Jeremy Best '19 helped the Elmira men's volleyball team earn two wins during a weekend road trip to Ohio. On Friday, the Purple and Gold split their matches against a pair of nationally-ranked foes, upsetting No. 5 Dominican University (Ill.) in five sets before falling to No. 12 Mount St. Joseph, 3-0. On Saturday, EC defeated Penn State Altoona in straight sets and was beaten by Marian University (Wis.) by the same score in the nightcap.
In the 3-2 triumph over the fifth-ranked Stars – just the second win over a top-5 team in EC history – Best facilitated an offense that hit at a rate of .324, including a near-perfect hitting percentage of .909 (10k-0e-11ta) in the decisive fifth set. The third-year setter dished out 62 assists, tied for the third-most in a match in program history and the most by a Soaring Eagle since Carlos Faccio '16 set an EC record with 68 against Cal Lutheran in 2016. Against Dominican, Best also added seven digs, four kills, and three blocks. In the victory over Penn State Altoona, Best assisted on 36 of Elmira's 42 kills, while compiling seven digs, one kill, one ace and one block.
In all four matches over the weekend, the Wexford, Pennsylvania, native finished with a combined 159 assists, 24 digs, nine kills, seven blocks and one ace. He currently ranks second in the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) with 10.07 assists per set.
Best and the EC men will continue play with a non-league match against the Golden Flyers of Nazareth College on Wednesday, February 7, at 7:00 p.m. in Rochester, New York.
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