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Pittsford, NY -- Beating a team three times in a season is never an easy task and that was evident today as the Elmira College men's volleyball team (24-9) used a come from behind effort to defeat No. 9 nationally ranked Medaille College (15-10) in the quarterfinals of the UVC Tournament, 3-2.  Elmira trailed 2-sets-to-1 but would win the final two sets to advance to the semifinals, giving the Soaring Eagles their first UVC Tournament victory in program history as well as EC's first appearance in the semifinals.
 
The Soaring Eagles had three players with double-digit kills, including Mike Ellison '16, Ryan Gelenitis '14, and UVC All-Conference Second Team honoree Erik Griffin '16.  Ellison totaled 14 kills to go along with 11 digs while Gelenitis added a season-high 17 kills and eight digs.  Griffin finished with a team-high 19 kills and seven digs. 
 
Orchestrating the Elmira offense was none other than the reigning UVC Player of the Year Michael Vellutato '14.  The senior was at his best today, tying a season-high in assists with 57, as well as making six digs and four assisted blocks.
 
Medaille opened the first set by taking a 14-11 lead but the Soaring Eagles would slowly but surely chip away and eventually take a 22-18 lead of their own.  From that point on, Elmira traded the next six points with Medaille which would result in Elmira winning the first set, 25-21.
 
In the second, it looked like it was going to be all Elmira as the Soaring Eagles took a 9-5 lead.  However, six straight points for Medaille would put the Mavericks in the driver's seat as EC trailed 11-9, a deficit that would hold-up until back-to-back points by Gelenitis gave the Soaring Eagles a 20-19 edge.  Unfortunately for the Soaring Eagles, Medaille would win six of the final nine points to claim the second set, evening things up a one apiece.
 
The Mavericks led for the majority of the third set until EC won four straight points, three coming on the serve of Evan Clarke '15, which would put Elmira ahead 18-15.  Later in the set, another four-point swing in favor of Medaille gave the Mavericks a 22-20 lead which would turn into a 24-23 lead, giving Medaille a chance to take a 2-sets-to-1 advantage. 
 
Not going away without a fight, Elmira pieced together a mini-3-1 run, putting the Purple and Gold ahead 26-25 with a chance to take control of the match.  With a chance to take the set, Elmira would commit a service error and a setting error which allowed UVC All-Conference First Teamer Trevor Barrett to seal the set for Medaille with a kill at 28-26.
 
Playing with their backs against the wall, Elmira took control early on in the fourth set as they went up 13-8.  Elmira's sizeable lead was short-lived as the Mavericks won five of the next six points, cutting EC's lead to just one, 14-13.
 
The match of runs continued as Elmira won five of the next seven points to go up 19-15 and would eventually build the lead to 23-20.  An unwillingness to go away by the Mavericks resulted in Medaille winning four of the next five points to even the set at 24-all. 
 
Just two points from elimination, Elmira's Gelenitis stepped up, recording two kills to put Elmira ahead 26-25.  The one point lead left the door open for teammate Andrew Johnson '16 to make a crucial solo block which gave the Purple and Gold the set, 27-25, forcing a fifth to decide who would advance to the conference semifinals.
 
In the fifth, the quality of volleyball was at an all-time high as both teams traded point-after-point  until Gelenitis and Johnson teamed up for a block to give Elmira a 9-7 advantage. Back-to-back kills by Medaille erased the Elmira lead but an attack error by the Mavericks, coupled with a solo block by Griffin, put Elmira back up 11-9.
 
A foot fault by Elmira brought the score to 11-10, but back-to-back kills by Ellison and Dylan Kuhn '16 gave EC a decisive 13-10 lead.  From there, both teams traded the next three points, bringing the set to 14-12.  Then, on Elmira's second match point of the set, EC's one-two punch of Vellutato and Gelenitis would get it done as the two hooked up to for the kill on match point, giving the Purple and Gold the win, 15-12.
 
The Soaring Eagles will play in the UVC Tournament Semifinals today at 5:00 p.m. as Elmira takes on eighth seeded NYU.  NYU upset tournament host and top seeded Nazareth College earlier today.