ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's volleyball team prepares for tilts against United Volleyball Conference (UVC) foes third-ranked SUNY New Paltz and Bard College at an UVC Crossover hosted by the Hawks on Saturday, March 11. The first match against New Paltz is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. and the second contest against the Raptors is slated to start at 1:30 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT: EC fell at the hands of UVC adversary Nazareth College in straight sets, 27-25, 25-19, 25-22, at the Golden Flyers' Kidera Gymnasium in Rochester, New York, on Wednesday, March 8. The Soaring Eagles got off to a good start, as they posted a team-high .324 hitting percentage in the first set, despite falling in the set. Their percentage started to drop in the second, as it evened out to .157 clip by the end of the match.
Ryan McDonough '18 posted another strong outing, finishing the contest with a match-high 11 kills. Finishing just behind McDonough were
Matthew Buffum '18 and
Mark Kawecki '17, who finished with nine and eight kills, respectively. Also continuing to impress was sophomore setter
Jeremy Best '19, who assisted on 32 of Elmira's 37 kills.
BUFFUM CONTINUES EFFICIENT PLAY: The junior middle blocker, Buffum, continues to be one of the most efficient players in the entire UVC. The Chesterfield, Missouri, native owns a .395 hitting percentage on a 212k-56e-395ta stat line. This clip ranks second on the UVC leaderboard in the category and 16th in all of Division III. To better illustrate Buffum's efficiency, he ranks second in the conference in the category, while also siting tied for the most attempts of anyone in the top 10. If this production continues, Buffum stands to top the program-best .384 attack percentage of
Dylan Kuhn '16 from a year ago.
SCOUTING NEW PALTZ: The defending Division III Men's Volleyball National Champions enter Saturday's contest as the third-ranked team in the country, according to the latest AVCA Poll. After dropping just two matches for the entirety of the 2016 season, the Hawks have lost three contests already this year, the most recent setback coming at the hands of the top-ranked Springfield College Pride, 3-1, on Wednesday, March 1. New Paltz bounced back quickly, though, besting fifteenth-ranked Juniata College in straight sets on Friday, March 3, its most recent result. After this turbulence, the Hawks' record sits at 17-4 overall and 1-1 in conference. Offensively, New Paltz is led by junior outside hitter Anthony Bonilla, whose team-leading 3.37 kills per set ranks second in the league. The Hawks also have one of the best setters in the country, as freshman Matthew Grace paces the conference with his 10.42 assists per set, the seventh-best mark in the country.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. THE HAWKS: The all-time series between Elmira and New Paltz has favored the Hawks in recent years, as they have won the last five matches, a streak that dates back to the 2013 season. EC has seen the most the most success in the series in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. In that time period, the Soaring Eagles bested the Hawks in two of their three meetings.
SCOUTING BARD: The Raptors enter Saturday's contest as the last team in the current UVC standings, with their record sitting at 4-14 overall and a 0-3 in circuit play. Bard ended a three-game skid with a straight-set victory over York College (N.Y.) on Saturday, March 4. On the bright side, three of the Raptors' four wins have come in a recent six-game stretch. Senior Alex Adams' team-high 2.46 kills per set has been Bard's main source of offensive production this season. Junior libero Tyler Zowaski has paced the Bard defense, with his fourth-highest digs per set average in the UVC (2.18).
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. THE RAPTORS: Elmira has dominated the all-time series against Bard, owning a perfect 7-0 record. The Soaring Eagles came out on top in last season's meeting by a score of 3-1 at the Raptors' Stevenson Gymnasium. Buffum paced all players with a match-high 13 kills.
LOOKING AHEAD: EC will travel to Buffalo, New York, to challenge non-league foe D'Youville College on Thursday, March 16. The matchup at the Spartans' College Center Gymnasium is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.
