In their final road trip of the year, the EMU volleyball men started out with a 3-1 loss at No. 15 Stevenson University Friday night in Owings Mills, Md.  The Royals play two more matches on Saturday at a tri-match hosted by Cairn in Langhorne, Pa.

Welcoming back outside hitter Scott Brigham (Montpelier, Va./Patrick Henry) for the first time since Feb. 9, the men played inspired ball in the first game and only trailed by a single point three different times.  A 6-1 run gave Eastern Mennonite a 19-15 lead.  The Mustangs fought back and had the score tied at 23s, 24s and 25s.  Brigham gave EMU a 26-25 lead, and an SU attack error sealed the win, 27-25.

Stevenson regrouped in game two, scoring the first six points en route to a 25-12 win.  Game three was tight until the Mustangs closed on a 5-1 run to win 25-19.  The Royals had a big run late in game four, but came up just short, 25-23.

Brigham was the lone Royal in double figures, finishing with 16 kills.  Zach Guiciardi (Creighton, Pa./Deer Lakes) had 24 assists as he stepped into the setter's role.  Marc Lovell (Newport News, Va./Menchville) and Joe Spriggs (Chester, Va./Thomas Dale) each had three blocks.

EMU landed eight service aces, led by three from Kyle Storc (Columbus, Oh./Bishop Watterson) and two from Brigham.  Jesse Reist (Lancaster, Pa./J.P. McCaskey) led the back row with 11 digs.

The Royals slip to 11-12 with the loss, including 1-7 in the CVC.