The EMU Men’s Volleyball team have had their ups and downs throughout the season, from sweeping the Route 42 Rivalry against their primary rival Bridgewater, to losing six in a row at the end of the season. The Royals placed sixth in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) standings.
The Royals started the 2026 season with two invitationals and tournaments, going 2-5 and losing to #5 at the time, Southern Virginia. Once the Royals got into Conference play, they began to show what they were capable of doing. The team faced Lynchburg, winning 3-0, then went down to Danville, VA, to play Averett, twice winning 3-0 in both games. In late February, EMU hosted Shenandoah, beating the Hornets 3-0, and then Bridgewater came up and lost 3-1 to the Royals, giving them a 4-0 start to Conference play.
Things started to sour for the Royals going into March, losing at Randolph-Macon 3-0 and then losing at Messiah in a non-Conference game, and to both Randolph and Roanoke. The Royals won a couple games, then lost a couple through the middle of March; then, after beating Bridgewater again, the Royals took a turn for the worse. EMU lost six games in a row to end the season on a lower note than first hoped, but they did secure a sixth place finish, making them the last team to get into the ODAC tournament. With a record of 11-18 and an ODAC record of 6-10, no one expected the Royals to make it too far.
The University of Lynchburg got third place in the ODAC and had a record of 14-11 going into the opening tournament game. The Lynchburg Hornets went 1-1 against the Royals with the win at home for the Hornets, so the Royals were certainly capable of winning against their higher-seeded foe.
The team arrived in Lynchburg ready to play, with Derek Diaz, Jose Melendez, Daeman Odom, and James Powell all getting kills quickly in the first set putting the Royals up 5-3. Later the Hornets took a 20-19 lead before Melendez had a kill to send the set to extras with Ezekiel Awkward having the set winning kill, with the final being 26-24. With a 1-0 set lead, the Royals took the momentum and punched back and forth with Lynchburg throughout the next set. Lynchburg got to set point twice and both times the Royals denied the Hornets’ hopes of victory. The Royals closed out the set 28-26. Like in the second set, the Hornets came out with the lead but the Royals clawed their way back and yet again traded blows with the three seed. Finally, EMU pulled off the upset, winning the set 25-21 with Ezekiel Awkward getting 11 kills and both Odom and Diaz gaining eight.
Next, the second seeded Roanoke College was all that stood in the way of the Royals’ march into the championship. Roanoke, however, had beaten the Royals in both of their previous games. Roanoke went 21-7 in the regular season with a ODAC record of 14-2, so it would be a tall task for the Royals. The atmosphere in the University Commons of Eastern Mennonite was one of excitement for the team as students watched the game from miles away. In Roanoke, the Royals fell in the first set 26-24 in an overall close set. The Royals in the second set took charge with a 6-4 lead followed by a 10-10 draw, then a 9-2 run making it 19-12. Roanoke clawed back, making the score close in the late game. The Royals, however, won the set. EMU blew Roanoke out in the third set, 25-14, and Roanoke tied the match up again winning the fourth set 25-23, setting up a winner takes all final set. Roanoke took an early lead followed by a Royals’ answer, and the Royals set up their second upset win, while almost blowing it. The final set ended with a Diaz kill winning the set 15-13, and ultimately the game 3-2. Melendez finished the match with the most kills at 18, followed by Odom with 17 and Pierce Donnelly with 11.
With this unprecedented win, the University planned a send-off for the team as they left from the University Commons for Ashland, VA on Friday night. Future Student Government Association Co-president Davis Bert told the Weather Vane, “It was a great time and I could feel the community’s, team’s, and fans’ energy at the send off.” The good energy unfortunately did not follow the Royals to Ashland, where they fell in the first couple sets 25-21 and 25-18. The Royals took the third set 25-23, but they finally lost in the fourth set losing 3-1. Randolph-Macon took the ODAC title and went to the NCAA tournament. Despite their loss in the end, EMU pulled off an incredible run, setting themselves up for a great next season.
