CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Avery Moore's (Arlington, Texas, Lamar) 37 assists led the Royals past Pfeiffer University (8-6 CC, 9-14) Wednesday night at a jam-packed Ovens Athletic Center. The 3-0 win (25-12, 25-23, 25-14) completes the season sweep of the Falcons and improves the Royals to 9-5 (16-7) and just 0.5 games behind Barton College, whom they have a make-up match against on November 7th, for third place in the Conference Carolinas.

After an eight-day hiatus, the Royals showed no signs of rust, jumping out to early leads in each set and winning twice by double digits.

Head coach Angela McGuire was proud of her team's ability to rebound from the extended break.

“After spending eight days practicing without a match during that span, it was incredible to see these ladies come out tonight and dominate from start to finish,” said McGuire.

“It's always a bit nerve-racking coming off of such a long break, but we never missed a beat.

The Royals received contributions from a variety of sources, as four players tallied eight-plus kills on the night. Keri Kemp (Lake Mary, Fla., Lake Mary) led the offense with a match-high 12 kills while Alexa Sparrell (Winter Park, Fla., Winter Park) added a balanced attack with nine kills (.300), nine digs, and four blocks (one solo, three assists). Anna Gibbs (Hickory, N.C., Hickory) and Brittany Harvey (Matthews, N.C., Sun Valley ) also prospered offensively, notching eight and nine kills, respectively.

Ranked 44th in NCAA DII aces per set (0.50), Brittney Barren (Ham Lake, Minn., Blaine) gave the Royals a boost in key spots with four aces on the day.

The Royals were able to maintain integrity defensively, as four players recorded eight-plus digs.

“We had all the pistons firing and it showed this team what they are truly capable of doing when they combine their skill sets.

“Offensively and defensively we have really gotten into a rhythm and you can see the players trust each other while they're out there. With only five matches remaining in the regular season, we all have very high expectations on how we are going to finish this season.”

The Royals play a pair of those matches this weekend.

They'll travel to nonconference foe Columbia College on Friday night for their second match of the season. The Royals defeated the Koalas (13-11) 3-1 in their first meeting at the Queens Double B Graphix Invite.

After round two with the Koalas, the Royals will host Erskine (11-3, 15-8) Saturday at 2:00 p.m. for the rubber match of their season series. After falling to the Flying Fleet 1-3 early in the season, the Royals will look to even the score while positioning themselves for the playoff push.