After a rough first set, EMU's volleyball women took off in a 3-1 non-conference win over visiting North Carolina Wesleyan Friday night in Harrisonburg. The Royals hit .256 over the final three sets as they dominated play to improve to 5-10 on the season.

Eastern Mennonite, 2-3 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, will step back onto their home court Saturday afternoon, hosting conference rival Guilford College at 4:00pm. The Quakers are 3-2 in league play.

Everything was clicking for EMU in the total team win over the Battling Bishops (3-9). After an 8-0 run knocked them out off a 25-15 first set, the Royals nudged ahead early in the second on the legs of a 4-0 streak. North Carolina Wesleyan had the score tied twice at 10-10 and 12-12, but another 4-0 run put the women back in the lead. Amy Goodman (Midlothian, Va./Midlothian) then finished off a 25-20 win with back-to-back kills.

EMU blew open the third set with an 8-0 run, fueled by three kills from Maria Yoder (Manheim, Pa./Hempfield) and a pair of service aces from Ginny Sorrell (Spotsylvania, Va./Spotsylvania). The Battling Bishops never recovered in a 25-16 final.

The momentum carried into the fourth where Sam Jacob (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) dropped in a pair of aces as the Royals opened with the first six points. EMU ballooned the lead to 20-9 before coasting to a 25-20 finish, topped off by Yoder's 10th kill of the night.

Three women hit. 312 or better as the team hit a season-best .190. Goodman was a huge spark off the bench, playing only the final three sets but landing a team high 12 kills. Yoder made just two errors on her 10 kills, while sophomore Meredith Stinnette (Lynch Station, Va./Altavista) had her most efficient match as a Royal, dropping eight kills with a .368 attack percentage from the outside. Beck Hoskins (Danville, Va./Westover Christian Academy) added six kills and just one error.

Setters Jasmine Johnson (Staunton, Va./Robert E. Lee) and Carly Gingerich (Goshen, Ind./Goshen) were impressive. Jasmine Johnson had 24 assists to go with 12 digs, while Gingerich put up 17 assists.

Libero Skyler Johnson (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) led all players with 26 digs. Jacob finished with four service aces and 11 digs, while Sorrell had three aces.

Autumn Spence, Callie Cline and Emily McLain each had eight kills for North Carolina Wesleyan.