LYNCHBURG, Va. - It's not very often a team gets to say that they're undefeated in every conference game they've EVER played. But after today, the Royals can make that claim. 

EMU opened conference play on Saturday, their first ever game in the ODAC, with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-15) win over Randolph College. 

Records: EMU 2-4, 1-0 ODAC | Randolph 1-5, 0-1 ODAC

Highlights

Set One - EMU 25, Randolph 19

• Randolph pulled ahead 2-0 to start the opening set, before a pair of Royals kills, once each from Ricardo Fernandez Perez and Ezekiel Awkward, tied things at two. The teams traded points to 3-3, then Randolph went on an 8-4 run to take an 11-7 lead. 
• EMU responded with a 10-3 tilt, picking up two kills from Awkward and blocks from Daeman Odom and Odom/Andre Mills, to take a 17-14 lead. Randolph would pull within one at 17-16, but EMU would score three straight, with a kill from Sebastian Clemente and a Mills ace, to force a WildCat timeout. 
• Out of the break, EMU would score four of the next five points from Fernandez Perez and Awkward to take a seven point lead. Randolph would try to climb back in with back-to-back EMU errors, but a kill from Jose Melendez gave the Royals a 1-0 lead.

Set Two - EMU 25, Randolph 22

• Once again it was the WildCats taking a slim lead to start the second set, 2-1, before back-to-back kills from Mills and Awkward put EMU on top. Randolph would take a 6-5 lead, but EMU answered with a WildCat error and a Mills kill, for a 7-6 lead. 
• With the set tied at seven, kills from Clemente and Melendez, along with a Mills ace, pushed EMU's lead to three. Randolph would eventually tie the set at 13, 14, 15 and 20, but could never retake the lead.
• With things tied at 20, after an EMU timeout, a service error and a Clemente kill put EMU ahead 22-20. Randolph called timeout, picked up a kill, but dropped three of the next four points, as the Royals used a kill from Mills to take a 2-0 match lead. 

Set Three - EMU 25, Randolph 15

• EMU led from end-to-end in set three, starting out with an 8-2 advantage as Awkward added two more kills, Melendez picked up an ace and Odom added two blocks while Mills had one.
• The Royals would extend their lead to as many as eight midway through the set, with a 9-7 run and kills from four different Royals, as they took a 17-9 advantage and looked to wrap up the sweep. 
• After three straight points from Randolph, to pull within five, EMU would outscore the WildCats 8-3 over the match's final 11 points. Mills and Melendez each kills, and Derek Diaz picked a great time for his first kill of the match, slamming home the final point in the EMU win.

Statistical Leaders
Mills: 7 kills, 3 blocks, 6 digs, 3 aces
Fernandez Perez: 21 assists, 8 digs, 1 ace, 1 block
Awkward: 7 kills, 5 digs
Odom: 5 blocks

What's Next
EMU will look to stay undefeated in ODAC play when they head to Danville on Wednesday, to take on Averett. First serve against the Cougars is set for 6:30 pm. 

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