Men’s Volleyball Picks up Win in Hope Opener

HARRISONBURG, Va. – After starting their season with five straight road matches, the EMU men’s volleyball team finally got to play in front of a home crowd. 

And the Royals crowd got a show as junior Nate McGhee had a huge night and EMU picked up a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-17) win over Immaculata. The win moves the Royals to 1-5, 1-0 CVC. 

Highlights

• EMU started out on top of the first set, pulling ahead 6-3 behind blocks from Jacob Durren, Christopher Webster and Ben Childers, along with kills from McGhee and Childers. The Mighty Macs were able to claw back in and after trading points, tying things at nine. EMU took a 13-9 lead with a Wyatt Bollinger block and three McGhee kills but once again, Immaculata fought back to tie things at 14 and 15. EMU was able to pick up points but Immaculata always had an answer so the Royals weren’t able to pull ahead by much until late in the set. With EMU ahead by just one, a McGhee kill and an error put the Royals ahead by three. The Mighty Macs wouldn’t recover, with EMU picking up the set point on a bad set from Immaculata. 
• The second set started much the same with the teams trading points back and forth. Leading 6-5, EMU picked up three straight with a pair of Mac errors and a Bollinger/Childers block. Immaculata was able to keep things close until midway through the set, trailing 14-10, McGhee picked up a kill to go along with an ace and IU error to go up by seven. Immaculata went on a 6-2 run to make the score 19-16 but kills from Durren and Bollinger gave EMU all the cushion they’d need. An attack error from the Mighty Macs ended the set and gave EMU a 2-0 lead. 
• The Royals jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start the third and never trailed. Midway through the set, leading 9-7, EMU went on a 12-6 to put the match out of reach. Immaculata was able to pull within six at 23-17 but a Childers kill and an attack error gave EMU the shutout win. 
• McGhee led the way with a double-double, throwing down a career-high 22 kills to go along with 10 digs. He hit a stellar .405 on the night. Childers picked up four kills and four blocks while Bollinger added five kills and three blocks. Tyler Oaks dished out 29 assists for the Royals. 

By the Numbers

• 2 – McGhee’s 22 kills were just two less than the entire Immaculata team had for the match.  
• .188 – EMU hit a solid .232 from the floor on Friday…