Elmira, NY -- This past weekend brought the end of the regular season for four of Elmira's winter sports teams. While the Elmira basketball season officially came to an end, the hockey programs head into postseason play over the next two weekends. In other action, the 13^th-ranked men's volleyball team had an extremely successful trip to the West Coast, while the men's tennis program had a big weekend on the home front at the Elmira College Spring Kickoff Invitational. Catch up on everything you missed with another loaded issue of Soaring Eagles Weekly!
 
Headlines for the Week Ahead
 
Men's Ice Hockey Set for ECAC West Quarterfinal at Utica College on Wednesday
The Elmira College men's ice hockey team is set to begin its run to conference tournament title this Wednesday, February 24^th, when the team travels to Utica College for a rematch with the Pioneers. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 p.m. The Soaring Eagles will be looking to make a Cinderella run, as they are the sixth and final seed in the conference tournament. If they should win, they will face nationally-ranked Hobart College in the semifinal round on Saturday, February 27^th.
 
Ticket information for Wednesday night's quarterfinal matchup can be found at the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Men's Volleyball Returns Home for Soaring Eagle Invitational
Coming off a fantastic West Coast road trip, which included the team's signature victory of the season to-date over No. 7 UC Santa Cruz, the nationally-ranked Elmira College men's volleyball returns home to host the Soaring Eagle Invitational at Speidel Gymnasium this weekend.  The Soaring Eagles will face Wells College and Rivier College on Friday, February 26^th, while they rematch with Stevenson University and take on SUNY Poly the following day.
 
Baseball Opens Season During Florida Trip
The Elmira College baseball team has been down in the Sunshine State for its annual Spring Training trip since Sunday morning. The Soaring Eagles are set to open the 2016 campaign at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 23^rd, when they take on Augustana College (IL) in the first day of the RussMatt Tournament in Winter Haven, FL. EC continues the tournament over the next two days with contests against Concordia College (MN) at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 24^th, and Saint Mary's University (MN) on Thursday, February 25^th.
 
A Look Back at the Week That Was…
 
Men's Volleyball Sweeps West Coast Road Swing
The 13^th-ranked Elmira College men's volleyball team had been in a little bit of a funk heading into its much anticipated trip to sunny California last week. The Golden State seemed to have the cure to what ailed the Soaring Eagles, as EC went 3-0 in a trio of matches hosted by California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, CA, over the weekend.
 
The Elmira men opened the two-day event with a resounding four-set victory over Benedictine University at Mesa (AZ) this past Friday. Erik Griffin '16 made his long awaited return to the Elmira lineup and didn't wait long to make an impact. The reigning AVCA Second Team All-American collected 27 kills on a scintillating .442 hitting percentage; however, that was just the start to his dazzling weekend.
 
The Soaring Eagles returned to action the following day with a pair of matches on Saturday. EC posted its signature victory of the season to-date in the opening match of the day, downing seventh-ranked UC Santa Cruz in straight-sets. Griffin continued his strong play with 20 kills on scalding .654 hitting.
 
The Purple and Gold set a pair of new single-match records in the night cap, as EC went the distance in a five-set thriller with tournament host Cal Lutheran. Carlos Faccio '16 had a career performance against the Kingsmen, dishing out a single-match program record 68 assists, while the team set a new single-match high with 69 overall. Griffin was on the other end of a large number of those feeds, sending down 32 kills, including nine in the decisive fifth set.
 
For more information on EC Men's Volleyball, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Men's Tennis Sweeps Three Matches at Elmira College Spring Kickoff Invite
The Elmira College men's tennis team got off to a bit of a slow start this spring, but to be fair, much of the slow start can be attributed to playing predominantly cross-divisional competition. EC broke out in a big way this past weekend against a trio of its NCAA Division III peers when it played host to the Elmira College Spring Kickoff Invitational at the Murray Athletic Center Tennis Dome.
 
EC opened the three-day event with a resounding 8-1 win against Farmingdale State College on Friday, February 19^th. Head Coach Tom Linhart shuffled around his team's doubles tandems and the strategy worked to perfection, as EC jumped out to a commanding 3-0 lead. The Purple and Gold sealed it with victories in the second-through-sixth singles matchups.
 
Elmira continued its strong play on Saturday, February 20^th, with a 7-2 win over Purchase College. The Purple and Gold again jumped out to an early lead, taking matchup wins at second and third doubles. EC followed with wins at second-through-sixth singles against to seal the match.
 
The Soaring Eagles faced a familiar foe on Sunday, February 21^st, when they faced Alfred University. Elmira again swept all three doubles matchups and took second-through-sixth positions in singles in an 8-1 match win.
 
Austin Mansell '16, Chris Konow '18 and Yaniv Kogan '18 posted big weekends with perfect 6-0 marks in combined singles and doubles play. The six total victories and three doubles wins pushed Mansell all-alone into third-place in program history for career wins (51) and doubles wins (24).
 
