Box Score

Harrisonburg, VA - For the second time in less than 24 hours, the Hollins volleyball team was on the court looking to pick up a conference road win.  After falling to Bridgewater College last night, Hollins faced off with Eastern Mennonite University trying to pick up a split on their overnight trip to the Shenandoah Valley.

A big fear for a road weary Hollins team was trying to see how the effects of a quick turnaround would affect their start to the match with the Royals.  Hollins showed no fatigue in racing out to an early lead.  Hollins turned away their hosts every time Eastern Mennonite tried to mount a rally en route to taking the first set, 25-19.  However, the home standing Royals quickly stole the momentum at the outset of the second frame.  Hollins tried to get back into the set but to no avail as EMU coasted to a 25-15 set victory and evened the match at 1-1.  The third set turned out to be a back and forth affair from the beginning.  The Royals finally seized control and started to pull away, 15-9.  Hollins had one more run in them and won 10 of the next 17 points to cut the deficit to 22-19.  Hollins, however, could get no closer and fell in the crucial third set, 25-21.  Hollins left everything they had on the court trying to rally in the third and in the fourth and final set, Hollins didn't have much left in the tank.  The Royals raced out to a 10-3 lead and never looked back as the Royals took the set, 25-14, and the match, 3-1.

Senior Jessie Deese (Cary, NC) rebounded from last night to post a solid all around game.  Deese recorded nine kills, two assists, two service aces, and a team high 21 digs.  Fellow senior Lauren Hays (Saginaw, TX) led the team with 13 kills and four service aces.  Lela Moore (Woodleaf, NC) registered 22 assists and nine digs while Haley Ortiz (Portsmouth, VA) added three assists and 20 digs.  Outside hitter Rikki Martinez (Corpus Chrisit, TX) had one kill and 17 digs and Jordan Persinger (New Castle, VA) killed six and equaled Hays with three total blocks.

Eastern Mennonite recorded 51 kills led by Sara Ritchie, 13, and Janna Williams, 11.  Erin Mays and Jasmine Johnson split time as the primary setter as the duo combined to assist on 41 of the team's kills.  Katie Miller helped on the back line by picking up a match high 24 digs.

Hollins will step out of conference on Tuesday when they travel to Ferrum College.  It marks the third time this season that the two have faced off with each team winning on match.