The Soaring Eagles are flying high after a five-set win over Baruch College, extending Elmira's win streak to three consecutive matches. Elmira will look to ride this momentum into a crucial United Volleyball Conference (UVC) match this Tuesday, March 21, when the Purple and Gold host the Lions of Penn State Behrend at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday's league bout will serve as the Buffalo Wild Wings Game of the Year, in which fans will have several chances to win great prizes throughout the evening.
  Elmira's 2017 home-opener was cancelled due the frigid temperatures in the Southern Tier during the weekend of March 11. As a result, EC is scheduled to play a pair of home games this week against non-league opponents SUNY New Paltz and Cazenovia College. The Soaring Eagles clash with the Hawks of New Paltz in EC's home-opener on Thursday, March 23, at 4:00 p.m., before concluding the week with a 1:00 p.m. showdown with the Wildcats of Cazenovia on Saturday, March 25. Both contests will take place on the turf field on the campus of Corning Community College.   
  It has been over five months since the Elmira women last competed, however, EC will look to shake-off the rust and produce results at this weekend's season finale at the Soaring Eagle Spring Invitational. Elmira will compete against Wells College and the College at Brockport in a round-robin tournament at the Murray Athletic Center on Saturday, March 25. Action will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m.
  Elmira is set to debut in front of its home fans this Saturday, March 25, when the Soaring Eagles welcome the Pioneers of Utica College to Historic Dunn Field for EC's home- and conference-opener. Saturday's 1:00 p.m. doubleheader marks the beginning of a three-game series against the Pioneers, with the third and final game scheduled for Sunday, March 26, at 12:00 p.m.
  The Soaring Eagles have yet to play a game this season, but are scheduled to compete in three doubleheaders this week against non-conference opponents. EC opens the week with road games against Lycoming College and Hilbert College on March 22 and March 24, respectively. Elmira's home opener is scheduled for Sunday, March 26, against SUNY Canton and will start at 1:00 p.m. at Eldridge Park Stadium.
  After opening the year with three consecutive losses, the Elmira men seem to have found their rhythm with back-to-back non-league wins over Oswego State and Pennsylvania College of Technology. Elmira puts its two-match win streak on the line this Thursday, March 23, when the Soaring Eagles travel to face the favorites to win the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC), Marywood University. The opening serve is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  
  The Elmira men will travel to the Flower City this Saturday, March 25, for their Empire 8 Conference opener, as the Purple and Gold take on the Golden Flyers of Nazareth College. Thursday's league bout is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. inside Nazareth's Golden Flyer Stadium.
  Elmira (10-17) picked up a pair of non-league wins last week against D'Youville and Baruch, which extended EC's win streak to three matches. The Soaring Eagles performed exceptionally well in their straight-set victory over the Spartans of D'Youville, as the Purple and Gold produced a program record-setting .564 attack percentage (36k-5a-55ta). Elmira capped the week with a thrilling five-set win against the top team in the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC), Baruch. EC won the opening two sets, but dropped the middle two, before edging the Bearcats in the fifth set, 15-13.  
 
Ryan McDonough '18, Mark Kawecki '17 and Matthew Buffum '18 paced the Elmira attack by accumulating 76 of the team's 100 kills during last week's matches. McDonough produced match-high kills in both contests with 12 against the Spartans and 19 in the win over the Bearcats. Not only was McDonough the team leader in kills, he was also Elmira's most consistent player with a team-high .439 attack percentage. Kawecki finished with 26 kills, which includes a season-high-tying 15 kills against Baruch, and led EC in service aces (5), digs (12), and logged the second-most blocks (5). With 15 kills against the Bearcats, Kawecki became the fourth player in program history to eclipse the 600-kill plateau. Sixteen of Buffum's 19 kills last week came in the five-set win over Baruch, a match the Chesterfield, Missouri, native connected at a .400-percent clip.
  The Elmira men (2-3) wasted little time to dispatch the Pennsylvania College of Technology last Friday afternoon, doing so in less than two hours on the four indoor courts at the Murray Athletic Center. Elmira's dominance began in doubles play with 8-0 sweeps at all three positions, a theme that continued into the singles portion of the match, as the Soaring Eagles won 72-of-77 games played en route to wins at all six singles positions. In total, EC won 96-of-101 games played on Friday evening. Theo Tran '20 and Patrick Tracey '18 did not drop a game in either portion of the match, as the duo teamed up for an 8-0 win at the top doubles spot before earning 6-0, 6-0 wins at first and third singles, respectively. Other notable outings included Yaniv Kogan '18 and his straight-set win at the fifth spot, which gave the third-year netter sole possession of sixth place in EC history for career singles wins (20).
 
  Limited scoring chances and a bevy of turnovers stymied the Soaring Eagles (0-3) in their lone game of the week against Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, as the Elmira men dropped a 20-4 non-conference decision. Muhlenberg struck for 13 first-half goals to take a whopping 13-2 lead into halftime. Elmira responded well after the break, as EC traded the first four goals of the third quarter with Mules. However, Muhlenberg closed out the game with a 5-0 run to secure its second win of the season. Wyatt Katsos '17 and Nevin Olney '18 paced the Purple and Gold with two points apiece; Katos finished with a pair of extra-man goals, while Olney tallied once and assisted on another EC strike.
 
  The Soaring Eagles (0-2) trimmed a five-goal halftime deficit to Buffalo State to just two goals in the opening seven minutes of the second half, however, the Bengals closed the contest with eight consecutive goals to secure a 17-7 victory. Turnovers haunted EC in the opening half, as five of its 17 first-half turnovers directly resulted in goals for Buffalo State. Hayley Baker '19 was Elmira's top point-getter (4) with team highs of two goals and two helpers. Kelsey Quail '17 and Sarah Hughson '18 chipped in with two points apiece, while Kelcey Crawford '18 paced the Purple and Gold with five ground balls and three caused turnovers.
  EC could not have asked for a better start to the 2017 competition schedule, as the Soaring Eagles took home first place at this past weekend's Battle at the Capitol in National Harbor, Maryland. The Elmira women posted a score of 95.32 on day one of the event to take a 3.35 lead on the rest of the All-Girl Division II & III field. Day two saw the Soaring Eagles score a 96.62 without a single deduction from the judges, which solidified EC's spot at the top of the standings with a two-day average of 95.97. Elmira will look to build on its first-place finish when it competes next on Saturday, April 1, at the East Coast Classic in Providence, Rhode Island.