Box Score

Elmira, NY – The Elmira College Men's Volleyball team battled with one of the top teams in the country, but could not quite complete the comeback falling, 3-1 (29-31, 19-25, 25-22, 20-25), Wednesday evening in Speidel Gymnasium. The loss drops the No. 11 Soaring Eagles to 6-5 overall and 2-3 in United Volleyball Conference play, while the win improves the No. 2 Golden Flyers to 9-0 and 4-0.

Nazareth got out to an 8-4 start in the first set as the Golden Flyers sent multiple blockers to net resulting in several blocks. EC got within 11-10 after three kills from Ryan Gelenitis '14 and a block at the right side of net. The first frame continued to remain close as the teams battled, with Nazareth clinging to an 18-15 lead. After a pair of service errors from each team the Golden Flyers held a 21-20 advantage. With the Golden Flyers facing set point at 24-23 EC scrambled and finished off a block to bring the score back to 24 all. EC took a 25-24 advantage after a precisely placed kill down the right sideline.

The teams continued to fight into extra points as Gelenitis finished a kill off a double block for the 26-25 edge. Three service errors in a row, two from Elmira, and one from Naz left the score at 27 apiece. Tyler Smith '15 floored a kill to make it 28-27. The Golden Flyers responded with a smash off the double block to tie it once again at 28-28. An Elmira hitting error gave Naz a 29-28 lead, but Dylan Kuhn '16 responded with an important kill to tie it at 29. Service errors continued to be a problem as Elmira hit into the net, making it 30-29 Golden Flyers. Nazareth was able to pound a kill on the ensuing point to take a thrilling first set, 31-29. 

Using momentum from the first set win Nazareth got out to a quick 9-3 start in the second. EC used a quick 6-4 mini spurt to get within 13-9, but the Flyers opened up a 19-13 advantage. The Soaring Eagles began to pick up their play late in the set using a 5-3 run to get within 22-18 but Nazareth closed out the frame, 25-19.
EC came out strong in the third set as the teams were tied early at 5-5. The Soaring Eagles gained a 13-12 edge midway through the third frame. After a set that remained close throughout, including a 19-19 tie, Elmira opened up a slim, 23-21 edge. Gelenitis finished back-to-back kills as the Purple and Gold closed out the third, 25-22.

The Soaring Eagles got off to a good 12-8 start in the fourth set behind strong defense and crisp passing. Out of a Nazareth time out the Flyers responded with four consecutive points to tie it at 12 apiece. Overall, the Golden Flyers used a 7-2 run to take its first lead of the set at 15-14. Elmira fought hard down the stretch but Nazareth proved to be too much as they held on and closed out the set and the match, 25-20.

Gelenitis finished with a match-high 13 kills hitting .333 and Michael Vellutato '14 dished out a match-best 40 assists to go with four kills and five digs. Classmates Erik Griffin '16 and Mike Ellison '16 had strong performances combining for 13 kills and 23 digs. Meanwhile, Rob Shade '15 recorded 11 digs and Kuhn tallied six kills and two blocks. Four Nazareth hitters floored 10 or more kills apiece.

The Men's Volleyball team returns to the court Saturday when it travels to Langhorne, PA to take on Cairn University starting at 3:00 p.m. Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the Elmira College Athletics department by “liking” us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ElmiraCollegeAthletics) and “following” our Twitter account (http://twitter.com/ECSoaringEagles).