Rochester, NY – The Elmira College Men's Volleyball team dropped a pair of five set thrillers on the opening day of the Nazareth College Invitational on Friday. EC lost a tight 3-2 match (25-17, 25-19, 22-25, 29-31, 14-16) to MIT in its first match of the day, and followed that up by losing a heartbreaker to No. 5 nationally-ranked Juniata College 3-2 (25-21, 21-25, 25-20, 23-25, 9-15). With the two narrow defeats the Soaring Eagles drop to 3-4 overall on the season.

In its first match against MIT, Elmira won its first two sets handily to take a 2-0 lead. However, MIT battled back to take the next two sets, including a thrilling 31-29 fourth set. The deciding fifth set went back-and-forth but EC fell late, 14-16.

The Purple and Gold matched up with a tough Juniata squad in its second match. The Soaring Eagles lost in straight sets to the Eagles last weekend at the Elmira College Invitational, but EC proved to be much tougher this time around. Elmira took the first and third set, while Juniata prevailed in the second and fourth set. In the opening four sets neither team won by more than five points, setting up a fifth set. Elmira struggled in the final set, ultimately falling 9-15.

Mike Stianche '15 (Bethlehem, PA -- Bethlehem Catholic) led the Soaring Eagle attack registering 37 kills, three service aces, and 13 digs in the two matches. Ryan Gelenitis '14 (Brick, NJ -- Christian Brothers Academy) combined to pound out 31 kills, six aces, and 17 digs. Michael Vellutato '14 (Topanga, CA -- Redondo Union) proved to be the offensive catalyst for Elmira as he dished out an astonishing 109 assists and 14 digs over the 10 sets.

The Elmira College Men's Volleyball team returns to action tomorrow for Day 2 of the Nazareth College Invitational when they play D'Youville at 10:00 a.m.