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Ithaca, NY -- The Elmira College women's volleyball team was serving for the match at 14-11 in the fifth set of their Empire 8 Conference opener against Ithaca College, but unfortunately for the Soaring Eagles, the Bombers rallied to down EC in a five-set thriller. This is just the second conference-opening loss for the Purple and Gold in the last 14 years.
 
EC took an exciting first set, 27-25, but not before they received a scare from Ithaca. Elmira worked their way to a 24-21 lead in the opening set, but the Bombers took the next three points to tie the score at 24. The game was once again tied at 25, but Amanda Blinkinsop'16 recorded back-to-back kills to close out the 27-25 win.
 
Ithaca rebounded in the second set by jumping out to an 8-2 lead, forcing an EC timeout. The Purple and Gold responded by closing the gap to 9-7, but the Bombers maintained their distance, never letting the score reach that close again for the remainder of the second set, winning it 25-19.
 
The beginning of the third set was all about runs as EC jumped out to a 3-0 before Ithaca answered with a run of their own to go ahead 9-4. Elmira eventually tied the third set at 14, but fell behind again, 20-16, before losing the third set by a 25-19 score.
 
The Soaring Eagles would not go away quietly as they forced a deciding fifth set by winning set number four, 25-21. EC never trailed in the fourth set, leading by as many as four points on several occasions, including the final set margin.
 
The deciding fifth set was a closely battled affair as the two teams traded points, and leads, back and forth. The Purple and Gold took the lead at 7-6, and held that lead until they took the 14-11 advantage, but five straight points from Ithaca, which included a pair of Soaring Eagle attacking errors, downed EC 16-14.
 
Elmira was led by a trio of players who each recorded double-digit kills. Kierstin Derr'16 led the way with 18 kills, followed by Paola Ortiz'16, who had 15 kills, and Blinkinsop, who had 10. Setting up the attack nicely for the Soaring Eagles was Sami Hanes '16 who tallied 46 assists. Defensively Kelsey Ross'16 topped the team in digs with 21, followed by 16 by Ortiz, and 12 by Hanes. Ashley Heiman'16 made her presence known in the middle recording six blocks, one solo block and five block assists.
 
EC returns to action in search of their first Empire 8 win on Saturday, September 20th when they travel to Hoboken, NJ to take on a pair of conference opponents. The Soaring Eagles square-off with Stevens Tech. at 11:00 a.m. and then against Houghton College at 1:30 p.m.