ELMIRA, NY -- Elmira College women's volleyball host Empire 8 Conference foe Alfred University to Speidel Gymnasium on Wednesday, October 12th. The first set is scheduled start at 6:00 p.m.
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Last Time Out: The Soaring Eagles lost two matches in an Empire 8 Conference Crossover at Houghton College. The Purple and Gold dropped their first match, 3-0, to conference-leading Stevens Institute of Technology, before falling in the nightcap in a fiercely-competitive five-set loss to Houghton. Elmira won the first and third sets against the Highlanders to pull ahead two-sets-to-one, but was unable to take either of the last two sets to secure the victory. McKenzie Slaven '20 posted her first career double-double with 13 kills and 15 digs against Houghton.
 
Fantastic Freshman: First-year outside hitter, Slaven, posted a couple of noteworthy performances in the last two weeks. On October 1st, the Horseheads, New York, native registered a season-high 17 kills to go along with eight digs against SUNY Canton. In the recent match against the Highlanders, Slaven finished with her first collegiate double-double with 13 kills and 15 digs.
 
Home-Court Advantage: Historically, the Purple and Gold have shown that they prefer to play at the friendly confines of Speidel Gymnasium. Elmira has posted a winning record at home in each of the last 12 seasons and enter Wednesday's match with a 3-2 mark at Speidel this season. On the other hand, EC is only 1-5 away from home in 2016. The Soaring Eagles have not played at home since September 24th, when they won the second match of an E8 Crossover against Utica College, 3-1.

Scouting the Saxons: Alfred comes into Wednesday's contest struggling of late, having lost four out of its last six matches. The Saxons own an overall record of 8-12 and a road record of 3-4. On Saturday, the Saxons split two matches against Nazareth College and Utica College. Alfred lost the first match to Naz, 3-0, before it rallied from a 1-0 hole to secure a four-set comeback win over the Pioneers. Alfred boasts four different players that sit in the top five of Empire 8 Conference leaderboards. Freshman outside hitter, Amber Smith, ranks third in kills with 233, while Aubrey Totsline also sits in third in assists with 564. Jacquelynn Hicks places fourth in blocks with 54, and Elisabeth Estep owns 307 digs, good for fourth place in the conference.
 
Series History: Elmira and Alfred have a rich history, one that has seen the two conference rivals square off 52 times. The Soaring Eagles have gotten the better of the Saxons in that time with a 38-14 all-time series record. EC enters tonight's contest having won 25 consecutive matches against Alfred, with Elmira winning 20 of those matchups in three sets. One of the 20 straight-set wins occurred last season, when Elmira went on the road to sweep the Saxons (25-11, 25-19, 25-23).
 
Up Next: The Soaring Eagles will stay at the Speidel Gymnasium for the Elmira College Quad-Match on Friday and Saturday, October 14th and 15th. EC faces SUNY Cortland on Friday at 6:00 p.m. On Saturday, the Purple and Gold challenge Hunter College at 10:00 a.m. and Lycoming College at 12:00 p.m.