Emory Plays for National Championship Monday

The Emory University volleyball team will play for the NCAA Division III championship on Monday after beating Washington University 3-1 (18-25, 29-27, 25-21, 25-20) on Saturday.

Emory lost to Wash U in five sets on Oct. 16 and beat the Bears in four sets in November for the University Athletic Association title.

Emory plays Calvin College at 3 p.m. ET for the national title. Washington won the national championship last year, and Emory won in 2008.

Check the Emory Athletics website for live video and statistics.

Soccer: The Emory women were the only other UAA school still alive for a national title this weekend, but they lost to Hardin-Simmons 2-1 on Saturday on Hardin-Simmons home field. The Eagles ended the season 16-2-4. No. 2-ranked Hardin-Simmons is undefeated. Match story.

Men's cross country: All five UAA men's teams finished in the top 20 in the Division III championship meet on Saturday: 9. Washington; 10. NYU; 16. Brandeis; 17. Rochester; 20. Carnegie Mellon.

The top five UAA finishers were:
23. James Vavra, Jr 24:50.1, Rochester
24. Michael Burnstein, Jr 24:51.8, Washington
29. Andrew Zitek, Jr 24:57.9, NYU
30. Sebastian Schwelm, Sr 24:59.4, NYU
45. David Hamm, So 25:11.9, Washington


Women's cross country: Washington University finished second in the championship meet, eight points behind winner Middlebury. 2. Washington; 10. Chicago; 18. Case Western Reserve; 26. Emory; 28. NYU.


The top five UAA finishers were:
4. Elizabeth Lawton, Sr 21:22.0, Chicago
6. Taryn Surtees, Sr 21:26.1, Washington
8. Justine Jeroski, Sr 21:28.6, Case Western Reserve
23. Elizabeth Phillips, Jr 21:49.1 , Washington
30. Jessica Londeree, Sr 21:58.2, Washington

Complete results.

Wash U vs. Emory in Volleyball Quarterfinals

The Emory and Washington University volleyball teams will meet for the third time this season in Saturday's national championship quarterfinals.

The two teams split their earlier matches in UAA competition.

Washington beat NYU 3-0 and Emory beat Christopher Newport 3-2 in matches played Friday at Washington, which is hosting the national championship.

The match begins at 7 p.m. ET.

On the other side of the bracket, Juniata faces Calvin at 4:30 ET.

The championship match is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sunday.

LIVE VIDEO

LIVE STATS

NCAA Volleyball Tournament Starts Friday

Emory's volleyball team celebrates winning regional championship Sunday.

Volleyball
Here are the matchups for the volleyball championship this weekend at Washington University, with each team's national ranking in parentheses. Wash U, Emory and NYU are all in the same bracket, so there won't be an all-UAA final.

12:30 p.m. Friday - University of St. Thomas (12) vs.  Juniata College (3)
3:00 p.m. Friday - Calvin College (10) vs. University of Massachusetts-Boston (24)
5:30 p.m. - Emory University (1) vs. Christopher Newport University (5)
8:00 p.m. - Washington University in St. Louis (3) vs. NYU (15)

Check the Wash U web site for more information and live coverage on Friday. Washington University Athletics

Soccer
Emory will play Wheaton in the next round of the NCAA women's soccer championship Friday in Abilene, Texas, at 2:30 p.m.

The teams do have at least one common opponent in the regular season: The University of Chicago. Emory lost at home to Chicago 1-0, and the Maroons lost on the road to Wheaton 1-0.

Check the Emory web site for more information and live coverage on Friday. Emory Athletics

Emory, Wash U, NYU Advance in Volleyball

All three UAA teams in the NCAA volleyball tournament have advanced to the Finals.

No. 1-ranked Emory beat Cal Lutheran in five sets, while Washington swept UW-Platteville and NYU swept Stevens.

The championships start Friday at Washington University in St. Louis.

In women's soccer, Emory is going to the Sweet 16.
The Eagles beat Lynchburg 1-0 in the second overtime period in a very physical match that included three yellow cards.
The Brandeis women's team lost 6-0 in a second-round match against Williams.

In men's soccer, Wash U lost to Loras in a shootout at  historic Francis Field in St. Louis, and Emory lost to Lynchburg 2-1 in Atlanta.

