2003 Season Recap

Emory University advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Division III national championship tournament for the first time in school history. The Eagles finished fourth in the tournament, their highest finish ever in the history of the program.

This is the sixth time in eight years the Eagles have reached at least the round of 16 in the national tournament. This marks the eighth consecutive year and the ninth time in the last 10 years that the Eagles received a berth to the NCAA tournament.

Boasting a 15-player roster with 10 underclassmen and only one senior, not to mention the graduation of three All-Americans from the previous season, Emory still finished the season with a record of 32-14, one win shy of the school record for wins in a season. This is Emory's seventh 30-win season in the last 10 years.

Of the 14 losses, nine were to national top-25 Division III teams and three were to national top-25 NAIA schools. The Eagles began the season 7-0, tying the school record for best start, achieved on two other occasions.

Emory finished fifth in the final national rankings by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), its highest end-of-season ranking ever. For the seventh straight season, the Eagles were nationally ranked in the top 20 in every weekly poll by the AVCA.

During the season, Emory had two seven-match winning streaks that included tournament titles in the Emory Invitational and second-place finishes at the Emory Classic and Emory Tournament.

The Eagles went 8-4 in the University Athletic Association, finishing third in the conference. It marked in the ninth consecutive season Emory finished at third or higher in the conference. All four conference losses for the Eagles came to teams ranked in the top 20 in the nation.

One Emory player was named to the All-America team by the AVCA. Jolene Litzman made the third team for the first time in her collegiate career. This is the fifth consecutive year that an Emory player has been chosen as an All-American.

The Eagles broke school season records for kills per game (14.97), assists per game (13.24), and digs per game (15.23). Emory also finished second in school history for season hitting percentage (.278), and third in assists (1589) and digs (1828).

The following Eagles received post-season honors:

Lauren Campbell
Senior Lauren Campbell broke the school record for career digs with 1,174 digs in her four years at Emory. She led the Eagles in digs for the season with 418, surpassing her previous school record of 379. Campbell posted five matches with 20 or more digs that includes a post-season-school record 23 digs in the quarterfinals of the NCAA national tournament. She had a season-high 25 digs in the Eagles' home opener against Texas Lutheran. The libero had 22 matches with double-digit digs, including a seven-match and an eight-match streak. She was the only Eagle to record a dig in every match that they played this season.

K.C. Conley
Junior K.C. Conley was third on the team in digs with 386. She posted three matches with 20 or more digs, two matches shy of the school record. Conley had 15 matches of double-digit digs. She had a season-high 24 digs in the first match of the season, against Loyola (La.).

Katrina Damasco
Sophomore Katrina Damasco was named to the all-conference second team. She led the Eagles this season with 485 kills, fifth highest in school history. Damasco had a career-high 23 kills against Case Western Reserve (Ohio). She had three matches in which she tallied 20 of more kills, two of which were in the NCAA national tournament. She became the fourth Eagle ever with at least 20 kills in an NCAA tournament match. She had a seven-match streak in which she had 10 or more kills. Damasco had a career-high six service aces against Thomas More (Ky.). She had a career-high .688 hitting percentage in a conference match against Brandeis (Mass.) in which she had 11 kills with no errors in 16 attacks.

Remley Dodge
Sophomore Remley Dodge was named to the all-region team for the second consecutive year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. She also was named to the all-conference first team. Dodge broke the school record for assists in a season for the second straight year with 1,622, besting her previous mark of 1,388. She is one of only two Eagles to begin her collegiate career with consecutive 1,000+ assist seasons. Dodge set a school record for most assists in an NCAA tournament match with 62 in the national quarterfinals, breaking hr own record of 60 set a week earlier in the NCAA regional finals. Dodge had 10 matches with 50 or more assists, 24 matches with 40 or more assists, and 29 matches with 35 or more assists, including a 15-match streak that ended in the last match of the season.

Jolene Litzman
Junior Jolene Litzman was named to the All-America third team and the all-region team by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. This is the first year that Litzman received either of these honors. She also was named to the all-conference second team. Litzman was second on the team in kills and third in total blocks with 398 and 79, respectively. She had a season-high 20 kills against West Georgia on October 23. She had five matches with a hitting percentage of .500 or better (minimum 10 kills). Her highest hitting percentage (min. 10 kills) for the year came in a match against East Texas Baptist in which Litzman hit .600 with 10 kills and one error in 15 attacks.

Monica Robbins
Junior Monica Robbins was named to the all-region team by the American Volleyball Coaches Association for the second consecutive year. She also was named to the all-conference first team. Robbins was named Most Valuable Player of the Emory Invitational. She had 10 kills with no errors in 12 attacks in the Sept. 26 match against East Texas Baptist for an .833 hitting percentage, highest of her career (minimum 12 attacks). Her previous best was .786 (11 kills, 0 errors, 14 attacks) against New York on Oct. 12, 2002. She led the Eagles with a .356 hitting percentage for the season. She was second on the team in total blocks with 126.

Courtney Rose
Freshman Courtney Rose is the second Emory player, and the first freshman, ever to have 300 kills and 300 digs in the same season, finishing the year with 369 kills and 397 digs. Rose set a school record for most kills in an NCAA tournament match with 23, also a career-high, in the regional finals. Only three other Eagles have ever compiled 20 kills in an NCAA tournament match. The freshman had the 10th highest hitting percentage in the NCAA Division III tournament, which includes 48 teams and over 250 players. She had 15 matches with double-digit kills and 20 matches with double-digit digs. Rose received honorable mention for the all-region and all-conference teams.

Sarah Sweeney
Freshman Sarah Sweeney totaled 397 kills in her first season as an Eagle. She had 19 matches with at least 10 kills. Sweeney had a season-high 19 kills at the UAA Round Robin I. Sweeney led the Eagles in total blocks with 130 for the year. She was named to the all-tournament team at the Emory Tournament. She received honorable mention in voting for the all-conference team.

Katie Wildermuth
Junior Katie Wildermuth was fourth on the team in digs with 350. She had 17 matches with 10 or more digs, including a season-high 17 during the University Athletic Association championships. She had a season-high eight service aces during the UAA Round Robin II.

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Written by Nick Williams, Emory sports information assistant