EMU's volleyball men rebounded from a tough loss to CVC rival Marymount but romping over No. 5 New York University at Saturday's tri-match hosted by MU in Arlington, Va.

The Royals, now 3-3 against ranked opponents, are 14-5 overall and 5-1 in the CVC. The men settle back with the pack in the Continental Volleyball Conference, as EMU, Marymount and Juniata each have just one loss in conference play. The 14 wins tied the high mark for the program since winning 16 matches in 2008. The men still have 12 contests left in the regular season.

Eastern Mennonite stays on the road next weekend, playing two D-II opponents in Bristol, Tenn., next Saturday. The Royals open that day against host King before getting Alderson Broaddus.

No. 14 Marymount 3, No. 9 EMU 1
The Royals scored first on a service ace from Christian Taylor (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) and ran away with set one. They led by as many as 20-13, cruising to a 25-20 win.

After hitting .409 in the opener, EMU hit some troubles in the second, faltering after holding a 14-13 lead. Marymount grabbed control with a 4-0 run, and closed on a 12-4 streak to win 25-18.

In the third, the Saints used a 3-0 push to open a 14-9 margin. The men got within one at 15-14, but could never even the score in a 25-23 final. MU carried the momentum into the fourth, opening leads of 7-2 and 15-9 en route to a 25-13 final.

Josh Elmore (Chester, Va./Matoaca) and William Ragland (North Chesterfield, Va./Thomas Dale) were the main weapons. Elmore had 18 kills, nine digs and two blocks, while Ragland also had 18 with eight digs and a service ace.

Taylor had 41 set assists. Dan Lutz (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim) made three blocks.

TJ Wiechecki led Marymount with 19 kills, 11 digs and five of his team's 13.5 blocks.

No. 9 EMU 3, No. 5 New York 1
After the disappointing conference setback to Marymount, the men came out slowly against New York University, trailing by as many as eight points in a 25-19 loss in the opener.

With the potential for a let-down loss, Eastern Mennonite regrouped and consistently pushed out to a 12-8 lead in the second. The Violets got within one point a handful of times but the men pulled out a 25-23 win to even the score.

The momentum then snowballed. The Royals took over in the third with an early 5-0 run and pulled away for a 25-16 win. In the fourth, EMU scored four straight to break off an 8-8 tie and never let New York re-tie the score, finally closing the door with a 25-23 clincher.

Ragland was again the leader, pounding down 15 kills with a .367 attack percentage. Elmore had eight kills and four blocks while Tim Callahan (Harrisburg, Va./Central Dauphin) added seven kills. Lutz had six kills on eight swings to go with four blocks.

Taylor had 34 assists. Micah Buller (Richmond, Va./Douglas Freeman) tied for the match high with 10 digs.

The Violets were led by 18 kills from Alex Li, although NYU hurt themselves with 26 service errors.