ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Elmira College men's volleyball opens United Volleyball Conference play this Saturday, February 18th, with a pair of home matches at Speidel Gymnasium against two nationally-ranked foes. The Soaring Eagles kick things off on Saturday with an 11:00 a.m. showdown with second-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology, before concluding the day with a 4:00 p.m. clash with eight-ranked Vassar College.
LAST TIME OUT: The Soaring Eagles snapped an unflattering nine-match losing streak with a trio of wins at this past weekend's EC Invitational. Elmira opened the two-day home invite with a pair of wins over Southern Vermont and D'Youville, before splitting on day two with a victory against Sage and a setback to 15th-ranked Lasell. All three of Elmira's victories took place in three sets, as did the team's setback to the nationally-ranked Lasers.
SEASON HIGH MARKS: Elmira produced some of its best volleyball of the season in its home invite a week ago. The Soaring Eagles logged a season-high .303 attack percentage against D'Youville on Friday night, before topping that mark the following afternoon with a .312 attack percentage against Sage. EC also set a new season high for service aces, 13, last Friday against Southern Vermont.
SCOUTING STEVENS: The Ducks opened the 2017 season with 10 consecutive wins, but a nail-biting five-set loss to ninth-ranked NYU last Wednesday has dropped Stevens' record to 10-1 on the year and 0-1 in the UVC. Stevens, which owns a No. 2 national ranking heading into the weekend, has five nationally-ranked wins under its belt and three of those victories have come against top-10 opposition. Gabe Shankweiler, a former UVC Rookie of the Year, and 6-foot-6-inch middle hitter David Lehman pace the Stevens attack with 126 and 105 kills, respectively. Shankweiler is also the team's leader in service aces (23) and ranks second on the squad in digs (46). Lehman, on the other hand, has been super-efficient at the net with a UVC-leading 3.50 kills per set average.
SCOUTING VASSAR: The Brewers enter Saturday's UVC Crossover with a 10-5 overall record, which has the Vassar men ranked eighth in the latest AVCA National Coaches Poll. Of Vassar's 10 wins, two have come against nationally-ranked opposition in current No. 13 Rivier and No. 9 NYU, while four of its five losses have come against teams that currently hold a national ranking. The Brewers sport a three-headed attack at the net, led by the efforts First-Team All-American Matthew Knigge. The New Egypt, New Jersey, native leads the team with 130 kills, a team-high .365 attack percentage, and ranks second with a 2.41 kills per set average. Knigge has also been a force on the other side of the ball with a national-leading 1.26 blocks per set (68 total). Also keep an eye on starting setter Zechariah Lee, who not only leads the team in assists (477) but is also the team's second-leading blocker with 46 rejections.
LOOKING AHEAD: Elmira travels to the Garden State for its next match, as the Soaring Eagles clash with the Roadrunners of Ramapo College on Wednesday, February 22nd, at 7:00 p.m.