For more information on EC Men's Tennis, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Women's Ice Hockey Sweeps Final Regular Season Series Over Oswego State
The No. 2/3 Elmira College women's ice hockey continued its roll right into the postseason this past weekend. EC entered the weekend needing a single point to secure the ECAC West's second seed and a first-round bye to the upcoming conference tournament. The Soaring Eagles left no doubt in sweeping the final regular season series against Oswego State by 8-1 and 3-1 finals.
 
Elmira found the back of the net with regularity on Friday night, equaling a season best with eight goals in a rout of the Lakers. The Purple and Gold had 11 players find the back of the net, including a season-best six skaters tallying multi-point games. Maddie Evangelous '19 stayed red-hot, tallying her third consecutive three-point game with a goal and two assists. Johanna Eidensten '17 and Olivia Nystrom '16 each added a pair of goals, while Katie Granato '19 and Maddy Jerolman '19 posted 1g-1a games.
 
Saturday's contest was much tighter, but Elmira was again rock solid in a 3-1 win. Eidensten continued her big weekend, scoring the opening goal of the afternoon, marking her third consecutive game in which she has found the back of the net. Jerolman netted the eventual game-winner on the power play midway through the second period. Rachel Grampp '18 provided insurance with a third period tally.
 
Eidensten was named ECAC West Player of the Week by the league office on Monday afternoon.
 
For more information on EC Women's Ice Hockey, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Women's Basketball Closes Season with Win at Alfred University
The Elmira College women's basketball team wrapped up the 2015-16 season on a winning note, scoring a 68-61 victory at Alfred University on Saturday. EC stretched a six-point halftime lead to as much as 16 in the third quarter. The Soaring Eagles did enough from the charity stripe to seal the victory down the stretch.
 
Danielle Cleary '18 paced the Soaring Eagles with a game-high 24 points, nine of which coming from the free-throw line. Her 403 points ranked sixth all-time for a single-season, while her 116 made free throws were second-most for a single season in program history. She has 225 makes from the charity stripe through two seasons, sitting in fifth on the program's top-10 list.
 
Meghan Loya '16 also posted a strong conclusion to her Elmira career. She posted the fourth double-double of her career with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Her 11 board effort enabled her to pass former All-American Jessica Zoltowski '14 for fourth-place all-time with 597 career rebounds.
 
For more information on EC Women's Basketball, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Leonardi Nets Career-High 32 in Loss to Alfred University
A trying season for the Elmira College men's basketball team came to an end on Saturday, as the Soaring Eagles fell to Alfred University 85-80 in the season finale. EC held an early lead; however, an Alfred run down the back stretch of the first half gave the Saxons a lead that would hold for the duration of the contest. The Purple and Gold twice closed the gap within two possessions in the second half, but were unable to fully get over the hump in the loss.
 
Gino Leonardi '16 had a monster game to close out his Elmira career. The senior point guard finished with a career-high 32 points on 13-for-22 shooting from the field. Despite the loss, the Soaring Eagles set a new program record for made three-pointers in a season. Their 10-for-24 performance on the final day gave the team 230 makes from downtown this season, breaking last year's record of 229 by a single bucket.
 
For more information on EC Men's Basketball, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Men's Hockey Drops Pair on Road to Close Regular Season
The Elmira College men's ice hockey team limped into the postseason both in a figurative and literal sense, as the team dropped a pair of road tilts to Manhattanville College and No. 6 Hobart College, both by a 5-2 final margin.
 
The Soaring Eagles led 1-0 midway through Tuesday's rescheduled game against the Valiants; however, a three-goal barrage in a span of 2:41 during the back half of the second period proved to be too much. EC would close to within one goal in the third period, but the home side secured the game with two goals in the final frame.
 
Elmira found themselves missing several key players for Saturday's regular season finale at Hobart. The shorthanded Soaring Eagles showed serious mettle, playing the nationally-ranked Statesmen to a 2-2 deadlock through two periods. The third proved to be the difference, as Hobart put three pucks behind rookie netminder Charl Pretorius '19 who finished with 38 saves in his collegiate debut. Jeremy Marginsky '18 tallied both goals for Elmira in the loss.
 
For more information on EC Men's Ice Hockey, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
The Week Ahead…
 
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Men's Volleyball at Penn State Behrend, 7:00 p.m.
Men's Ice Hockey at Utica College (ECAC West Quarterfinal), 7:00 p.m.
 
Friday, February 26, 2016
Men's Volleyball vs. Wells College (Soaring Eagle Invite), 6:00 p.m.
Men's Volleyball vs. Rivier College (Soaring Eagle Invite), 8:00 p.m.
 
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Men's Volleyball vs. Stevenson University (Soaring Eagle Invite), 11:00 a.m.
Men's Volleyball vs. SUNY Poly (Soaring Eagle Invite), 1:00 p.m.
Men's Ice Hockey vs. Hobart College (ECAC West Semi)^, TBD
 
Bold Indicates Home Event
^ Contingent on Winning Quarterfinal Contest