The Royals had No. 9 Stevenson on the ropes Wednesday night in Harrisonburg, but the EMU men couldn't finish them off and suffered a disappointing 3-2 loss.  The decision leaves Eastern Mennonite in last place in CVC East play, giving them a tall task as they try to earn their first CVC Tournament bid.

At 1-4 in the CVC, the Royals likely need to sweep their three matches at the CVC Weekend at Cairn, and then hope they get some help from other teams to inch in on tie-breakers.  EMU plays host Cairn Friday night, before closing the season with Juniata and Thiel on Saturday.

The men came out on fire against the Mustangs on Senior Night, hitting better than .300 as a team in each of the first two games.  They led by as many as 10 points in cruising to a 25-16 win in game one, then scored the final two in a tight game two to win, 25-23.

Stevenson seemed to regroup after Senior Night ceremonies between games two and three.  They scored the first four points and then held off a handful of EMU charges to win, 25-20.

The Royals unleashed a 9-1 run early in game four to lead 11-3, but SU surged back for a 17-16 lead.  The teams then traded jabs, with each having a shot at game point.  Austin Jacoby finally sealed the decision for the Mustangs with back-to-back kills finishing a 28-26 win.

The deciding game five was full of short, but powerful, momentum swings.  EMU led early before Stevenson went up 9-7.  The Royals then scored five unanswered to zip ahead 12-9.  But the Mustangs had the final charge, scoring six straight to steal the 15-12 clincher.

Chris Moise (Hollywood, FL/South Broward) led four Royals in double figure kills with 17.  The senior also tied for the match high with 18 digs.  Greg Knight (Chesapeake, VA/Hickory) had 15 kills and 17 digs, while Jesse Reist (Lancaster, PA/JP McCaskey East) had 13 kills and 18 digs.  John Grove (Glen Allen, VA/Deep Run) added 10 kills, while Travis Riesen (Hillsboro, KS/Hillsboro) had 16 digs.

John Barry (Columbus, OH/Worthington Kilbourne) had a career high 59 set assists.  Defensively, Grove had seven block assists and one solo stuff.  Kyle Storc (Westerville, OH/Bishop Watterson) added five blocks.

Jacoby led Stevenson (4-1 in CVC play) with 17 kills.  Jon Martin had 11 kills and 18 digs.