2004 Season Recap

Emory University advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III national championship tournament for the second consecutive year.

This is the seventh time in nine years the Eagles reached the round of 16 in the NCAA national tournament. This marks the ninth consecutive year and the 10th time in the last 11 years that the Eagles received a berth to the NCAA tournament.

After losing three starters from last season and replacing them with players from last season's roster, Emory still finished the season with a record of 31-10. This is Emory's eighth 30-win season in the last 11 years.

Of the 31 wins, seven were against teams ranked in the top 25 nationally in Division III, including a pair of wins against teams then ranked No. 1 in the nation. For the first time since moving to 30-point games, Emory had two victories after falling behind two games to zero, both times against nationally ranked teams.

Of the 10 losses, five were to teams ranked in the top 10 nationally in Division III, the other five were to scholarship schools. The Eagles were eliminated from the NCAA national tournament by the eventual national champions.

Emory finished sixth in the nation in the final national rankings by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). For the eighth straight season, the Eagles were nationally ranked in the top 20 in every weekly poll by the AVCA.

The Eagles went 10-2 in the University Athletic Association, finishing second in the conference. It marked in the 10th consecutive season Emory finished at third or higher in the conference.

A school-record three Emory players were named to the All-America team by the AVCA. Monica Robbins and Courtney Rose made the second team and Catherine Zidow made the third team. This is the sixth consecutive year that an Emory player has been chosen as an All-American.

The following Eagles received post-season honors:

K.C. Conley
Senior K.C. Conley finished her four-year career at Emory with 990 digs, third most in school history. On the season, Conley led the team in serve aces (73) and was third on the team in digs (248). She had a season-high 21 digs against Spring Hill College (AL).

Katrina Damasco
Junior Katrina Damasco moved up to tenth in school history in career kills with 898. She amassed 317 kills on the season, third best on the team. The junior had at least 10 kills in 13 matches, including a season-high 26 against Spring Hill College (AL). Damasco received all-region and all-conference honorable mention.

Jolene Litzman
In her last season with Emory, senior Jolene Litzman received honorable mention for the American Volleyball College Association (AVCA) All-America team, following third team selection in 2003. She finished her Emory career with 825 kills and 182 blocks, while starting the last two seasons. For this season, Litzman was second on the team in kills (340) and block assists (74). Litzman was named to the all-region team and all-conference second team.

Monica Robbins
In her final season at Emory, senior Monica Robbins was named to the All-America second team. She finished her Emory career with the best career hitting percentage in school history (.353). In addition, she is second in school history in career blocks (433) and is one of five Emory players to amass more than 1,000 career kills. For this season, the senior led the team in hitting percentage (.336) and total blocks (147). She had a season-high 11 blocks against Ohio Northern on October 30, then ranked sixth in the nation. Robbins had at least 10 kills in 14 matches. The middle hitter was named to the all-region team for the third time in her career and the all-conference first team for the second time.


Courtney Rose
Sophomore Courtney Rose was named to the All-America second team, after becoming the first player in school history to amass more than 300 kills and digs in two separate seasons. The sophomore is on pace to become the first Emory player with more than 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs. For this season, the outside hitter led the team in kills (381) and was second in digs (314). She had 11 double-doubles, including 20 kills and 14 digs against Cal-State Hayward on October 22, then ranked third in the nation. Rose was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Player of the Week for Division III on October 25. She was named to the all-region team and the all-conference first team. The sophomore was also the MVP of the Emory National Invitational and the Emory Invitational.

Katie Wildermuth
Senior Katie Wildermuth finished her Emory career fourth in school history with 892 career digs and fifth with 218 career serve aces. For the seasons, she led the team in digs season with 352. The senior had 16 matches with at least 10 digs, including four matches with at least 20. Wildermuth had 20 digs and four serve aces against Wittenberg University (OH) on October 23, then ranked first in the nation.

Catherine Zidow
Junior Catherine Zidow was named to the AVCA All-America third team. In her first season as the starting setter, Zidow finished the season with 1,275 assists, propelling her to fifth in school history for career assists. The setter had at least 50 assists in eight matches, including a season-high 60 against Palm Beach Atlantic (FL) on September 11 and Washington and Lee (VA) on September 24. Zidow had the team's only triple-double of the season with 11 kills, 42 assists and 13 digs against Washington University (MO), then ranked sixth in the nation, on November 6. The junior was named to the all-region team and received all-conference honorable mention.

###
Written by Brandon Jones, Emory sports information assistant