The EMU volleyball women have been playing well the last couple of weeks but have only had a number of tough losses to show for it. Saturday at Homecoming, the Lady Royals finally got the win, topping Lancaster Bible College, 3-1.
Going into the match with the Chargers, the women had lost four straight contests in which they had won at least one game. The Lady Royals used an 11-2 run midway through game one to take control, winning 25-20 on a kill from Kayla Smeltzer (Richmond, VA/Maggie L. Wagner).
EMU trailed 15-9 in game two, before good serving turned things around. With a 16-5 finish, the women won again, 25-20.
The Chargers led by as many as seven early in game three, before a 7-0 run put EMU back in front. The Lady Royals surged to a 22-20 lead, but Lancaster Bible scored four in a row to take over and steal a 25-23 decision.
The teams traded leads in game four before a 3-0 surge gave Eastern Mennonite a 20-16 cushion. LBC got within one point twice, but a Sara Ritchie (Harrisonburg, VA/Turner Ashby) kill ended the day by a 25-23 score.
Ritchie finished with 30 kills to roll over her career best. She also had 12 digs and three of EMU’s 13 service aces. Rachel Kennel (Parkesburg, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) and Karla Martin (Stuarts Draft, VA/Grace Christian) each landed nine kills while Smeltzer had eight. Mattie Lehman (New Paris, IN/Bethany Christian) tallied a career high 52 assists, averaging 13 per game.
Katie Miller (San Antonio, TX/Brandeis) had three aces along with 18 digs. Jessica Goertzen (Goessel, KS/Goessel) had a team high 21 digs.
Eastern Mennonite hit a season-best .230 as a team.
The win pushes the women to 4-14 on the year. They return to conference play for their next three matches, starting with a home date against Roanoke on Tuesday. Game time from Yoder Arena is 6:30pm.