LEXINGTON, Va. – For the first time since 2018, the Royals found themselves in the CVC semifinals, taking on the Knights of Southern Virginia.

EMU put up a fight, but it was nation's #1 team, SVU, picking up the 3-0 (25-10, 25-23, 25-11) win, to advance to the CVC Championship.

Records: EMU 18-13, 4-4 CVC | Southern Virginia 27-0, 8-0 CVC

Highlights
Set One
SVU jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start the match, before a kill from Andre Mills got EMU on the board and ended the Knights run. After a service error from the Royals, David Ward picked up his first kill of the match to make the score 6-2. SVU followed that up with a 6-1 tilt, for a 12-3 advantage. Later, trailing 15-4, EMU tried to climb back in, picking up a pair of blocks, one from Walter Spurlock, Jose Melendez and Tyler Oaks, with the other coming from Oaks and Ben Childers. Unfortunately for EMU, they were only able to add four more points in the set, coming off an error and kills from Ward, Childers and Mills, as SVU took a 1-0 lead.
  
Set Two
EMU shook the nerve off from the first set, and came out with fire in set two. Trailing 2-0, EMU grabbed a kill from Melendez and Spurlock, along with an SVU error, to tie the match at three. After SVU took a 5-3 lead, EMU responded with an 8-2 run, highlighted by kills from Mills, Spurlock and Ward, along with blocks from Mills/Childers and Mills/Ward/Childers, for an 11-7 lead. The Knights showed why they're the top-ranked team in the nation, and rallied with an 8-2 run to retake the lead, 15-13. The teams traded points until back-to-back points off an error and a Mills kill pulled the Royals back within one. Later in the set, with SVU pulling back ahead 22-17, EMU scored five of the next six points off kills from Mills and Ward, along with a block from Melendez and Ward, to pull within one and force an SVU timeout. Out of the break, the Royals were able to pick up a point, but SVU finished out the set winning two of the final three points.

Set Three
An attack error, a Nate McGhee kill and a block from Melendez and Ward gave EMU a 3-2 lead to start the third set. SVU rallied for a 6-2 run, taking the lead, before EMU used back-to-back kills from Childers to pull within one, 8-7. The Knights extended their lead with a 12-2 run to take a big 20-9 advantage. EMU picked up a kill from Mills but the Knights finished out the match winning five of the final six points.

Statistical Leaders
Mills: 8 kills, 3 blocks
Oaks: 19 assists, 2 blocks, 4 digs
Ward: 5 kills, 3 blocks, 2 digs

What's Next
This is the end of the Royals season, but they have a lot to hang their hats on, winning the most matches since 2018 and advancing to the CVC semis for the first time since 2018. They'll lose seniors AJ Bagby, B. Childers, N. McGhee, T. Oaks and W. Spurlock

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