The Case Western Reserve University volleyball team fell in three sets (17-25, 18-25, 19-25) to ninth-ranked Emory University on Sunday afternoon at the Woodruff PE Center in Atlanta to wrap up the first University Athletic Association Round Robin.

The Spartans dropped to 8-11 in 2025 with a 1-2 mark in UAA contests. The host Eagles improved 11-2 and 3-0 in conference contests.

Stats and Standouts

• Senior outside hitter Kalli Wall led the team with 14 kills, adding five digs and two blocks
• Sophomore setter Elena Esquivel had a team-high 13 assists and added eight digs
• Sophomore defensive specialist Sophia Datto paced the squad with 15 digs

First Set (17-25)

• Emory led by as many as four points early in the opening stanza and pulled ahead 18-12 with a 4-0 run
• Two Eagle attacking errors and a kill by sophomore right-side hitter Madeline Halter brought the Spartans within three
• The hosts responded with a 6-1 run to open an eight-point lead and clinched the set two points later

Second Set (18-25)

• Leading 10-5, Emory won five consecutive rallies to take a 10-point lead in the second set
• CWRU responded with a 7-2 run, cutting the team's deficit to five
• Wall had a pair of kills and a block assist during the run with senior middle blockers Kiya Levy and Amanda Ngo also earning blocks
• After Emory scored three points in a row, the Spartans won the following four rallies to trail 20-16
• The Eagles closed the set on a 5-2 run, taking the second stanza by seven points

Third Set (19-25)

• The host team started the final stanza on a 6-1 run and used an 8-0 run to take a 10-point advantage later in the set
• CWRU battled back, eventually tying the score at 19 on a kill by Wall
• The Spartans won 15 of the following 20 points to even the score with Wall scoring seven of those points on kills
• However, Emory broke the tie with a kill and won the final five points of the match to secure the win

Spartan Notes

• CWRU sits in sixth place in the conference after the first round robin. The Spartans will play a pair of matches inside Horsburgh Gymnasium on Sunday, October 12 during the league's second round robin
• Wall has at least 10 kills in her last seven matches and 15 of the team's 19 contests this year
• Ngo is one block away from moving into eighth place in program history in career total blocks. She has 264 for her career in 304 sets and ranks sixth in Spartan history in blocks per set (0.87)

Up Next

CWRU returns to non-conference play with a pair of matches in Delaware, Ohio, on Saturday, October 4. The Spartans will face Denison University at 2 p.m. and host Ohio Wesleyan University at 4 p.m.