LYNCHBURG, Va.- For the time in program history, there was a men's volleyball home match at Giles Gymnasium as Randolph hosted Eastern Mennonite in the ODAC opener for both teams. The Royals had the upper hand on the 'Cats as they would win 3-0 (19-25, 22-25, 15-25).

Randolph falls to 1-5 overall and 0-1 in the conference. Eastern Mennonite improves to 2-4 on the season and 1-0 in ODAC play.

The WildCats notched the first two points of the first set to lead 2-0 but the Royals answered with back-to-back kills to tie the set at 2-2. Randolph would go ahead and lead 10-6. The Royals came back to get to within two points at 12-10 and used a 7-2 run to lead 17-14. The 'Cats closed to one point at 17-16 but the Royals went on an 8-3 run to close out the set and win 25-19.

EMU led 5-3 to start the second set but three straight errors led to three straight points for Randolph as it would lead 6-5. The Royals' 6-2 run gave the visitors an 11-8 lead. The WildCats would go on to tie the set at 15-15. An attack error and bad set on Randolph led to two points for the Royals and it was 17-15. The 'Cats rallied to tie the set at 20-20 but Eastern Mennonite used a 5-2 run to win the frame 25-22.

The Royals started the third set leading 7-1. EMU's big lead meant that Randolph needed to play catch up. The WildCats got to within five points at 19-14. In the end, another EMU run down the stretch, this time, 6-1, overtook the WildCats as the Royals won the set 25-15 to take the match.

Shamel Smith (Tamarac, Fla.) and Elijah Woods (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory HS) led the WildCats in kills with five. Connor Maher (Buckeye, Ariz./Odyssey Institute) led in assists with 17. Zachary Elbert (Milaca, Minn./Milaca HS) had a team-high seven digs,

Randolph is home again on Tuesday night as it hosts Roanoke in another ODAC matchup. Match time is at 7:00 p.m.