15 kills along with a .306
attack percentage (15-4—36). Bourque was the lone Eagle
to finish in double digits in terminations with senior Amelia
McCall and junior Alena
Ransom contributing eight and seven,
respectively. Sophomore Molly
Landers was one of five Emory players to post double
figures in digs, registering a team-best 20. Senior setter
Natalie
Schonefeld totaled 27 assists and registered 11
digs.
With the teams splitting the first two sets, the third game was a
hotly contested tug-of-war. The Tigers took a lead that it
would never relinquish at 8-7 and eventually built a 15-11 bulge
before three straight Emory points drew it to within 15-14.
Wittenberg then regained some breathing room when a 4-1 run enabled
it post a 19-15 lead. After each team picked up a point, the
Eagles rallied three unanswered points, two coming on service aces
by sophomore Sarah
Taub, to creep to within 20-19. The Eagles eventually
knotted the set at 21-21 following a kill by McCall, and the score
remained deadlocked at 22-22 before two points by the home squad
pushed its advantage to 24-22. After a Wittenberg service
error kept Emory's hopes alive, the Tigers' Kimmie Dyer finished
out the game with one of her team-high 15 kills.
Emory fell behind by a 10-6 count early in the fourth set but did
tie things up at 12-12 following a kill by Schonefeld. The
Tigers then went on a key 6-1 streak, pushing their advantage to
18-13. After a kill by Borque stemmed WU's momentum, the
Tigers inched closer to the match after a pair of attack errors by
Emory extended their lead to 20-14. Emory countered with two
straight points, but Wittenberg closed the match out with a 5-1
run.
Emory has a pair of Saturday matches at the Wittenberg
Invitational, taking on Hanover College at 2:00 p.m. and No.
6-ranked Juniata College at 6:00 p.m.
