Ryan McDonough '18 helped the men's volleyball team shake off a rough start and end a nine-match losing streak by leading the Soaring Eagles to wins in three of the four matches over the weekend. On Friday, February 10th, Elmira downed both Southern Vermont College and D'Youville College by identical 3-0 scores, before opening day two of the invite with a sweep of The Sage Colleges, a future United Volleyball Conference rival who's slated to join the league next season.
McDonough paced the Purple and Gold with a combined 30 kills and 3.75 kills per set in EC's straight-sets victories over Southern Vermont, D'Youville, and Sage. In the tournament opener against the Mountaineers, McDonough recorded team highs in kills (9) and attack percentage (.412), the latter being a season high for the third-year outside hitter. He followed that up with eight kills, five digs, three aces, and one solo block against the Spartans of D'Youville. On Saturday, McDonough posted a weekend-high 13 kills to lift Elmira past the Gators. He was also tremendous on the serve, as the Lindenhurst, New York, native logged a career-high five aces, bringing his two-day total to 10.
His outstanding performances pushed him up a pair of UVC leaderboard spots, as he ranks eighth with 2.78 kills per set and 10th with an average of 0.36 aces per set.
