Tartans Battle No. 3 Emory in 3-2 Loss

(ATLANTA, Ga.) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's volleyball team gave No. 3 Emory University all it could handle in a 3-2 loss to the Eagles in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sunday, October 5 on the second day of the University Athletic Association (UAA) Round Robin #1. The Tartans are now 13-4 and 2-1 in the UAA while the Eagles are 21-2 and 3-0.

The Tartans won the first set 27-25 after a kill by sophomore Casey Salandra (Carol Steam, Ill./St. Francis) and a service ace by senior Ali Celentano (Mission Viejo, Calif./JSerra Catholic) wrapped up the set. In the set, sophomore Jackie Gibbons (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) and freshman Eliza Donohue (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) each had four kills while sophomore setter Emily Newton (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Chadwick School) tallied 13 assists.

The second set also went the Tartans way by a 25-19 score. The Tartans twice had four-point runs and were ahead 23-15 before the Eagles put down three kills and a service ace to make the score 23-19. However, an attack error by Emory and a kill by Celentano ended the set in favor of the Tartans. In the set, the Tartans forced the Eagles into 11 attack errors while picking up three blocks as Celentano had four kills.

The third set started with the two teams exchanging points with the Eagles taking an 8-5 lead after the Tartans put down four kills and the Eagles registered five kills, two service aces and a point off a Tartan service error. The Eagles went on to win 25-18 after tallying 15 kills. Celentano picked up another four kills during the set while freshman Heather Holton (Haslett, Mich./Haslett) had three kills.

Set four also went Emory's way by a 25-16 score and they used the momentum to win the fifth 15-4. The Tartans gave the Eagles three points on attack errors and one on a service error but the Eagles found their offensive rhythm and put down 18 kills and two services aces in the fourth set.

For the match, Celentano led the Tartans with 12 kills while Holton had 11, Gibbons eight and Donohue seven. Newton finished with 40 assists and sophomore Molly Higgins (Vero Beach, Fla./Vero Beach) collected 14 digs with sophomore Ivana Vlahovic (Sunny Isles Beach, Fla./Miami Country Day) picking up 10 digs. At the net, Gibbons had one block solo and five block assits with Donohue and Newton assisting on four blocks each.

The Tartans will next be on the road out of conference as they face Ithaca College at Ithaca on Friday, October 10 at 5:30 p.m.