With their backs against the wall, EMU's volleyball men came out strong Friday night against powerful Rutgers-Newark.  Coach Dominick Porter made a couple of changes to his lineup and the men responded by winning the first set before eventually falling in four against the No. 1 seed in next weekend's CVC Tournament.

While the loss doesn't officially knock the Royals from the race for the final spot in the four-team conference tourney, it certainly paints a challenging picture.  EMU would need a win Saturday at No. 4 Juniata College and then have third place Stevenson take down Thiel.  Those results would leave EMU and Thiel tied for the final CVC bid and the Royals would have to hope they would get through on tie-breakers.

But from the start of Friday night's home finale, it looked like Eastern Mennonite was ready to play.  They scored the first three points and jumped to a 6-3 lead.  The Scarlet Raiders scored the next five points to take their first lead, but EMU used a 7-0 run regain the edge at 19-14.  RNU scored the next four points to put the heat on, but the Royals kept at least a one-point lead and then won the match 25-22, getting a big block from Dan Lutz (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim) and Scott Brigham (Montpelier, Va./Patrick Henry) to clinch it.

The Scarlet Raiders jumped ahead quickly in the second set before EMU used a 4-0 run to trail by only two at 11-9.  The visitors then closed the door with an 11-2 run to win 25-13.  The momentum carried into the third, as RNU jumped ahead early and rolled to a 25-17 decision.

Eastern Mennonite was back on par in the fourth, though, scoring the first two and pushing to a 17-12 lead.  Rutgers-Newark then got four blocks during a key 7-0 run, changing the complexion of the set as they took a 19-17 lead.  The Royals got a kill, but RNU added four more in a row to cap an 11-1 streak and flip to a 23-18 cushion.  EMU regrouped but it was too late in a 25-20 loss.

Brigham, one of the nation's leading hitters, took over as setter for the match and helped orchestrate the hot start.  The Royals hit .429 in the first set before settling at a .188 clip.  Brigham finished with 37 assists, nine digs and five blocks.

Lutz was impressive out of the middle, playing his best match of the year with 11 kills, nine blocks and five digs.  Marc Lovell (Newport News, Va./Menchville) landed 10 kills with six digs and Tim Callahan (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) was good for eight kills and eight digs.  Senior Kyle Storc (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) added four kills on just nine swings along with three blocks.

Colton Frey (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) had a match high 10 digs.

Cody Chidsey led Rutgers-Newark with 15 kills while Jack Fredricks added 12.

The Royals (13-9, 3-8 CVC) take on Juniata Saturday at 1:00pm, followed by a non-conference season finale against Hilbert at 3:00pm.

Coach Dominick Porter thought his team played well in their final match: