The Royals played very well against visiting Marymount on Wednesday night, but couldn't get over the hump in a tight 3-0 loss.

After the lone non-conference match on their schedule, Eastern Mennonite (0-6) returns to CVC pod play this Saturday, hosting Randolph-Macon in a doubleheader. The home finale starts at 2:00pm.

Despite struggling to get in an offensive groove in the opening set, the men stayed close until Marymount (4-4) broke out with an 11-3 run to close the set for a 25-17 win.

The Royals hit much better in the second set, but MU still made a small cushion with a 4-0 run. Eastern Mennonite responded quickly with a 5-0 streak, taking an 18-17 lead on a service ace from Drew Bennett (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks). The Saints again were ready with a strong finish, however, closing on a 6-1 run for a 25-21 decision.

In the third the teams traded small runs early on before locking up at 18-18. The Royals forced ties at 19-19 and 22-22 but a pair of service errors hamstrung the men, giving Marymount a 25-23 clincher.

EMU hit .360 in the second set and .208 in the third, settling at .217 for the match. But the Saints simply out-hit their hosts with a .355 kill percentage. The Royals landed a season high seven aces, but also had a high with 20 service errors. Ben Childers (Chesterfield, Va./Matoaca) had three of the aces.

Nate McGhee (Newport News, Va./Heritage) was unstoppable at the net. He didn't make an attack error through the first two sets and finished with a career high 16 kills and a .464 kill percentage. McGhee also co-led the team with five digs.

Bennett was good for 23 assists, five digs and two aces. Josh White (Chesapeake, Va./Bishop Sullivan) and Jacob Durren (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) each had a hand in two blocks.

Luke Morris led an incredibly balanced attack for Marymount with six kills.