For over a month, the Lady Royals have been striving for one thing -- another win. Thursday night they got it. On Sept. 3, the Eastern Mennonite volleyball women swept Salem to open the season. On Oct. 7, after 15 consecutive losses, the women picked up another sweep, this time taking down Ferrum in three straight.

It was a battle of two teams looking to end losing streaks, and EMU took control early. After taking an 8-3 lead in set one, the Lady Royals used a 5-0 spurt to push the edge to 16-8. The Panthers never got closer than six points as the women claimed a 25-16 victory.

In set two Eastern Mennonite looked poised to cruise as they scored the first four points. But Ferrum settled down and fought out to a 16-14 lead. The Lady Royals used a pair of 3-0 runs to retake the lead and then inflate it to 22-19, coasting to a 25-21 win.

The home team again jumped ahead in set three, this time by a 4-1 score. The Panthers would not go down easily, however, scoring five straight and then eventually going up by four, 10-6. Tabitha Bowman (Waynesboro, Va./Stuarts Draft) triggered a 6-0 surge with three kills as EMU took over. The women ended the match on a 9-2 run, winning 25-17.

Bowman led the women with 11 kills on the night. Jessica Goertzen (Goessel, Ks./Goessel) had 21 assists.

Senior Elisa Troyer (Harrisonburg, Va./Broadway) chipped in with eight kills and three service aces. Lynae Fry (Archbold, Oh./Pettisville) led all players with four block assists.

With the win, the Lady Royals break their losing streak and move to 2-15. They will try to build a winning streak with another non-conference game on Saturday, hosting Mary Baldwin as part of EMU's Homecoming Weekend. Game time is 1:00pm.