Score: University of Rochester 3, Elmira College 2 [25-22, 22-25, 25-14, 23-25, 15-6]
Records: Rochester (13-13), Elmira (15-11)
Location: Louis Alexander Palestra – Rochester, NY
 
Rochester, NY -- The Elmira College women's volleyball team fought valiantly on the road tonight, as the Soaring Eagles dropped a five-set heartbreaker to the University of Rochester. Natalie Schieder '19 led Elmira with a team-high 14 kills while classmate Taylor Kaznowski '19 produced a team-high 34 assists. Defensively, Elmira was led by Kelsey Ross '16 and her team-high 21 digs.
 
Tonight's match was a good one, as the teams traded sets until the very last point. The Yellowjackets edged Elmira in the first set, 25-22, but the Soaring Eagles responded nicely by winning the second by an identical score. The key in the second set for Elmira was their improvement in hitting, as the Purple and Gold were held to a .024 attack percentage in the first set compared to a .139 percentage in the second.
 
Rochester regrouped after dropping the second to win the third in the most lopsided set of the match at 25-14. However, Elmira showed their resiliency in the fourth set by winning three of the last four points to claim the fourth, 25-23.
 
Elmira looked to carry its momentum into the final set, but Rochester jumped out to a 5-1 lead and never looked back, as the Yellowjackets stole a five-set victory from the Soaring Eagles.
 
Turning Point
With the match even at two sets apiece, everyone's focus was on the fifth and final set. The Yellowjackets would win 12 of the first 16 points to take a commanding 12-4 lead in the set. During the first 16 points, Elmira would commit five hitting errors and one service error. Combine that with three kills from Rochester's Emma Gira and the Soaring Eagles found themselves in a very deep hole to dig out of late in the match.
 
Individual Leaders

• Schieder paced the Elmira attack with 14 kills.
• Setting up the EC offense with Kaznowski, as she produced 34 assists.
• Kierstin Derr '16 owned the team-lead in aces with two.
• Elmira saw three players record double-digit digs but Ross would lead all Soaring Eagles with 21.
• The team-lead in blocks was shared by a trio of players in Ashley Heiman '16, Paola Ortiz '16, and Kaznowski, all of who registered two apiece.

 
Inside the Box Score

• Elmira was held to a .022 hitting percentage on the match while Rochester hit .140 from the floor.
• Rochester produced double-digit kills in 4-of-5 sets while EC did the same in 3-of-5.
• Rochester had more kills in each of the five sets but Elmira still managed to force a fifth set.
• Elmira did not have one set with double-digit attack errors.
• Schieder was the lone Soaring Eagle with double-digit kills (14).
• Ross, Schieder, and Derr all recorded double-digit digs.

 
News and Notes

• As a team, Elmira recorded a season-high 84 digs, just the second time this year EC has produced 80 or more.
• The last time Elmira logged 84 or more digs dates back to last season's October 25th match with Utica College, when the Soaring Eagles made 92.
• Schieder has logged double-digit kills in four of EC's last five matches and in 15 matches total this year.
• Schieder's 19 digs is the second-highest total of her rookie season.
• Ross' 21 digs marks the third time this year she has finished with at least 20.
• Kaznowski extended her double-digit assist streak to 26 consecutive matches.
• Kaznowski's 34 assists is the sixth time in EC's last eight matches she has gone for 30 or more.

 
Up Next
Elmira will have a few days of rest before one of the biggest weekends of the year, as the Soaring Eagles welcome the Empire 8 Conference's top two teams to Speidel Gymnasium this Saturday, October 24th, in Stevens Institute of Technology and Houghton College. The Purple and Gold will face Houghton at 11:00 a.m. before taking on Stevens at 4:00 p.m.