HARRISONBURG, Va. - The EMU women's volleyball team welcomed Averett to Yoder Arena on Tuesday.

The Royals were looking to carry the weekend's momentum into the non-conference matchup. Early on, it looked like EMU would take control of the match. But Averett was able to storm back and pick up a 3-0 (25-17, 25-9, 25-18) over EMU. 

Highlights

• The first set could't have started much better for EMU. The Royals jumped out to a 7-1 lead, thanks in part to two kills from Lizzy Kirkton and a kill each from Paris Hutchinson and Sarah East. The Cougars clawed back in a bit but, with EMU up 11-8, the Royals went scored three straight, sandwiching an AU error between two Kirkton kills, to force an Averett timeout. The timeout did wonders for the Cougars as they proceeded to score 13 of the next 14 points, to go ahead 21-15. A Bri Leeper kill broke the scoring streak but Averett finished the set with a pair of aces and a kill to take a 1-0 lead. 
• The second set was a mirror image of the start of the match, as Averett jumped ahead 10-1. An East kill and three Cougar errors made the match close at 10-5, but Averett finished the set with a few random points and then runs of 4-0 and 7-0 to take a 2-0 match advantage. 
• The Royals refused to just bow out in the third, despite Averett taking a 13-9 lead. The Royals scored four straight, using kills from Kirkton and East, as well as blocks from Andrea Troyer and East to tie things at 13. The Cougars, however, scored the next five before East stopped the run. Averett ended the set on a 7-4 run, taking the set and the match and moving EMU to 9-8, 7-2 ODAC. 
• Kirkton's seven kills was tops for EMU while East had six. Megan Miller dished out 19 assists for the match. Defensively, Miller led the team with eight digs while Abby Kaufman had seven. 

Words from Coach Steinbrecher

Disappointed with our performance, we're a better team than we showed today. Averett is a good team and I'm excited to welcome them to the conference next year. Proud of first-year Karla Hostetter and Sarah Campbell for stepping up tonight. 

What's Next

EMU's schedule won't get any easier as they'll travel to Pennsylvania on Saturday for a pair of non-conference matches. They'll face Eastern at 3 pm before taking on host Susquehanna at 5 pm. Both teams are receiving votes in the latest AVCA poll. 

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