ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Elmira College men's volleyball continues non-conference action this weekend, as the Soaring Eagles travel to Marcy, New York, for a trio of neutral-site contests at the SUNY Poly Invitational. Elmira opens action at the invite against Wilkes University on Friday, February 24, at 7:00 p.m. The following day, EC will face Rivier College and Arcadia University at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., respectively. All three matches will take place at SUNY Poly's Wildcat Field House.
 
LAST TIME OUT: No more than three points decided each set in Elmira's 3-1 defeat to Ramapo College last night in Mahwah, New Jersey. The Soaring Eagles dropped the opening sets, before winning the third in extras, 27-25, to cut the Roadrunner lead to 2-1. Elmira held a 21-18 lead in the fourth set and nearly forced a fifth, but a late rally by Ramapo sealed a four-set loss for the Purple and Gold. Matthew Buffum '18 led the way for Elmira with a career-high 19 kills and five blocks, while Ryan McDonough '18 turned in his third double-double of the season with 12 kills and a career-high 15 digs.
 
CAREER-HIGH OUTINGS: A trio of Soaring Eagles logged career-high numbers in the loss to Ramapo. Buffum floored a career-best 19 kills against the Roadrunners, the seventh double-digit kill performance of his junior season. McDonough also produced a career mark with 15 digs, while rookie Matt Straney '20 registered a career-high seven blocks. Straney's seven blocks were the most by an Elmira freshman since 2015, when Buffum rejected Vassar nine times during his debut season.
 
THE COMPETITION: The Soaring Eagles will face three teams during this weekend's SUNY Poly Invitational. Below is a quick breakdown of the opponents EC will face.
 
Wilkes (5-6): The Colonels head into the weekend looking to shake off back-to-back four-set losses to Alvernia and Wilson, which has dropped Wilkes' overall record below .500. Wilkes, which is competing in its first collegiate varsity season, has spent the entire year on the road and owns a 3-2 record in neutral site matchups. John Pietrzyk has been Wilkes' go-to option on the outside with 116 kills and a 3.05 kills per set average, both of which pace the Colonels. Daniel Sales has enjoyed a great deal of success from the service line, as his 0.62 aces per set average ranks 19th in Division III.
 
Rivier (6-5): Rivier's overall record may be a bit misleading, especially when analyzing the team's challenging schedule. Of Rivier's 11 matches, six have been against nationally-ranked opposition, all of which were ranked 10th or better at the time. The Raiders are 2-4 against nationally-ranked opposition, as both victories were recorded against Kean, who was 10th and seventh at the time of its defeats. Rivier has won three consecutive matches heading into Friday night's opening match against Arcadia. Grant Andler and Ian Wolski have proven to be versatile threats with their hitting ability, as the duo sits one-two on the team leaderboard in kills with 127 and 106, respectively. Also keep an eye on Garrett Bucklin, whose 2.92 digs per set average ranks ninth-best in the country.
 
Arcadia (7-8): Similar to Wilkes, the Knights of Arcadia are competing in their first collegiate varsity season in 2017. Arcadia is fresh off of a 3-0 setback to Lancaster Bible last time out, but prior to that setback, the Knights had won two in a row against New Jersey City and Brooklyn. Jason Manley has led the offense with 131 kills, while Sean Cohen and Alvyn Abraham have split setting duties with 259 and 177 assists, respectively. On defense, Austin Braas' 0.95 blocks per set rank 15th in the nation.  

LOOKING AHEAD: The Soaring Eagles are back in action next Wednesday, March 1, when Elmira hits the road for a 7:00 p.m. non-conference tilt with Keuka College.