HARRISONBURG, Va. - EMU wrapped up its women's volleyball regular season on Friday with a visit from cross-town rival, Bridgewater. At stake? Seeding for next weeks ODAC tournament. 

Unfortunately for the Royals, Bridgewater was able to escape Yoder Arena with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-18) win and send EMU on the road for the first round of next weeks tournament. 

Highlights

• Bridgewater came out swinging in the first set, but the Royals were able to keep things close. With BC leading 11-5 and EMU coming out of a timeout, a Lizzy Kirkton kill and an Eagle error brought EMU within four. The two teams went back and forth until, with BC ahead 14-9, a Paris Hutchinson kill and another Bridgewater error made it 14-11 and gave EMU some momentum. But that mo was short lived as Bridgewater went on a 9-2 run to pull ahead. A Kirkton and Heather Phelps block, another Kirkton kill and a BC error brought EMU within eight but Bridgewater took the set with a kill to go up 1-0. 
• The Royals pulled ahead 6-3 to start the second set, using kills from Hutchinson and a Phelps block to take the lead. But the Eagles would pull ahead use runs of 6 and 8 to take a 17-8 lead. After BC went ahead 23-11, the Royals made a push with an Eagle error, two Hutchinson kills and a Bethany Shultz ace to try to climb back in, but it wasn't enough as BC scored two of the next four to take a 2-0 lead. 
• The third set started out in favor of the Eagles before EMU rallied to tie things at three early. The teams swapped points and a Hutchinson ace tied things back up a seven before Bridgewater went on an 8-2 run to go up 15-9. A Troyer kill stopped the run and EMU used a 5-2 tilt to pull within three at 14-17. But the Eagles scored six of the next seven to go up 23-15. Kirkton and Bri Leeper added kills but Bridgewater was able to end the match on a block to take a 3-0 win. 
• Hutchinson finished with a match-high 16 kills to go along with 11 digs, giving her her fifth double-double of the season. Kirkton finished with eight kills. Megan Miller was impressive yet again, dishing out 26 assists to finish the regular season with 674. Defensively, Shultz led the way with seven digs and Abby Kaufman had six. 

Words from Coach Steinbrecher

Disappointed with the loss but grateful for the fans tonight. We had a chance to celebrate our seniors and it was a good home crowd for them to play in front of one last time. We're very proud of all they have helped this team accomplish! Paris (Hutchinson) was zeroed in tonight and Bridgewater had no answer for her. Although, they had a very stingy defense otherwise. That's a tough team to score on. Looking ahead, we are excited to be back in the ODAC tournament. 

What's Next

While the bracket isn't set, the loss more than likely sends the Royals to the sixth seed in next weeks ODAC tournament where they'll travel to Virginia Beach to take on Virginia Wesleyan. The match will be on Wednesday but a time is yet to be determined. 

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