Atlanta, GA – Coming off a close, tough loss to Maryville just 24 hours ago, the Piedmont College Lady Lions dropped their second straight match to Emory University Wednesday in Atlanta, 3-0. The Lady Lions now sit at 18-12 overall with two matches remaining before the USA South Conference Tournament.
Piedmont kept it close early on in the first set, down by only three at 10-7, but Emory reeled off 10 straight to take a commanding 20-7 lead en route to a 25-10 first set victory. The Lady Lions jumped out early and had the advantage over the Eagles 11-7 in the second set, but Emory chipped away at Piedmont’s lead and won 25-15.
The third set was the closest of all ending 25-19 with the Lady Lions staving off elimination at match point three times before dropping the set. In the match, the Lady Lions were held to a .000 attack percentage with 20 kills and 20 errors.
“With Emory being ranked 6th in the country at the Division III level, it did nothing but help our program to learn from this experience,” Head Coach Sid Feldman said. “I feel great about how we did tonight. We did not get pushed around and we made some impressive plays.”
With the Lady Lions earning 20 kills, that marked the second lowest total of the season, and Kaitlin Norman had a team-high 5 kills while Jennifer Opper and Taylor Cramsey both contributed 4 kills. Emory recorded 38 kills as a team which was the second lowest total Piedmont has given up in a loss in 2014.
Both Kait Steele and Xandy Green tallied nine assists which snapped a nine-match streak with both athletes reaching atleast 10 assists. Defensively, Randee Harvel led with 10 digs while Green added 7 in support.
For Feldman, facing Emory means going up against a team under the leadership of his former student-athlete at Georgia, Jenny McDowell, who is in her 19th season at the helm of the Eagles’ program. The Eagles were ranked 6th in the Oct. 21 AVCA Top 25 poll and are now 28-3 overall.
The Lady Lions will have had one of the busiest weeks of the season with a total of six matches in seven days stretching from Sunday through Saturday’s home tri-match to wrap up the regular season. Piedmont will have to win both contests to secure 20 wins before heading into the conference tournament. If the team is able to do so, it will mark the tenth straight season the Lady Lions have hit or eclipsed 20 wins.
The action will begin inside Cave Arena Saturday with Piedmont playing host to N.C. Wesleyan at 12 p.m. and William Peace at 4 p.m. Both matches will be available on the Mane Event Broadcasting Network.
