The Royals are marching in their second winning streak of the young season. With Thursday's 3-0 sweep of Mary Baldwin in Staunton, Va., the volleyball women have won three in a row to bump their record back over .500 at 8-7.

They also had a five-match streak early in the season.

EMU got to play all 18 of their healthy players in rolling over the Fighting Squirrels, including a different setter in each of the three sets. The offense responded by firing a season-best .320 hitting percentage.

The Royals have the weekend off before playing at Southern Virginia next Tuesday. Game time in Buena Vista, Va., is 7:00pm.

Eastern Mennonite's seniors got them starting quickly against Mary Baldwin, with Becca Hardy (Port Republic, Va./Eastern Mennonite) and Kait Miller (Sellersville, Pa./Christopher Dock) combining for the team's first four kills. Moments later a 9-0 run blew open a 15-4 score. Ginny Sorrell (Spotsylvania, Va./Spotsylvania) finally dropped in an ace to cap a set-ending 7-0 run for a 25-11 score.

The second set was a little tighter, with neither team having a run more than three points. But the Royals scored first and never trailed, pushing to a 25-17 win.

The Fighting Squirrels scored two quick points to open the third, gaining their first lead of the night. But EMU responded with a 9-1 streak to take control, leading by as many as 13 before closing at 25-15.

Hardy broke a program record by landing nine kills on just ten swings with no errors. Her .900 attack percentage broke the previous match record of .688 set by EMU Hall of Honor member Becky Miller in 1991. Hardy is hitting an ODAC-best .415 this season.

Maria Yoder (Manheim, Pa./Hempfield) finished as the team leader with 10 kills. The outside hitter had 19 swings with no errors for a percentage of .526. Janna Williams (Kenbridge, Va./Kenston Forest) kept pace with a .500 attack percentage and nine kills. Middle Beck Hoskins (Danville, Va./Westover Christian Academy) went 7-for-15, as EMU's top four hitters combined to make just one error in 60 attacks.

Jasmine Johnson (Staunton, Va./Robert E. Lee) had 14 assists as the starting setter. The junior also moved into No. 4 in EMU history with 1,546 career assists, surpassing Ruth Steiner's 1,538. Erin Mays (Ridgeway, Va./Westover Christian Academy) put up 12 assists in the second, and freshman Abbi Hawkins (Middlebury, Ind./Bethany Christian) charted 10 in the third set.

Sorrell picked up a match high 16 digs while Skyler Johnson (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) was just behind her with 15.