Ben Childers averaged 2.0 kills per set on opening day. (photo by Scott Eyre)
EMU’s volleyball men dropped a pair of matches to nationally ranked Southern Virginia to open the season Saturday in Harrisonburg. The young Royals showed some flashes but couldn’t match the consistency of SVU in being swept twice.
The men hit the road on Tuesday afternoon to play a road match at No. 14 Southern Virginia. In part due to the large geographical footprint of the Continental Volleyball Conference, Eastern Mennonite’s season essentially consists of four matches each against the Knights and Randolph-Macon. The Royals also added a single non-conference contest against Marymount.
Set scores in the first match against SVU were 25-16, 25-18 and 25-18. The men played their best volleyball late, including an 8-2 run towards the end of the second set and then holding the lead through the first half of the third.
Ben Childers (Chesterfield, Va./Matoaca) landed seven kills with a couple of service aces. Sophomore transfer Nate McGhee (Newport News, Va./Heritage/Randolph-Macon) had seven kills in his first outing as a Royal, while Jacob Durren (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) had seven kills and three blocks.
Drew Bennett (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks) had 15 set assists, while Neo Carter (Newport News, Va./Heritage) stepped into the libero role and picked up six digs.
Southern Virginia controlled the second match early with wins of 25-14 and 25-15, before EMU came alive. The men jumped to a 4-1 lead and held a small margin into extra points, including twice serving for the set. The Knights got their second lead of the set at 26-25 before sneaking out a 29-27 finale.
Freshman David Ward (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) found his rhythm and smashed seven kills. McGhee and Childers each added five. Bennett again had 15 assists with two aces. Carter was good for five digs.
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