The EMU volleyball women are picking up steam and, after today's sweep of Mary Baldwin on the road, have won two of their last three contests.

It took a bit for the Lady Royals to get going on Saturday, falling behind MBC early and trailing 23-19 late in game one.  But the women caught fire at just the right time, scoring the final six points of the game to steal a 25-23 decision.  Sara Ritchie (Harrisonburg, VA/Turner Ashby) had back-to-back kills to close the set.

The turnaround seemed to take the fight out of the Fighting Squirrels, as Eastern Mennonite was in control the rest of the match, pushing to 25-18 and 25-11 wins.

As a team, EMU had nine service aces and hit .132, compared to .000 for Mary Baldwin.  Mattie Lehman (New Paris, IN/Bethany Christian) and Jessica Goertzen (Goessel, KS/Goessel) each had a trio of aces to lead the way.

Ritchie led all players with 10 kills and added two service aces.  Rachel Kennel (Parkesburg, PA/Lancaster Mennonite) put down eight kills while Michelle Miller (Sarasota, FL/Sarasota Christian) had six kills with no errors on only 12 swings.

Goertzen had a match high 14 digs while Amber Loftin (Amherst, VA/Amherst) dug up 12 Squirrel spikes.  Lehman totaled 25 set assists.

Now 2-4 on the year, EMU gets a big test with the home opener on Tuesday, as traditional power Washington and Lee comes to Harrisonburg.  Game time is 6:30pm.