Score: Marymount University 3, Elmira College 1 (27-29, 25-20, 25-19, 25-18)
Records: Marymount (1-0), Elmira (0-1)
Location: Elmira, N.Y. - Speidel Gymnasium

ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's volleyball team was unable to capitalize off of a thrilling first-set victory in Friday night's season-opening home match, as the Soaring Eagles dropped the next three sets en route to a 3-1 loss to the Saints of Marymount University at Speidel Gymnasium.

Although the Purple and Gold trailed for much of the opening set, EC played its best offense of the night in the opening stanza to claw from behind. Elmira held several two-point leads in the early going, the latter following one of a team-best five kills in the first set from Ryan McDonough '18 to make it 7-5.

However, the service skills of Marymount's helped the Saints go on a 5-0 run to secure a 10-7 advantage. From there, the visitors led until the enthusiastic Elmira squad battled back from a 24-22 deficit to knot the score at 24-all. Middle blocker Matthew Buffum '18 guided the come-from-behind effort, as the junior posted two kills, a block, and a service ace to help EC claw back from a 22-19 hole.

Knotted at 24-24, the two teams traded the next six points, with Elmira receiving back-to-back kills from McDonough and Dan Symer '19 to pull ahead 27-26, with Symer spiking home the go-ahead point at the net on a free ball off of a McDonough serve.

While a kill from Graham Clark allowed the Saints to once again tie the score, an Eric Wiles service error and James Knight attack error sealed the 29-27 victory for EC.

The Soaring Eagles attacked at a blistering rate of .375 in the first set, with 12 kills and just three errors, but were unable to keep up those offensive figures throughout the next three sets. Elmira committed a combined 12 offensive errors in the middle sets, and mustered a mere .000 attack percentage in the decisive fourth. On the other hand, the Saints registered a .436 percentage in the second and third combined, with only four errors in those sets.

Turning Point
Trailing two-sets-to-one, Elmira opened the fourth stanza with a 5-0 lead, and it appeared the Soaring Eagles were on their way to forcing a fifth set. Shortly thereafter, however, EC went stagnate, allowing the Saints to go on an 8-1 run to turn a 10-6 cushion into a 14-11 deficit, one that Marymount would never relinquish. Spurring the Saints was their effort on the serve, which included consecutive aces from Tomasz Ksiazkiewicz and one from Erich Bratke during the momentum-shifting stretch.

Inside the Box Score

• Marymount outhit Elmira in terms of attack percentage (.318-to-.174) and total kills (44-to-35).
• The Saints doubled EC in aces, 16-to-8.
• They also held a 7.5-to-4.0 lead in total blocks.
• McDonough paced the Elmira offense with 11 kills.
• Buffum was effective in the middle, as he produced a team-high .538 attack percentage with eight kills and only one miscue.
• Symer and Garrett Coleman '20 finished with seven and six kills, respectively.
• Jeremy Best '19 and Ryan Branigan '19 led EC with seven digs apiece.
• Best also finished with a match-high 29 assists.
• Marymount's TJ Wiechecki led all players with 18 kills.
• Ksiazkiewicz had eight kills, four aces, and two block assists.
• Connor Choate turned in a match-high 10 digs, followed by Wiechecki with eight.

News and Notes

• Elmira falls to 0-1 after dropping the season-opening match.
• Marymount takes a 1-0 advantage in the all-time series vs. the Soaring Eagles.
• EC is now 2-5 all-time in season openers and 4-3 in home openers.
• McDonough's 11 kills mark his first match with double-digit kills since he recorded 15 on February 13, 2016, against New York University, a span of 20 matches.
• Best's seven digs are a new career high for the second-year setter.
• Friday's match was the eighth of his career with double-digit assists.
• Symer's three block assists tied his previous single-match career high.

Up Next
The Elmira men's volleyball team will head to Newark, New Jersey, where the Soaring Eagles will compete in the two-day Golden Dome Invitational, hosted by Rutgers University – Newark. The tournament begins on Friday, January 20th, when the Soaring Eagles battle the host Scarlet Raiders at 8:00 p.m.