Stevenson, MD – The number four seed Elmira College Men's Volleyball team dropped a tight three set match to the number one seed Juniata College (25-18, 25-21, 25-22) Saturday in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament hosted by Stevenson University. The win improves the No. 4 nationally-ranked Eagles to 28-10, while the loss drops the No. 15 Soaring Eagles to 22-18.
 
EC had a solid first set finishing with 11 team kills compared to just three errors, hitting .308 from the field. However, Juniata was even better making three errors but nailing 18 kills in the opening set as they prevailed 25-18. The second set was even tighter as Elmira improved its hitting percentage to .348 with 12 kills and four errors. The Eagles remained up to the challenge with a team hit percentage of .357 in the form of 15 kills and five errors, as they nipped out the second set, 25-21. Both teams really struggled offensively in the third set as they combined to hit just .155 with a combined 13 errors. In the end Juniata proved to be too tough as it finished off the third set and the match, 25-22.
 
Wyatt Hamilton'15 (Jupiter, FL -- Suncoast) led the Soaring Eagles with 13 kills, hitting .276. Ryan Nerney '14 (Niskayuna, NY -- Niskayuna) and Ryan Gelenitis '14 (Brick, NJ –--Christian Brothers Academy) added seven and five kills, respectively. Nerney was extremely accurate, hitting a team-high .500, while Gelenitis recorded a team-high six digs. Michael Vellutato '14 (Topanga, CA -- Redondo Union) paced the EC offense dishing out 33 assists and added six digs.
 
This wraps up the EC Men's Volleyball 2011-12 campaign in which the team was ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association's Top 15 poll throughout most of the season.