Men’s and Women’s Cross Country
Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Hornet Harrier invitational on Saturday. The men ran the 8K and 6K races, and the women’s team ran the 6K. Freshman Jack Rice took the top spot for the Royals in the 8K, clocking in at 29th place with a time of 32:02, followed by first- year Charles Thornton, first-year Andrew Nord, and junior Collin Longenecker with times of 32:07, 34:12, and 35:30, respectively. The women ran next, with senior Laurie Serrell and junior Elizabeth Nisly leading the way for the Royals in a race consisting of 31 runners. The pair came in ninth and tenth place respectively, with times of 24:40 and 24:41. Finally, three EMU men competed in a 6K race with 117 other runners, with first-year Isaac Alderfer claiming 12th place, sophomore Justice Allen taking 19th, and senior Derrick Chirinos coming in at 35th.
Women’s Volleyball
The women’s volleyball team kicked off a busy weekend of EMU sports on Friday, Sept. 21 with a narrow 3-2 defeat on the road at Hood College. EMU held a 2-1 lead through three sets, but Hood made an assertive comeback to take the match and handed the Royals their third straight loss, dropping their record to 3-9. First-year outside hitter Hannah Johnson impressed with 19 kills on 53 total attempts, while sophomore defensive specialist Ginny Sorrell led the way on defense with 17 digs. The team look to rebound from the loss on Friday, Sept. 28 in a home match against Methodist and on Saturday, Sept. 29 in a tri-match against Roanoke and Lynchburg.
Field Hockey
EMU Field Hockey won their fifth straight game on Friday, defeating the Wesley Wolverines 3-1 and boosting their season record to 6-1. Unassisted goals from sophomore Kayla Maret, first- year Rachel Breslin, and junior Hannah Nichols lifted the Royals to victory. Senior goalkeeper Kelsey Troyer made 11 saves in Friday’s match, which was enough to break EMU’s career saves record with 392, passing Jen Kooker’s 1995 record of 389 saves. The team hopes to continue their successful start to the season on Saturday, Sept. 29 on the EMU turf eld when Virginia Wesleyan comes to town.
Men’s and Women’s Golf
EMU women’s golfers participated in Saturday’s Bridgewater Invitational, with junior Olyvia Longacre placing second and first-year Kierra Zuercher coming in at 59th. Longacre’s 77 (+5) was a record low in her collegiate career. A second round would have given Longacre a chance hunt for first place, but Sunday’s round was cancelled due to rain. The EMU men’s team came in ninth place out of 12 competing teams at Tom Kinder Memorial in Harrisonburg on Monday, Sept. 24. First-year Christopher Elliott shot 81 (+9), while senior Riley Kingsley and sophomore Benjamin Shenk shot 82 (+10) apiece as the Royals’ leading scorers.
Men’s and Women’s Soccer
Lebanon Valley defeated the EMU men’s soccer team in a 5-1 rout on Saturday, Sept. 22. The game slipped away from the Royals after going into halftime at 1-1. Just one and a half minutes after a straight red card was issued to EMU’s junior midfielder Dominic Powers in the 62nd minute, Lebanon Valley netted their second goal and went on to score three more in the second half. The men’s record has now fallen to 3-4-1.
The EMU women’s team also played Saturday. Their game resulted in similar fortunes, with a loss on the road at Guilford College. The women held onto a 1-1 tie up until the end of the game, when they conceded a penalty kick with less than six minutes left in regulation. Guilford converted the penalty and saw out the final minutes to take a 2-1 win, lifting their season record to 3-3- 0 and dropping EMU’s to the same.
