Joe Spriggs (center) with Eastern Mennonite University volleyball teammates during the March 21 senior recognition ceremonies. Spriggs and the rest of the Royals have won their last three matches and are looking to secure a conference tournament berth this week. (Photo by Rachel Springer)

After posting three wins this weekend, Royals volleyball battles for the final CVC tournament berth

The Royals had no trouble in maintaining their momentum after Friday night’s win over Juniata, taking a pair of sweeps Saturday afternoon in Harrisonburg. Eastern Mennonite improves to 12-11 overall and 5-6 in the CVC, maintaining their hold on fourth place in conference.

The men will wrap up their regular season at league-leading Stevenson on March 30. The Royals will also be watching how Juniata finishes the year, as the Eagles and EMU are battling for the final tourney berth.

If seeding holds out over the remaining matches, EMU and Juniata would finish the season tied, meaning their fight for the final CVC Tournament bid would come down to tie-breakers.

EMU’s men are searching for their first-ever tourney berth in the four years of the CVC’s existence. The four-team CVC Tournament is April 8 and 9, hosted by the top seed.

EMU 3, Thiel 0

The Royals were in firm control in the conference contest to start the day, only allowing Thiel a pair of 3-0 runs the entire match. The Tomcats lone leads were at 2-1 in the first set and 1-0 in the third. EMU had double digit leads in each set, rolling to wins of 25-12, 25-9 and 25-18.

Eastern Mennonite hit a season-high .406 as a team, making only eight errors on 64 attempts. Setter Christian Taylor (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) spread the ball around and made 25 assists.

Travis Abele (Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis) landed eight kills with no errors on 11 swings. Scott Brigham (Montpelier, Va./Patrick Henry) had six kills while Joe Spriggs (Chester, Va./Thomas Dale) and Tim Callahan (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) each had five.

The men had eight blocks, including five from Dan Lutz (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim). Taylor and Abele each had a hand in three.

EMU 3, John Jay 0

After Thiel pulled past John Jay in three, the Royals did the same to the Bloodhounds. A handful of regulars got the match off, but it hardly mattered as the men kept rolling to 25-9, 25-10 and 25-14 wins.

The net defenders picked up 11 blocks, marking just the second time this season they hit double figures in a three-setter. Spriggs, who was honored between sets two and three on Senior Recognition Day, led the charge and tied his career high with eight stuffs. The middle also tied his career high with nine kills.

Lance Marshall (Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis) dropped in nine kills while Jared Jolly (Temple Terrace, Fla./C. Leon King) added eight. Both freshmen set their career high. Abele added four blocks, while Taylor put up 25 assists.