ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College Athletes of the Week for the week ending March 19 are
Mark Kawecki '17, who guided the men's volleyball team to a pair of wins, and
Yaniv Kogan '18, who swept his singles and doubles matches in EC's victory over Pennsylvania College of Technology.
Kawecki posted a pair of double-digit kill performances and helped the Soaring Eagles pick up non-conference wins over D'Youville College on the road on March 16 and Baruch College at home on March 18. He finished the week with 26 kills for a 3.25 kills per set average and a .408 attack percentage, to go along with team highs in digs (12) and service aces (5).
In a match that Elmira set a new program record for attack percentage (.564), Kawecki turned in a career performance of his own. En route to a 3-0 drubbing of D'Youville, he floored 11 kills on 15 attempts without an error, equaling a career-high .733 attack percentage. In that match, he also equaled his previous career high with five aces, and led EC in both total blocks (2) and digs (5). The Bangor, Pennsylvania, native came up with a clutch outing in a five-set victory over the Bearcats on Saturday as well. Kawecki tied his season high with 15 kills and three blocks. Four of his kills went down in the decisive fifth set, including the match point.
Kawecki's consecutive matches with double-digit kills allowed the senior outside hitter to become just the fourth player in Elmira history to eclipse the 600-kill plateau. On the season, he's registered a 2.58 kills per set average, third-best on the team, in addition to 1.60 digs per set, the second-most among the Soaring Eagles.
The Elmira men will look to extend their current three-match win streak in a crucial United Volleyball Conference (UVC) matchup on Tuesday, March 21, when the Purple and Gold host Penn State-Behrend at 7:00 p.m.
Kogan was one of the many Soaring Eagles who performed exceedingly well in EC's non-conference match on March 17 against the Wildcats of the Penn College. The third-year netter earned victories at both fifth singles and third doubles, as Elmira rolled Penn College 9-0.
In doubles play, Kogan teamed up with
Anthony Colavito '20 to top the Wildcat duo of Austin Adams and Stephen Helminiak by an unblemished score of 8-0. Then in singles, the Modiin, Israel, native won 12 of the 13 games played and cruised to victory over Adams in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1.
The wins over the Wildcats marked the second consecutive match in which Kogan has swept play in singles and doubles, improving his overall record to 2-3 in both this season. He also moved into sole possession of sixth place all-time in program history in singles wins with 20, while equaling Eric Klinedinst '12 in overall wins with 37, a figure that's tied for 10th place all-time.
Kogan and the Soaring Eagles will hit the road for the first time this spring, as Elmira travels to Scranton, Pennsylvania, for a non-conference match against Marywood University on Thursday, March 23. The tilt with the Pacers is set to begin at 2:30 p.m.
