Eastern Mennonite's volleyball women earned a split on a challenging day two of the EMU Invitational.  The women repeated their performance from the previous day, including capping their four matches at the invite with a sweep of Goucher.

Catholic 3, EMU 0
The Royals played an early match on Saturday against a powerful team from Catholic.  Although the women played progressively better each set, CUA was in control.  The Cardinals had late runs in the first and second sets, winning 25-11 and 25-16.  EMU didn't give up in the third, including a late 7-1 run, but lost 25-21.

Skyler Johnson (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) had team highs of seven kills and 12 digs, while Maria Yoder (Manheim, Pa./Hempfield) added six kills and three blocks.  Becca Hardy (Port Republic, Va./Eastern Mennonite) had four stuffs, including two solo, as the Royals out-blocked the taller Cardinals, 7-5.

Jasmine Johnson (Staunton, Va./Robert E. Lee) put up 16 set assists while Dani Driver (Cheverly, Md./Elizabeth Seton) had 10 assists and 11 digs.  Katie Miller (San Antonio, Tex./Brandeis) also had 11 digs.

Brynn Cooley led Catholic with 11 kills while Maria Cristina Juelle had 14 digs and 10 kills.

EMU 3, Goucher 0
The women closed the Invitational against Goucher College, and fought their way to a sweep.  Neither team led by more than three points in the first set, showing ties at every point from 19-19 to 23-23.  The Royals then scored two straight to win 25-23, capped by a service ace from Yoder.

EMU used a couple of short spurts in the second set to get a big lead, with an 11-3 streak pushing the edge to 15-7.  The lead ballooned to 10 as the women rolled, 25-16.

The Gophers used a 7-0 run in the third to jump ahead 12-8, but they would not be able to maintain the momentum.  Eastern Mennonite used a 6-1 streak to take the lead back at 14-13, and then closed the day on a 9-2 run to win, 25-18.

The defense racked up 67 digs in the three sets, led by 16 from Skyler Johnson and 15 from Miller.  Jasmine Johnson also hit double figures with 11 digs to go with 16 set assists.

Janna Williams (Kenbridge, Va./Kenston Forest) topped a balanced attack with eight kills, while Yoder hammered seven with a match high .357 attack percentage.  She also had three aces.

Hardy dropped in a career high five blocks, including two solos, while Kait Miller (Sellersville, Pa./Christopher Dock) added three blocks.

Kelly Budge led Goucher with nine kills.

All-Tournament Team
Junior Becca Hardy was named to the EMU Invitational All-Tournament Team following play.  The middle hitter averaged 2.23 kills and 0.92 blocks at the invite.  She hit a season high 11 kills in Friday's sweep over Salem and broke her career high in blocks against Goucher.  Hardy also hit .231 or better in each of the four matches.

The Royals are now 3-2 after the busy opening week.  They get a break until next Saturday, when they head to a tri-match at St. Mary's (Md.).

Coach Carrie Bert talks about her team's play over the first week of the season: