Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Elmira, NY -- Entering the second-leg of the UVC Crossover, the Elmira College men's volleyball team held a .500 conference record with a 3-3 mark in the UVC.  However, after a successful weekend sweep which included a pair of wins this afternoon, the EC men boast a 6-3 showing in conference play to go along with a 15-6 overall record. 

Of Elmira's three wins, two came today as Elmira opened up Sunday's matches with a clean sweep of Bard College 3-0 before the Purple and Gold pulled off a thrilling 3-2 win against No. 14 nationally ranked New York University in the UVC Crossover's final match of the weekend. 

Despite playing in only one match today, Erik Griffin '14 led the Elmira offense with 17 kills to go along with seven digs and five total blocks, including one solo rejection. Handling setting duties today was none other than Cali native Michael Vellutato '14 who had two monster games as he totaled 79 assists to go along with five aces.  Ryan Nerney '14 also had a solid two games today as he made 16 kills on 33 attempts for a .333 hitting percentage.

The Elmira men will be back in action this Wednesday, March 12th when the Soaring Eagles host Hilbert College in a UVC matchup.  Wednesday's match is slated to start at 7:00 p.m. in Elmira College's Speidel Gymnasium in Elmira, NY. 

Match One Recap
Elmira 3, Bard 0 – 25-20, 25-17, 25-22
In the day's opening set, Elmira jumped out to a 5-1 lead as three different players combined to make four kills.  The Soaring Eagles' four point lead turned into a 16-10 lead but an 8-1 run by the Raptors resulted in a one point deficit as Bard clung to an 18-17 lead and three points later, a 20-18 lead. Elmira responded in dominant fashion, winning the set's final seven points to clinch it.  Of the final seven points, two can be credited to Andrew Johnson '16 as he recorded two kills while four others came on Bard attacking errors.

Elmira and Bard traded points for the majority of the second set, but the momentum shifted midway through the set when the Soaring Eagles ran-off five straight points to take a convincing 20-14 lead.  EC went on to win five of the set's final eight points, three of those points coming on kills by Dylan Kuhn '16, Felix Garcia Ramos '16, and Tyler Smith '15.

It looked as though a fourth set would be in the works when Bard opened the third set by taking a 10-4 lead.  The Raptors maintained their early edge throughout most of the set, holding a lead as late as 21-17.  With their backs against the wall, Elmira showed why they are ranked 11th in the country as they closed out the set, and the match, on an 8-1 run.  Of the eight points, none were as exciting as the final one when first-year player Mike Messman '14 recorded his first collegiate kill, sending his teammates and the EC fans into an uproar as his kill gave Elmira their first win of the day.

Match Two Recap
Elmira 3, NYU 2 – 29-27, 26-28, 19-25, 25-21, 15-13
Elmira's final match of the day was an exciting one to say the least as two of the first four sets exceeded the 25-point mark.  The Purple and Gold came out on top of the first set, but not without a fight as NYU clawed their way into it after trailing by four points for the majority of the set.  A turning point in the set for the Violets occurred when they won four straight points, erasing a three-point deficit to take a 21-20 lead.  From there, the lead teetered until two consecutive Elmira kills by Ryan Gelenitis '14 and Griffin gave the Purple and Gold the first set, 29-27.

The Violets responded well in the following set as they saved two set points to claim the second at 28-26.  NYU continued their strong play as they walked away from the third set victorious 25-19, the most lopsided set of the match, which truly speaks volumes of the level of play both teams displayed today.

Trailing 2-1, the Soaring Eagles knew that a strong start in the fourth set would make the difference, and it did as the Elmira men took a commanding 13-6 lead.  Of the 13 Elmira points, only three came on NYU errors as seven Elmira kills and three service aces accounted for 10 of EC's 13 points.

Similar to the first set, NYU fought back and used a four-point run to cut Elmira's lead to 18-17.  However, two timely kills by Kuhn along with a pair of NYU errors lifted the Soaring Eagles to a 25-21 win in the set, forcing a fifth to decide the final victor of the UVC Crossover.

In the fifth, the two teams matched each other point-for-point as the set remained even through the first six points.  From there, NYU would win four of the next five points to take a sizeable 7-4 lead which turned into a 9-6 advantage, putting the Violets just six points away from the win. 

Down by three, Elmira's captains, Nerney and Vellutato, made a pair of key plays to even things at nine apiece. The duo teamed up to make a block, bringing the score to 9-7, before Nerney smashed a kill to bring the game to 9-8.  On the ensuing point, an attacking error by the Violets evened the score at 9-9. 

The teams traded the next six points, bringing the score to 12-12.  On the next point, Kuhn made possibly his biggest play of the season when he went toe-to-toe with NYU's Phil Bueno.  Bueno, who recorded NYU's previous point on a kill, went up for another one only to see it stuffed by Kuhn, giving EC an added boost as well as a 13-12 lead, Elmira's first lead since the fifth point of the set.

Following the Kuhn block, NYU and Elmira traded a pair of kills as EC gripped to a 14-13 advantage.  With the crowd on their feet, Elmira's Griffin blasted a serve at NYU's Chase Klein, who was unable make a good dig on the play.  Klein's attempted dig sailed back over to the Elmira side, allowing Kuhn to smash home the match-winning kill.