The Eastern Mennonite men's volleyball team doesn't have a lot of home contests this season, but on Saturday they gave the home fans a lot to watch, hosting a tri-match.  The men went 1-1 on the day, with both four-set matches showing some fantastic play.

Pfeiffer 3, EMU 1
The Royals opened with the big-swinging Falcons, who came in atop the D-II Conference Carolinas.  The men fell behind early and trailed by as many as 21-14.  They settled down and made a push to close the game, but still fell 25-22.

The late surge carried into game two, however, as Eastern Mennonite jumped to an early 12-8 edge.  Pfeiffer tied it at 12-12, but EMU cored the next two to keep the lead.  From there to the close, neither squad scored more than two in a row, as the Royals kept on top and closed a 25-23 win with a kill from Kendall Garber (Lancaster, PA/Lancaster Mennonite).

The Royals started strong again in game three, as George Greene (Highland Springs, VA/Highland Springs) led a 4-0 run which put the men up 9-5.  The Falcons answered with a 9-2 surge to take back the lead at 13-11.  Despite EMU tying the score, Pfeiffer never gave up the lead, and held on for a 25-21 win.

The same problems that plagued the men early in game one reappeared in game four.  The Falcons got on a roll and ran away with a 25-17 clincher.

Greene stepped into the starting lineup and responded with a career best 21 kills on 46 swings.  Greg Knight (Chesapeake, VA/Hickory) had seven and John Grove (Glen Allen, VA/Deep Run) added six kills.  Setter John Barry (Columbus, OH/Worthington Kilbourne) had 35 assists.

The defense collected six blocks, including four in the game two win.  Kyle Storc (Westerville, OH/Bishop Watterson) had three assists and one solo while Greene added one of each.

Nolan Prock (Virginia Beach, VA/Frank W. Cox) anchored the back line with a match high 12 digs.

EMU 3, PBU 1
The men closed a busy day in Yoder Arena with Philadelphia Biblical University in a non-conference tilt.  While the offense had its moments, the defense carried the way to a 3-1 win.

The Crimson Eagles jumped ahead 8-4 in game one before EMU settled down.  The Royals surged from a mid-game tie to a 20-16 lead and then held on for a 25-23 win.

The offense was clicking in game two, helping EMU take over early and cruise to a 25-19 decision.

After holding a 16-14 lead in game three, EMU hit a bump in the road, allowing PBU to close on an 11-2 tear for a 25-18 decision.

But the Royals wrapped things up in the fourth, leading by as many as six points in a 25-22 win.

Eastern Mennonite racked up 14.5 total team blocks, led by middles Storc and Grove, who each had seven blocks assists.  Knight added six.

Prock made some stupendous digs and collected 16 in the match.  Knight was again second on the team with nine.

Barry had 41 assists on the team's 44 kills.  Greene led with 12 kills, while Knight had eight and Grove had seven.  Barry also dropped in three service aces.

With the split on the day, EMU moves to 4-5 overall.  PBU was the only D-III opponent of the two, as the Royals are now 3-2 against D-III foes.  The Royals host another tri-match on Saturday, Feb. 18, taking on Rust College at 10:00am and Mt. Olive at 7:00pm.