•  Cross country: Five men's teams from the UAA qualified as at-large teams for the national championship meet: Brandeis, Carnegie Mellon, NYU, Rochester and Washington University.
On the women's side, Emory and Washington University earned automatic bids.
Case Western Reserve, Chicago and NYU all earned at-large bids.
Individual qualifiers are: Hillary Snyder of Rochester; and Emily Wobb and Cortney Baker of Carnegie Mellon.
The championship meets, hosted by Wartburg College, will take place in Waverly, Iowa, on Nov. 20. The men's race starts at 11 a.m. ET, with the men's race at noon.

Update: Chicago Wins UAA Football Title

Emory women celebrate win over Maryville -- a long, long way from my camera.

The University of Chicago Maroons beat Washington University 13-10 at Amos Alonzo Stagg Field to win the 2010 UAA football championship.

The Emory women's soccer team scored two second-half goals to beat Maryville 2-0 at home on Saturday. Brandeis beat Castleton 2-1. In second-round games, the Wash U women lost 2-0 to Otterbein, and Rochester lost to Oneonta State 2-0.

First- and second-round soccer action takes place today in the NCAA regionals. In volleyball, three UAA teams have advanced to today's second-round matches. And UAA cross country runners competed at meets around the East, Midwest and South.

Here are Saturday's matches and times. Results will be updated during the day and on Sunday. Schedules for next week's rounds will be posted when they become available early next week.

Thursday
• Volleyball
University of Chicago 0, Hope College 3

Friday
• Volleyball
Emory 3,  Piedmont College 0
Washington University 3,  Beloit 0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-11)
Case Western Reserve 2,  SUNY-Cortland 3 (26-24, 25-18, 23-25, 17-25, 15-11)
NYU 3, Westfield State 0 (25-10, 25-9, 25-18)

• Women's Soccer
Washington University 2,  Allegheny College 1
Rochester 1,  Western Connecticut State College 0
Wartburg beat University of Chicago in shootout

• Men's Soccer
NYU 2, The College at Brockport 3


Saturday
• Women's soccer
Emory 2, Maryville (Tenn.) 0
Washington 0, Otterbein University 2
Rochester 0, vs. Oneonta State 2
1:30 p.m. - Brandeis vs. Casleton State College (first round)

• Men's soccer
7:30 p.m. - Rochester vs. Medaille (first round)

• Volleyball (second round)
4:30 p.m. (CT) - Washington University vs. Wartburg College
6:00 p.m. - Emory vs. Washington & Lee
7:00 p.m. - NYU vs. Clarkson University

• Cross country
Atlantic: State University College at Oneonta, host
Central: Wartburg College, host
Great Lakes: The Case Western Reserve women finished 3rd with 115 points. The men's team finished 7th with 220 points.
Mideast: Carnegie Mellon University, host
Midwest: Wash U men 4th, 122 points; Chicago men 10th, 244.
New England: Williams College, host
South/Southeast: Rhodes College, host

Sunday
• Men's soccer
1:00 p.m. CT - Washington University vs. Loras (beat Greenville on Thursday)
6:00 p.m. - Emory vs. Lynchburg College (beat Transylvania on Thursday)

• Women's soccer
1:00 p.m. - Emory vs. Lynchburg.
1:00 p.m. - Brandeis vs. Williams

Correction: This post has been corrected to reflect that the Washington University women's soccer team plays Allegheny College on Friday.

The Polls: Where UAA Schools Stand

Leia and Claire on Freedom Park in Atlanta this morning. Ready to roll.

As the UAA soccer teams head into the final weekend of double travel games (Friday and Sunday matches), here are the latest national rankings. Plus rankings in cross country and volleyball.
Rochester travels to Emory and Carnegie Mellon; Case Western Reserve travels to Carnegie Mellon and Emory; Brandeis travels to Wash U and Chicago; NYU travels to Chicago and Wash U; Honey travels to Emory and Chicago, God willing and the tires don't blow.
The NCAA's Division 3 includes more than 450 college and universities competing in varsity athletics.
 The UAA cross country championship meet is Saturday, Oct. 30, in New York City at Van Cortlandt Park. Take the 1 train to the Bronx. It's the last stop.
 The UAA volleyball championship tournament is Nov. 5-6 at the Veale Center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Take the RTA Healthline bus east on Euclid Avenue to Adelbert Road, across from Severance Hall. If the driver calls out "next stop Erie," you've gone about 100 miles too far.

