HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Bridgewater College volleyball team earned an important road victory after sweeping cross-town rival Eastern Mennonite, 3-0 (25-20, 25-21 25-14), on Tuesday evening in the Yoder Arena.

Bridgewater (17-4, 6-1 ODAC) recorded its fourth consecutive ODAC victory and holds a one game lead over Lynchburg for the third spot in the league polls. Eastern Mennonite (9-13, 2-5 ODAC) remains just outside of the playoff picture at ninth in the standings.

Abby Mills paced the Eagles offensive attack with a match-high 13 kills, and Jenna Hamra recorded her fifth double-double of the year on a match-best 31 assists and 12 digs.

Carleigh Studtmann registered eight attacks on 14 attempts (.571), while Rachel Kinsey was 7-for-11 (.545) at the net. Studtmann also notched four blocks total, three of which were solo stops.

Macon Frey was just shy of a double-double with 15 digs and nine assists, and Victoria Wilson finished the contest with seven kills and eight digs.

The Eagles faced a three-point deficit early in the first period, but sparked a 10-3 rally to take a 14-10 advantage and force an EMU timeout. A kill by Kinsey gave the Eagles a double-digit cushion, 23-13, before the Royals closed the gap to 23-19 on six straight points.

A Royals' attack error gave the Eagles set-point, and Mills closed the period with a kill a couple possessions later.

Bridgewater set the tone in the second set with an 11-5 margin. EMU rallied late in the period after a kill by Katie Miller closed the gap to 18-16. Bailey Long crushed a spike to build the BC lead to 22-18, and she went on to score the set-winning point.

The Eagles' relentless attacks began to wear down the Royals in the third set. BC hit .270 with 15 kills and five errors compared to EMU's -.057 attack percentage on five kills and seven errors during the final frame.

Bridgewater claimed a 17-10 advantage on a Taylor McNeely service ace and reached the 20-mark with another ace by Hamra. Hamra found Studtmann in the middle for match-point, and and Studtmann then assisted Wilson on a block to seal the sweep.

The Eagles remain on the road with one of its biggest test of the season against Randolph-Macon on Friday at 7:00 p.m. RMC is undefeated in ODAC play (6-0) and tied with Washington and Lee for first in the conference.