Score: Stevens Institute of Technology 3, Elmira College 0
Records: Elmira (18-14), Stevens (22-11)
Location: Canavan Arena – Hoboken, NJ

Hoboken, NJ -- The 2015 season came to an end for the Elmira College women's volleyball team, as the Soaring Eagles were defeated by top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology, 3-0, in the semifinal round of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament on Saturday.

The Ducks went on the offensive, hitting a blistering .333 percentage as a team, as opposed to Elmira's mere 0.12 hitting percentage. Stevens finished with 33 kills and only eight errors, led by Brianna Evans with nine kills and Christina Sciarra with eight.

EC was led by Ashley Heiman '16, Kelsey Ray '17, Kelsey Ross '16 and Natalie Schieder '19 with four kills each. Ross, Schieder and Taylor Kaznowski '19 each finished with a team-high seven digs.

The Soaring Eagles battled in the opening set before the home team broke away late. Schieder opened the match with a kill to win the first point, and a kill from Ross put the Purple and Gold up by two, 5-3. The Ducks responded to tie the set at 6-6, and the two teams went back-and-forth to an 11-11 draw. Errors proved to be costly for Elmira from there; EC committed nine down the stretch, as the Ducks went on to win the set.

Elmira battled through the first half of the second set as well. The Soaring Eagles came within one point of Stevens on two occasions, the latter at 11-10. The Ducks grabbed the momentum with a run of 6-1 to take a commanding lead and 6-0 run to close the set.

The Ducks hit a match-high .375 in the third set to close out the straight-sets victory.

Despite the loss, the 2015 season was a major turnaround from 2014. The Soaring Eagles rebounded from a seven-win season to finish with an 18-14 overall record and return to the Empire 8 Tournament for the first time since 2013.

Turning Point
The Soaring Eagles came within one point of tying the Ducks, 10-9, in the second set following a pair of Stevens attacking errors. A few points later, a kill from Ray had the Purple and Gold within two, 13-11. However, from there, Stevens won four straight points and 12 of the next 15 to secure the second set, 25-13, and take a comfortable 2-0 match lead.

Inside the Box

• As a team, Stevens hit at a .333 rate; EC hit only .012.
• Elmira had 18 attacking errors, one less than total kills.
• Heiman, Ray, Ross and Schieder each finished with four kills.
• Kaznowski collected 12 assists.
• Kaznowski, Ross and Schieder each had seven digs.

New & Notes

• Elmira finished the 2015 season with an 18-14 record, 11 more wins than the year before.
• It is the seventh winning season for EC in the last eight years.
• Through 28 seasons as the head coach at EC, Rhonda Faunce now has a 576-403 career record.
• EC is 3-8 in Empire 8 Tournament games since 2002.