Score: Elmira College 3, Penn College 2 [14-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-15, 15-12]
Records: Elmira (2-1), Penn College (2-7)
Location: Elmira, N.Y. -- Speidel Gymnasium

ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College women's volleyball team rebounded from an 0-2 deficit to defeat the Pennsylvania College of Technology in a five-set thriller at Speidel Gymnasium on Thursday night.

Down by two sets, Kelsey Ray '17 served the Soaring Eagles to an 11-7 advantage in the third set, with the final point of the rally coming on a service ace. While momentum slowly began to shift in EC's favor, the Wildcats clawed back to knot the set at 14-all shortly thereafter. A pair of Natalie Schieder '19 kills highlighted the next run, which pushed the Elmira lead to 18-14. Once again, Penn College closed the gap, this time coming within one at 23-22. The Alicia Day '17 kill and Ray block that followed gave Elmira its first set of the night, 25-22.

The Purple and Gold shined on both sides of the ball in the fourth. Offensively, EC registering a .343 attacking percentage with 15 kills and only three errors. Rachel Katzenberger '19 supplemented the attack, led by Schieder, by recording four kills on six tries in the set. Defensively, the Soaring Eagles limited the Wildcats to a .057 attack percentage, the worst of the night for the visitors. Elmira tied the match at 2-2 with a dominate 25-15 victory in the fourth.

Penn College didn't go down without a fight in the final set. The Wildcats held two-point leads at 9-7 and 10-8 before Schieder guided the Soaring Eagles to victory. From there, the Alden, New York, product dropped four additional kills in Elmira's final seven points. Katzenberger sealed the comeback with a floater that found space in the middle of the Penn College formation for the match point.

In Their Own Words…
Head Coach Rhonda Faunce on Elmira's ability to overcome an 0-2 deficit…
"It feels good to walk out of the gym with the win. I'm just really happy that we didn't give up. We started playing a little bit better as the match went on."

Faunce on which area the Soaring Eagles improved upon most in the final three sets…
"I'd say passing. When you get a good pass, everything else usually follows suit."

Faunce on Schieder's career performance…
"When you're struggling, the setter is comfortable going to Natalie, knowing that she is going to get it done. We've knew that she was going to be the next kid that we could rely on to lead the team. And she's really starting to open up; it's exciting to see personality shine."

Turning Point
Leading by a narrow 17-15 margin in the fourth set, the Elmira offense caught fire. The Soaring Eagles closed out the set with eight consecutive points. Of those points, the first half-dozen were the result of kills. The first two were dished out by Katzenberger, as part of her quietly successful outing. Rookie McKenzie Slaven '20 also contributed a pair of kills in that span. After winning the fourth set in such dominate fashion, the young Soaring Eagles entered the decisive fifth set with the momentum on their side and a much-needed boost of confidence.

Inside the Box

• Elmira outhit Penn College .203-to-.134 overall.
• The Soaring Eagles finished with a sizable advantage in kills, 65-to-39.
• The Wildcats picked up 95 digs, as compared to EC's 87.
• Schieder registered a monster double-double with match highs in kills (31) and digs (27).
• Taylor Kaznowski '19 also picked up a double-double with 56 assists and 16 digs.
• Kasey Campbell '19 finished with 17 digs for EC.
• Ray was very efficient on offense, knocking down nine kills with a .333 attack percentage.
• Katzenberger's eight kills and .375 attack percentage proved to be key down the stretch.
• Breana Hayward paced the Wildcats with 11 kills and a .308 attack percentage.
• Jordyn Smeltzer led Penn College with 23 digs, followed by Sophie Coldsmith with 18.
• Felicia Webber served up a team-high seven of the Wildcats' 17 aces.

News and Notes

• EC is now 7-0 all-time against Penn College since 2011 and 3-0 at home in that span.
• Thursday's match marked Elmira's first victory when trailing 0-2 since defeating SUNY-Delhi in five sets on October 3, 2015.
• With 31 kills and 27 digs, Schieder set career highs in both categories.
• Her 27 digs are the most by a Soaring Eagle since Kelsey Ross '16 equaled that total against Utica College on October 25, 2014.
• Schieder's 31 kills are the most since former AVCA All-American Taryn Rumsey '14 had 32 against Hartwick College on October 4, 2013.
• Kaznowski established new career highs for assists (56) and digs (16) in her double-double performance.
• Campbell equaled her previous single-match high with 17 digs.
• With eight kills against Penn College, Katzenberger more than doubled her total from all of 2015.

 Up Next
The Elmira women will open Empire 8 Conference play with a road match against Ithaca College on Wednesday, September 21st, at 6:00 p.m.