HARRISONBURG, Va. - The Bridgewater Eagles volleyball team rallied in the second set to pull out a 3-1 victory over Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) rival Eastern Mennonite University.

Bridgewater had the first point of the opening set, but the score remained close from the get-go. A pair of kills by Abby Mills secured a brief lead for the Eagles but Eastern Mennonite bounced back to take a lead of their own until Carleigh Studtmann added another point for the Eagles to tie up the score.

The teams fought back and forth for the point advantage before Bridgewater pulled ahead 16-13 on a kill by Megann Grimes and a Nikki Snyder service ace. The Eagles held the lead until the Royals served an ace to win the set at a close score, 25-23.

Despite Bridgewater landing on the scoreboard first in the second set, the Royals surged ahead for an early 8-3 lead. Grimes and Mills collected a kill each in an effort to lessen the gap but Eastern Mennonite held tight to its lead and maintained it until a combination of hard hitting offense, led by Mills and Studtmann, and impressive serving by Snyder tied the score 20-20.

Although Eastern Mennonite tried to rally together to take back the lead, a Rachel Kinsey kill turned the tables on the Royals to seal the set win, 25-23.

The Royals kicked off the third set with a brief lead but the Eagles never let them out of their sight. The teams once more fought for the lead until the middle of the set saw kills by Kinsey, Studtmann, and Kristen Trice to bring Bridgewater ahead. Studtmann helped the Eagles maintain the lead by serving an ace and two Eastern Mennonite attack errors.

The Royals put in a valiant effort to bounce back but Studtmann delivered the final kill to cap off the set 25-18.

Studtmann kicked off the final set on the service line, collecting five points for the Eagles on several Eastern Mennonite errors and a kill by Grimes to send the Royals into a timeout. 

Eastern Mennonite was able to come back and tie up the socre, but the Eagles managed to shake off the Royals for the lead. The Royals tried to catch up but Studtmann's serving once again kept the Eagles ahead. Eastern Mennonite managed to collect one more point but it wouldn't be enough as Grimes locked down the final kill for a 25-16 set win and the match victory for the Eagles.

Mills collected a double-double for the night, leading Bridgewater with 14 kills and chipping in 14 digs. Grimes tallied 12 kills while Studtmann added 10. Snyder led the defense for the Eagles with 16 digs with Rachel Donaldson adding 15 and Chelsea Owensby chipping in 11 digs of her own. Snyder tallied season-high five service aces with Studtmann collecting four, a season-high for her. Shannon Skellchock had 38 assists for the match.

Eastern Mennonite was led by Regan Cook who had 14 kills with Sara Richie collecting 11 kills. Katie Miller led the defense with 21 digs while Richie chipped in 15 of her own. Jasmine Johnson recorded 21 assists for the night.

The Eagles return home for their next match against ODAC rival Hollins University on Friday Oct. 24. Game time set for 6:30 p.m.