VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A season that saw the EMU women's volleyball team win more conference games than it had in two decades, came to an end on Wednesday. 

The sixth-seeded Royals dropped a tightly-contested 1-3 (25-23, 22-25, 11-25, 14-25) matchup to the third-seeded Marlins of Virginia Wesleyan in the quarterfinals of the ODAC tournament. 

Highlights

• The Royals showed no signs of travel fatigue in the first set as EMU trailed just once the entire frame. Eastern Mennonite jumped out to a 6-3 lead, using aces from Megan Miller and Paris Hutchinson along with a Sarah East kill. VWU fought back and took a 7-6 lead, forcing a Royals timeout. Out of the break, took advantage of two Marlins errors and back-to-back Heather Phelps kills to re-take the lead they wouldn't relinquish again. Later in the set, two Hutchinson kills and a Lizzy Kirkton ace put EMU ahead 16-11. The two teams traded points until, with EMU ahead 23-19, VWU was able to tie the set and make EMU take another TO. But once again, the break did the Royals good as a Hutchinson kill and a Kirkton ace gave EMU the set. 
• Neither team was able to pull ahead through the first 14 points of the second. With the score tied at seven, Virginia Wesleyan went on a 5-0 run and took a 12-7 lead. EMU was able to pull back into the set at 12-14 thanks to kills from Hutchinson and Phelps, along with a block from Phelps and East. The points swapped with neither team able to run away with the set until, with VWU leading by one, the Marlins reeled off three straight points to go ahead 22-18. Back-to-back kills from Phelps forced a VWU time out and the Marlins picked up three of the next five points to pick up the set win. 
• The third set started out tight with EMU leading 4-3 early. But the Marlins went on runs of 4-0, 6-0 and 7-0 to take the set 25-11.  
• There was no sign of quit in the Royals in the fourth set, even after they got down 3-8. They took advantage of a trio of Marlins errors coupled with kills from Kirkton, Phelps and Bri Leeper to take a 10-8 lead midway through. But with the EMU leading 11-9, Virginia Wesleyan used runs of 4-0 and 8-0 to pull ahead 22-13. A Hutchinson kill brought the Royals within eight but VWU picked up three straight points to take the set and the match. 
• Hutchinson led all players with 13 kills and Phelps was right behind her with 12. Miller wrapped up her stellar season with 36 assists, giving her 710 for the year. Defensively, Hutchinson's 15 digs gave her a double-double on the night and senior Bethany Shultz added 14 digs. EMU also finished with 11 blocks, led by Phelps. 

Words from Coach Steinbrecher

We played them close for two sets and that was exciting to see. I'm very proud of all that these players accomplished this season. We're grateful for our seniors who should also be proud of the legacy they're leaving. Congrats to Wesleyan. We look forward to seeing them again next year. 

What's Next 

This loss ends the 2021 campaign for the Royals. But with just three seniors graduating, EMU will return its top five hitters, its leading setter and its top four dig leaders in 2022. 

To keep up to date with everything surrounding the volleyball program this year follow EMU on Twitter and Instagram, like EMU Athletics on Facebook or visit our website.