Huntingdon, PA -- The Elmira College men's volleyball (3-3) fell 3-2 to No. 13 Baruch College (1-0) and then defeated Thiel College (2-1) 3-1 today. Carlos Faccio '16 led the Purple and Gold today with a two-game average of 48.5 assists while Mike Ellison '16 was named to the All-Tournament team for his efforts over the weekend.

Match One Recap
Elmira 2, Baruch 3 – 21-25, 22-25, 27-25, 25-22, 21-19
Baruch started the match off strong with a 19-11 run, however, Elmira responded with a seven straight points to make it a one-point, 19-18, set. The Bearcats then went on a 6-3 run to close out the set with a 25-21 win. The Purple and Gold regrouped in the second set and even took a 22-20 lead late in the second stanza. However, Baruch would close out the second set with a 5-0 run to win 25-22 to take a 2-0 set lead. The Purple and Gold went back and forth during the third set and found themselves deadlocked late at 25-25. This time the EC men scored the next two points to take the third set, 27-25. Both teams were tied at 10-10 in the fourth set until the Soaring Eagles went on a 7-1 run to take a 17-12 lead. The Bearcats battled back but Elmira was able to hold off Baruch to win 25-22 and even the sets up at 2-2. In the deciding set, the Bearcats took a quick 6-2 lead until EC battled back and tied the set up at 8-8. Both teams traded points and found themselves deadlocked again at 19-19. The Bearcats would then score two straight points to close out the fifth set, 21-19. Faccio posted 62 of his assists against Baruch and added eight digs, five kills, an ace, a solo block, and a block assist in the game. Erik Griffin '16 led offensively with 34 kills and also chipped in with nine digs while Rob Shade '15 led defensively with 14 digs.

Match Two Recap
Elmira 3, Thiel 1 – 25-18, 25-14, 20-25, 27-25
The Purple and Gold kicked off the set with a quick 12-5 lead. Thiel chipped away at the EC lead but the EC men would close out the first set, 25-18. The Soaring Eagles started the second set with a 17-9 run that caused a Tomcat timeout. After the break, Elmira continued to dominate the second set and would close out on an 8-5 run to win 25-14. The Purple and Gold started the third set with a 10-5 run, however, Thiel would score five straight points to tie the game up at 10-10. Both teams traded points and found themselves tied at 14-14. The Tomcats would close out the set with an 11-6 run to take the 25-20 win. Thiel would start the fourth set off with a 13-8 run that caused an Elmira timeout. The Purple and Gold regrouped and battled until the game was tied up at 18-18. Both teams went back and forth and found themselves deadlocked again at 25-25. EC would close out the game by scoring the next two points to win, 27-25. Ellison led offensively with 21 kills while Mark Kawecki '17 posted a career-high 10 kills. Faccio set up the offense with 35 assists while Shade led defensively with nine digs.

The Soaring Eagles will compete next in the Thiel College Tournament on January 31st and February 1st. The EC men will compete against Penn State Altoona and Lakeland College on the first day and Mount St. Joseph University and Fontbonne University on the second.