Elmira, NY -- It was a somewhat light week of action for Elmira College Athletics, as only three teams saw action over the school's mid-term break last week. The men's volleyball team was the highlight of the week's action, sweeping all five matches, which included a thrilling five-set victory over No. 7 Stevenson University, to stretch the team's winning streak to eight consecutive matches. The Elmira baseball team threw out the first pitch in its second varsity season with a trio of contests at the RussMatt Tournament in Winter Haven, FL. While one season began, another came to a close as the EC men's ice hockey team battled valiantly, but fell 5-3 in the quarterfinal round of the ECAC West Tournament. Get caught up on all the action from the past week and get your calendars set for the week ahead in this leap year edition of Soaring Eagles Weekly!
 
Headlines for the Week Ahead
 
Women's Ice Hockey Heads to Plattsburgh for ECAC West Tournament
The No. 2/3 Elmira College women's ice hockey team is set to begin what it hopes to be a long postseason run when they take to the ice at the ECAC West Tournament this weekend. The Soaring Eagles are set to face third-seeded Utica College in the first of two semifinal games at the Plattsburgh State's Stafford Arena on Saturday, March 5^th. If EC should get past the Pioneers, the team will face the winner of sixth-seeded fifth-seeded Oswego State and top-seeded Plattsburgh State on Sunday, March 6^th.
 
Men's Lacrosse Opens Season at Keuka College on Saturday
The Elmira College men's lacrosse team is set to open its 2016 campaign on Saturday, March 5^th, when the team heads to Keuka College to take on the Green and Gold at 1:00 p.m. Stay tuned to the EC athletics website for our season preview feature on the program, set to come out later this week.
 
Men's Volleyball Heads Downstate for Three Matches this Weekend
The nationally-ranked Elmira College men's volleyball team will look to continue its red-hot surge when it hits the road for a trio of matches this weekend. The Soaring Eagles will open the set with their second United Volleyball Conference tri-match of the season at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, on Saturday, March 5^th. Elmira will face the tournament hosts at 11:00 a.m., while it faces nationally-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology at 1:30 p.m. The Purple and Gold return to action the following day when they rematch with nationally-ranked UC Santa Cruz in Hoboken, NJ, on Sunday, March 6^th.
 
Cheerleading Heads to Syracuse for Jamfest on Saturday
The Elmira College cheerleading team will head north for its second competition of the season when it goes against a competitive field at Jamfest in Syracuse, NY. The event is set to take place on Saturday, March 5^th. The Elmira women are set to perform at 9:51 a.m. with the award ceremony slated for 11:33 a.m.
 
A Look Back at the Week That Was…
 
Men's Volleyball Stays Hot in 5-0 Week
The nationally-ranked Elmira College men's volleyball team carried over the momentum generated from its West Coast swing, posting a perfect 5-0 record during a busy week. The Soaring Eagles opened the action this past Wednesday, scoring its first UVC win of the season in straight sets over Penn State-Behrend. EC hit .521 as a team, the second-best single-match mark in program history, to roll past the Lions. Erik Griffin '16 led the way with 11 kills on 14 total attacks (.721), while he also added a season-high five service aces.
 
EC continued the hot play over the weekend when it returned to Speidel Gymnasium to play host to the 2016 Soaring Eagle Invitational. Elmira opened the two-day event with three-set sweeps of Wells College and Rivier University on Friday. The Purple and Gold followed that up with two more victories on day two, which included a five-set thriller over No. 7 Stevenson University. Griffin perpetuated his scintillating run, posting his second double-double of the season with 24 kills and 10 digs. Mark Kawecki '17 also recorded a strong week, finishing second on the team with 47 kills, including a match-high 14 kills against Rivier.
 
For more information on EC Men's Volleyball, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Men's Ice Hockey Concludes Year in Quarterfinal Loss to Utica
The Elmira College men's ice hockey team had its season come to an end this past Wednesday when the Soaring Eagles bowed out in the ECAC West Quarterfinals in a 5-3 loss to Utica College at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. Despite the loss, the Soaring Eagles put in a strong effort, but in the end conclude the year with an 11-12-3 record.
 
The Pioneers got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. However, things looked as if they were going to break Elmira's way during the middle period. Tyler Theodoulou '18 netted an equalizer just over 10 minutes into the frame, while Michael Collins '16 deposited a backdoor pass into the twine just after a late-period power play expired to give the Soaring Eagles a 2-1 lead heading into the third. Unfortunately, Utica proved to be too much to handle for the banged up Soaring Eagles, as the home side found the back of the net four times in the final 20 minutes. Collins scored his second goal of the game to pull within 4-3 with under three minutes to go, but the Pioneers iced the game with an empty-net goal with 1:21 remaining.
 
For more information on EC Men's Ice Hockey, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Baseball Drops Three Contests in Florida to Open 2016 Season
The Elmira College baseball team opened its second varsity season this past week when it made its much anticipated spring training trip to Winter Haven, FL, to take part in the RussMatt Tournament. Elmira faced three strong teams from the Midwest in Augustana College (IL), St. Mary's University (MN) and Concordia College (MN) over the course of the week.
 
EC threw out the first pitch on the 2016 campaign this past Tuesday against Augustana. Rookie Andy Reed '19 got the start against the Vikings and showed excellent poise in his first collegiate start, holding Augustana to two runs through the first innings. The wheels fell off for EC in the sixth, as the Vikings were able to get to the tiring young southpaw and EC's bullpen to blow the game open.
 
After Wednesday was washed out with heavy morning downpours left the field unplayable, EC faced its final two opponents in a doubleheader on Thursday. The Soaring Eagles' bats came alive in the opening game of the day, a 12-6 loss to St. Mary's. Jack Thistle '18 lashed a double as part of a 3-for-4 day at the plate with two runs scored and a pair of runs-batted-in.
 
EC took an early 1-0 lead in the final game of the week against Concordia; however, the Cobbers responded with eight straight runs. The Soaring Eagles tacked on three more runs in the eighth and ninth innings, but Concordia took the contest 11-4. Bryce Plante '18 went 2-for-2 at the plate, while Cameron Heggie '18 knocked in a pair with a pinch-hit single in the eighth inning.
 
For more information on EC Baseball, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
The Week Ahead…
 
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Cheerleading at Jamfest, 9:51 a.m.
*Men's Volleyball at Bard College, 11:00 a.m.
Women's Ice Hockey vs. Utica College (ECAC West Semifinal), 12:00 p.m.
Men's Lacrosse at Keuka College, 1:00 p.m.
*Men's Volleyball vs. Stevens Institute of Technology (at Bard College), 1:30 p.m.
 
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Men's Volleyball vs. UC Santa Cruz (in Hoboken, NJ), 11:00 a.m.
Women's Ice Hockey vs. TBD (ECAC West Final), 3:00 p.m.
 
*Indicates Conference Matchup