The EMU volleyball men opened up conference play on the road at Ramapo Friday night and fell in four sets.

The Royals look to come away with a win on the weekend when they take on conference opponent Immaculata tomorrow at 7:00pm.

The Roadrunners jumped out to a 20-11 lead in the first set. Drew Bennett (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks) sparked a three point rally with a kill and an ace to get EMU within six, but Ramapo finished the set 25-18.

The second set was evenly played for the first nine points as the Roadrunners held a 5-4 lead early. Ramapo got their offense going to use a 10-3 run to pull away from the Royals and win the set 25-16.

EMU finally got it going in the third set despite starting the set down 5-2. The serving rotation turned to Travis Abele (Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis) who worked a 6-0 run to put the Royals in front. The Roadrunners battled back to tie the game six times until it was even at 24. Hunter Taylor (Ashland, Va./Patrick Henry) gave EMU the point advantage with a kill then a setting error gave the Royals the 26-24 set win.

The fourth set started out even until the score was tied at eight. Ramapo used an 11-3 run to move ahead 19-11. The Royals were not finished as a service error threw off the Roadrunners momentum. A solo block by R.J. Ocampo (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial) capped a 7-1 run to get EMU back within two points. Ramapo closed out the set on a 5-0 run to win 25-18.

Abele had an all-around game with seven kills, seven digs, and three blocks. Ocampo provided on defense four blocks and four digs. Sean Wright (Glen Allen, Va./Deep Run) and Taylor both had four kills. Wyatt Bollinger (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) had 18 assists and two blocks.

Eric Van Thuyne led Ramapo with 16 kills and four aces.