The Lady Royals were handed a tough ticket Tuesday night, hosting ODAC power Washington and Lee for their home opener.  Despite support from a good crowd, EMU came out on the short end of a 3-0 decision.

Eastern Mennonite scored the first point of the night, and had things tied up at 3-3.  But then the Generals took over with a big run and took a 25-12 win in game one.  The second game was a similar story, with WLU winning 25-15.

The Lady Royals settled down a bit in game three and stayed within 8-7 early on.  After Washington and Lee used a run to take the lead, the women fought of four straight match points before succumbing 25-18.

Sara Ritchie (Harrisonburg, VA/Turner Ashby) led the women with six kills, while Rachel Kennel (Parkesburg, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) had four.  Each of them added a service ace.

Mattie Lehman (New Paris, IN/Bethany Christian) set 14 assists and also had a team high nine digs.  Amber Loftin (Amherst, VA/Amherst County) chipped in with eight digs.

EMU, 2-5 on the season, continues conference play this weekend, hosting Guilford Friday night at 7:00pm.  On Saturday, the women host a tri-match with Emory & Henry at 11:00am and Southern Virginia at 3:00pm.