Best National Universities - U.S. News & World Report , Sept. 2010
9. University of Chicago
13. Washington University
20. Emory University
23. Carnegie Mellon University
33. New York University
34. Brandeis University
37. University of Rochester
41. Case Western Reserve University
86. University of Colorado (OK, CU isn't in the UAA, but it's where I matriculated. Twice)

Football - AFCA
23. Case Western Reserve (unranked)

Men's Cross Country - USFCCCA - Programs: 389
These are the Oct. 20 rankings. The next national poll comes out Nov. 3.
7. New York University
9. Washington University
24. Carnegie Mellon 25. Brandeis
29. Rochester
30. Case Western Reserve
Women's Cross Country - USFCCCA - Programs: 4117. University of Chicago
15. Case Western Reserve
16. Washington University
26. Emory 35. NYU

Volleyball - AVCA - Programs: 429
1. Washington University (2)
2. Emory University (4)
15. NYU (17)
21. University of Chicago (20)

Women's soccer - NSCAA - Programs: 427
6. Emory University (8)
22. Rochester (24)
Brandeis and Chicago also received votes


Men's soccer - NSCAA - Programs: 406
7. Rochester (21)
12. Washington University (15)
14. Emory University  (18)
Carnegie Mellon and NYU also received votes

Information on the number of D3 programs in each sport was provided by Anthony Moscaret, sports information director for the University Athletic Association.

Honey is in the shop
Sunday night, the refrigerator in Honey, my RV, fell out of its cabinet. Too much shaking, rattling and rolling across Manhattan, the GW bridge and the New Jersey Turnpike.
I have her in the shop today, Great Escape RV of Tucker, Ga., where my friend Richard is going to brace her foundation so she'll be ready to roll Friday night for Chicago after the Emory-Rochester men's game in Atlanta.

Something old, something new

Stuff I don't need. Not shown: Microwave oven.

One thing I learned on the first 2,600 miles of my trip to visit every UAA school is that you don't really need that much stuff when you travel in an RV.
Most of it will get lost or go unused or both.
I am off-loading a microwave, hand weights, blue blazer, some clothes, personal file folders and a huge roll of bubble wrap (don't ask).
However, I am picking up 110 pounds of canine. Lisa, the kindly neighbor lady who was taking care of my dogs, says she will miss them these next two weeks but that they need to be with me on the road. Should be interesting.

New Polls Are Out, I Am Old

D3 polls are always released on Tuesdays, so here's a roundup of where UAA teams rank.

Do athletes, coaches and administrators pay attention to polls? Heck yes.
As one coach told me, if you want to compete for a national championship, the first step is competing for a UAA championship. Trust me, if I get a ranking wrong I will hear about it -- and correct it.
For those of you involved in UAA sports, these listings aren't news, because most of you called them up on the InterWeb the second they came out. For those of you who are just gaining awareness of the University Athletic Association, they show how these programs compete nationally.
About 450 colleges and universities belong to the NCAA's Division 3.

Honey in Jersey City.

Men's Cross Country - USFCCA

2. Washington University (2)
9. NYU (11)
13. Carnegie Mellon (14)
26. Case Western Reserve (27)
29. Rochester (28)
32. Brandeis (9)
Women's Cross Country - USFCCA
4. Washington University (4)
15. University of Chicago (14)
23. Case Western Reserve (23)
30. NYU (27)
34. Emory (34)


Volleyball - AVCA
1. Washington University (1)
2. Emory University (3)
15. University of Chicago (17)
23. NYU (23)


Women's soccer - NSCAA
15. Emory University (13)
23. Brandeis (15)
24. Chicago (Unranked)
25. Rochester (Unranked)

Men's soccer - NSCAA
9. Emory University  (9)
10. Washington University (11)
20. Rochester (15)
21. Carnegie Mellon (11)

About this blog: I am traveling around the country to attend soccer games at every school in the University Athletic Association, thus the random photo of my RV, Honey, parked at the Liberty Harbor Marina and RV Park in Jersey City earlier this month.
Today, Oct. 13, I am at the University of Rochester.