Nicole Ropp (Iowa City, Ia./Iowa Mennonite) had nine kills to lead the Eastern Mennonite University women's volleyball team to a 3-0 shut-out win over Ferrum College Thursday night in Harrisonburg, Va.

Game scores were 25-23, 25-22, and 25-17.

EMU gets their first win since September and is now 4-13 overall in 2008. The Lady Royals had claimed a 3-0 decision over Shenandoah in mid-September, only to have the game overturned by the NCAA due to a protest in set three.

Ferrum drops to 5-15 on the season.

"We played like we know we can play and there was consistency throughout our game tonight," explained head coach Steve Benson. "Our passing improved since our last match and we had a solid contribution from everyone on the team. We kept our (hitting) errors down and didn't allow for many mistakes overall."

Neither team gave much in a see-saw first set as both teams took a two point advantage only to have the lead shift right back to the opposite team. EMU went up 17-14 on a kill by Ropp but then gave the lead right back to Ferrum as the Panthers went ahead 19-17 on a point by Brittany Barlow. The home team tied the set at 22 all with an ace by Christine Bottles (Williamsburg, Va./Jamestown). The final two points came on kills by Monika Burkholder (Linville, Va./Eastern Mennonite).

Burkholder finished with seven kills, and three assisted blocks. Bottles registered 28 assists, nine digs, and four service aces.

Hannah Shumaker, Jessica Flanagan, and Mallory Stratton each had six kills to lead the Panthers.

EMU hit .342 (16-3-38) in the first set compared to .189 (13-6-37) for Ferrum.

The Lady Royals finished out the match in sets two and three as EMU took leads of 18-15 in set two, and 19-12 in set three. Tabitha Bowman (Waynesboro, Va./Stuarts Draft) had four kills in set two with Elisa Troyer (Harrisonburg, Va./Broadway) chipping in a pair of kills and a service ace in set three.

Bowman had seven kills overall while Troyer finished with five.

Laura Stoltzfus (Parnell, Ia./Iowa Mennonite) had four kills and six digs for EMU. Jenny Blosser (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) finished with a team leading 13 digs.

The Lady Royals will look to build upon the momentum gained from tonight's win as they host the Knights of Southern Virginia on Saturday, October 11, during EMU's Homecoming in the first game of the afternoon. The women's volleyball team will play at 12 p.m., with men's soccer (1 p.m., versus Roanoke), field hockey (4 p.m., versus Virginia Wesleyan), and women's soccer (7 p.m., versus Virginia Wesleyan) will also be in action.