A total group effort pushed the EMU volleyball women to a 3-1 win over North Carolina Wesleyan in Harrisonburg Friday night.  As the Royals returned their record to .500 as a team, senior libero Katie Miller (San Antonio, Tex./Brandeis) moved into tenth place in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference's career digs list.

Miller had 20 digs on the night, giving her 1,585 for her career to tie Guilford's Jennifer Pue-Gilchrist for 10th on the ODAC list.

At 8-8, EMU's women look poised to push the program back to a level not seen in more than a decade.  With nine regular season matches left on the schedule, they need just two wins to hit double digits.  The Royals haven't notched a 10-win season in six years, and the last time they won more than 11 matches was 2001.

The start to Friday's contests didn't look as promising.  With back-to-back-to-back blocks, the Battling Bishops quickly jumped to a 4-1 lead.  But EMU quickly erased those early harbingers with a 5-0 run to the jump in front.  The women never let up, closing on a 9-3 run to win 25-15.

North Carolina Wesleyan scored first in the second set and built their cushion up to as many as six points.  It still stood at 21-15 before a kill from Janna Williams (Kenbridge, Va./Kenston Forest) started to turn the tide.  The Royals exploded on an 8-2 run, not only taking their first lead but also winning, 25-23.

The visitors weren't done, however, controlling the end of the third set with a 15-6 run to extend the match, 25-19.

Eastern Mennonite took over early in the fourth to squash any notions of fifth set.  They had leads of 11-6 and 19-12, before strolling out to a 25-18 clincher.

The defense was superb, racking up 95 digs.  It was the highest total for the team since 2012.  Four women had 20 or more digs, topped by 22 from Skyler Johnson (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg).  Alena Yoder (Elkhart, Ind./Bethany Christian) dug up 21 NCWC attacks, while Jasmine Johnson (Staunton, Va./Robert E. Lee) and Katie Miller each had 20.

Jasmine Johnson also stayed busy getting the offense in gear as the setter had 41 assists.  Kait Miller (Sellersville, Pa./Christopher Dock) broke her career high for the second straight outing with 14 kills.  Skyler Johnson added 12 kills with Williams putting up nine.  Alexa Weeks (Montross, Va./Washington & Lee) had five blocks to set her career high in that category.

Tori Stewart led the Battling Bishops with 13 kills.  Libero Christina Huber had a match high 24 digs.

The Royals will look to improve on their 1-4 ODAC mark when they play at Hollins on Tuesday.  It starts a five-match road swing for EMU, as the women have just one home match remaining.

Coach Carrie Bert said her women's defense set up their offense against North Carolina Wesleyan: