Rochester, NY – The Elmira College Men's Volleyball team won two matches on the second day of the Nazareth College Invitational in Rochester on Saturday. The Soaring Eagles fought off D'Youville College 3-1 (25-23, 21-25, 26-24, 25-16) in its first match of the day before handling Philadelphia Biblical University 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 29-27) in its second match. With the two wins the Soaring Eagles improve to 5-4 overall on the season.

Against D'Youville, the Soaring Eagles played a tough four set match that showed EC's mental toughness early on. In the first set both teams played well not giving up many chances for a lead. The Soaring Eagles were able to hold off the Spartans late 25-23, to take an early 1-0 set lead. In the second set the Spartans turned it around pulling off a late run to win the set 25-21 and even up the set score at one all. In the third set the game got even closer once again coming down to the end where the Soaring Eagles prevailed 26-24 to go up two sets to one. In the fourth set EC was able to hold off D'Youville's late surge and win 25-16.

Against PBU, the Purple and Gold played strong in the beginning and eventually held off a late surge by the Crimson Eagles. In the first two sets Elmira made sure to hold off the PBU by getting leads to end the sets early. In the third set the match became very tight with each team fighting for a point to end the set. The Soaring Eagles would eventually take the set, 29-27, to end the match in straight sets.

Ryan Gelenitis '14 (Brick, NJ -- Christian Brothers Academy) and Mike Stianche '15 (Bethlehem, PA -- Bethlehem Catholic) led the Soaring Eagles, combining for 46 kills, two aces and 27 digs. Michael Vellutato '14 (Topanga, CA -- Redondo Union) and Ryan Nerney '14 (Niskayuna, NY -- Niskayuna) also played well. Vellutato tallied 72 assists, six aces, eight digs and six blocks, while Nerney registered 11 kills and five blocks.

The Elmira College Men's Volleyball team returns to action on Tuesday when they travel to Behrend, PA to take on Penn State-Behrend in a dual match starting at 7:00 p.m.