After dropping a pair of 3-0 decisions to Frostburg State and host Catholic to open play the day before, the Eastern Mennonite volleyball women returned to the court with a split on day two of the Guetle Invitational in Washington D.C.

The Lady Royals started with a sweep of Finlandia, winning by scores of 25-14, 25-23 and 25-18.

Libero Brittany Childress (Gloucester, VA/Christchurch) had a whopping 24 digs in the three games while Jessica Goertzen (Goessel, KS/Goessel) had 22 set assists.

Senior Tabitha Bowman (Waynesboro, VA/Stuarts Draft) led the way with nine kills while Sara Ritchie (Harrisonburg, VA/Turner Ashby) added seven.  Defensively, middle blocker Kyla Moorefield (Danville, VA/Tunstall) dominated the net with seven solo blocks.

Mattie Lehman (New Paris, IN/Bethany Christian) and Rachel Lehman (Chambersburg, PA/Shalom Christian Academy) each landed four ace serves.

In the non-conference matchup with rival Bridgewater, EMU was close in every game but came up short each time.  The Eagles won in three, 25-23, 25-20 and 25-19.

Ritchie led the women with eight kills.  Moorefield and Amber Loftin (Madison Heights, VA/Amherst) each had six swats.

Goertzen had 25 assists and eight digs while Mattie Lehman added another 10 digs and two aces.

The Lady Royals, now 3-6, open Old Dominion Athletic Conference play in the coming week.  The women are at Roanoke Tuesday night before hosting Randolph and Lynchburg next weekend.