Score: Elmira College 3 – Juniata College 1 [25-19, 25-19, 23-25, 25-14]
Records: Elmira (21-9), Juniata (8-14)
Location: Speidel Gymnasium – Elmira, NY
 
Elmira, NY -- The Elmira College men's volleyball team bounced back from a difficult weekend to score a resounding three-sets-to-one victory over Juniata College in EC's home finale at Speidel Gymnasium on Monday evening. The win is the program's first ever victory over Juniata in seven all-time tries.
 
Elmira took control of the opening set with Mike Ellison '16 on serve. Trailing 5-3, the EC senior in his final home match helped the Soaring Eagles to a 5-0 run to take an 8-5 lead. Griffin collected two kills, while Mark Kawecki '17 sent down one of his own during the run.
 
Griffin and Kawecki continued to have a major impact down the back half of the first set. The senior outside hitter sent a thunderous cross-court kill to make it 19-14, while Kawecki pounded a ball off the Juniata block to maintain the five-point edge. A Juniata service error closed the set 25-19, as Elmira gained the early advantage in the match. Ellison and Griffin both finished with four kills apiece in the opening frame.
 
EC again jumped out to an early advantage in the second set, taking a 13-8 lead at the halfway point. Jeremy Best '19 did an excellent job of distributing the Soaring Eagles attack, spreading the ball to both inside and outside options. He also was not afraid of jumping into the attack himself, registering a kill on his lone attempt in the set, while also collecting a service ace.
 
The Purple and Gold doubled the advantage with Griffin on serve. He registered back-to-back service aces to up the lead to 17-7. The visiting Eagles put together a bit of a rally to close the gap back to five on two separate times during the final portions of the set. However, the EC lead proved to be more than sufficient, as the EC middles took control. Dylan Kuhn '16 provided two powerful kills down the middle, while Andrew Johnson '16 tucked a drive inside the sideline. Kawecki and Ellison saw the set out, collecting consecutive kills with Griffin on serve, taking the second set by the same margin as the first.
 
It was Juniata that got off to the quick start in the third set, jumping out to an early 8-1 advantage. In particular it was the stellar ground defense of Leland Hacecky and Ryan Shelton, who delivered several sprawling digs during the run.
 
EC's seniors began to lead the charge back following a timeout from Elmira head coach Stephen England. Kuhn sent down a pair of resounding kills, while Ellison delivered a cross-court finish and a service ace to cut the deficit to 10-6.
 
The rally was stymied by another Juniata run, which widened the visitor's lead to a set-high eight points at 17-9. Elmira nearly bridged the gap down the stretch. Trailing 24-20, Kawecki got on serve and helped EC secure three straight points to pull within one of tying the set, but the third-year's serve drifted just wide of the left sideline to send the match to a fourth set.
 
The Soaring Eagles leaned on Griffin to snatch back the momentum in the fourth set. He collected two kills and a block assist down the right sideline to help EC grab a 9-5 advantage. Joe Hewes '19 serving aided the run, as Juniata struggled to pass his knuckleball. The lead ballooned to 10-5, before the visiting Eagles could finally side out.
 
Elmira widened the advantage with Griffin on serve. He sparked a 3-0 run with a big kill, while Johnson and Kawecki combined on a block assist to push the lead to 14-8. The gap stretched to 10 on the strength of back-to-back kills from Johnson to make the score 23-13. Senior Brian Lowe '16 closed things out for Elmira, notching his first career kill on a thunderous finish, as Elmira took the set 25-14.
 
Turning Point
After dropping a tight third set, Elmira looked to close the door on a surging Juniata squad that hit .462 in the third. Elmira locked things down defensively in the fourth, producing four blocks which helped hold the Eagles to a -.238 attack percentage in the set. Additionally, an 11-4 run early in the fourth turned a 5-5 tie into a 16-9 lead, which was all EC needed to pull out the win.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Elmira hit .439 for the match, while Juniata went .191 from the floor.
• EC held a large lead in kills, producing 57 compared with Juniata's 39.
• The Soaring Eagles assisted on 53-of-57 kills, while Juniata connected on 34-of-39 kills.
• Elmira was feeling it from the service line, logging eight aces.
• Juniata recorded two aces.
• There were not many blocks, as EC held a slight edge at 5-4.
• The Eagles held a small advantage in digs, 23-21.
• Griffin led all players with a match-high 17 kills.
• Ellison was not far behind with 16 kills, but did finish with the team-lead in aces with three.
• Both Ellison and Griffin were ultra-efficient, with attack percentages of .538 and .481, respectively.
• Kuhn also had a good night hitting the ball, connecting at a .636-percent clip.
• Best orchestrated the EC attack beautifully with a match-high 49 assists.
• Griffin, Kawecki, and Branigan held the team-lead in digs with five apiece.
• Johnson recorded a match-high four blocks, all assisted blocks.
• Kawecki chipped in with three blocks as well.

 
News and Notes

• Elmira recorded its first win over Juniata in program history.
• EC's 21-win total is the third-highest of any team in its six-year history.
• Elmira's .439 attack percentage is the team's second-highest average of the season.
• Griffin produced his 83rd double-digit kill effort of his career, which places him in a two-way tie with Ryan Gelenitis '14 for first place in program history.  
• Best's career-high 49 assists marks the second time this year an EC freshman has logged 40-or-more.
• Best's 49 assists are the highest total by an Elmira rookie since 2011, when AVCA All-American Michael Vellutato '14 finished the year with 52 against Thiel College.
• Ellison's .538 attack percentage is his highest of the season (minimum of 10 attempts).

 
Up Next
Elmira concludes the 2016 regular season this weekend with a pair of non-conference matches on Saturday, April 2nd. The Soaring Eagles take on Alderson Broaddus University at 1:15 p.m., before facing seventh-ranked Nazareth College at 3:30 p.m. Both matches are scheduled to take place at Nazareth's Kidera Gymnasium in Rochester, NY.