HARRISONBURG, Va. - After being off from action for almost two weeks due to weather, the Royals returned to the court on Friday night, taking on Rutgers-Newark on day one of the EMU Royals Tournament. 

It was a back-and-forth matchup, with all three sets decided by two-to-three points, but ultimately it was RUN squeaking out the 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23) win. 

Records: EMU 1-4, 0-0 ODAC | Rutgers-Newark 4-2, 0-0 CVC

Highlights

Set One: RUN 25, EMU 22??????

• Kills from Pierce Donnelly and Derek Diaz gave the Royals an early 2-1 lead. The Scarlet Raiders answered with an 8-3 run, taking a 9-5 lead. 
• An attack error and a block from Daeman Odom, Bennett de Tenley and Diaz pulled EMU within two. RUN outscored EMU 9-6 over the next 15 points, pulling ahead 18-13 and forcing an EMU timeout. 
• Out of the break, after a Scarlet Raiders ace, EMU clawed back into the set with an 8-3 tilt, with a kill from Jose Melendez, a Diaz/James Powell block and back-to-back Odom/Melendez/Donnelly blocks, to cut RUN's lead to one and force a Scarlet Raiders timeout. Unfortunately for EMU, out of the timeout, Rutgers-Newark used kills on three of the next four points to take a 1-0 match lead. 

Set Two: RUN 25, EMU 23

• Ezekiel Awkward made his Yoder Arena debut in set two, and made an impact early with three kills for a 7-4 EMU lead. RUN answered with an 11-3 run, and a 15-10 lead at the media timeout. 
• After the timeout, the Royals went on a 7-4 run with two kills from Odom. A few points later, a service error, an Awkward kill and a block from Melendez and Powell, pulled EMU within one, 21-20. RUN continued to have an answer to each of EMU's points and hold a lead, which EMU kept trying to chip away on. But, after an Odom kill made the score 24-23 Rutgers-Newark, a kill gave the Scarlet Raiders a 2-0 lead. 

Set Three: EMU 25, RUN 22

• EMU jumped out to a 3-1 lead with kills from Melendez and Powell and added to their lead with a Melendez/Powell/Diaz block. The teams traded points to 7-7, but EMU re-extended their lead back to three with a RUN error, a Melendez solo block and a Melendez kill. 
• An even 5-5 run over the next 10 points gave the Royals a 15-12 lead at the media break. The teams swapped points until, with EMU leading 18-15, the Scarlet Raiders took the lead with four straight points. EMU added a kill from Awkward, but two straight kills put RUN ahead 21-19. 
• EMU surged ahead by one after a pair of errors and an Awkward ace before Rutgers-Newark tied things at 22. But EMU wasn't ready to wrap up the night yet, as they won the next three points on three straight RUN errors, to cut RUN's lead to 2-1. 

Set Four: RUN 25, EMU 23

• The fourth set started out 5-5 until EMU took a five-point lead with kills from Odom, Awkward and Johnathan Badowski, along with an Odom/Badowski block. 
• With the Royals ahead 11-6, RUN went on a 13-7 run over the next 20 points, taking a slim one-point lead late. Kills from Awkward and Diaz brought the crowd to life and tied the set at 21, and after a Diaz block, things were also tied at 22.
• Back-to-back kills put RUN on the brink of a win, but Diaz kept that from happening with a kill, making the score 24-23. But after a Scarlet Raiders timeout, a RUN kill wrapped up the fourth set, and the match. 

Statistical Leaders
Kills: Awkward (10), Melendez (7)
Assists: Ricky Fernandez (22)
Digs: Rey De La Cruz, Sebastian Clemente, Gael Bravo (6)
Blocks: Melendez (6), Powell (5)

What's Next
EMU is right back in action on Saturday, for day two of the Royals Tournament. They'll take on Bethany College at noon before finishing the day with #5 SVU at 6:00 pm. 

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