Elmira kicks off the week with a home match against non-conference foe Keystone on Monday at 4:00 p.m. at the Murray Athletic Center Tennis Dome. The Soaring Eagles enter the contest riding a season-long three-match winning streak. Following the bout against the Giants, EC will return to the MAC to begin Empire 8 Conference play with a tilt against Ithaca College on Saturday, April 1, at 1:00 p.m. Elmira eyes its third consecutive conference-opening triumph. Then on the following Sunday, April 2, the Purple and Gold travel to face Lycoming College in a rescheduled match from earlier this season.
  Due to inclement weather, the Soaring Eagles have yet to begin the 2017 campaign. This means that EC's contest against the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford on Tuesday, March 28, will serve as the team's season and home opener. The non-conference bout is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. at nearby Eldridge Park Stadium. Elmira will then travel to Rochester, New York, to challenge St. John Fisher College and Nazareth College in EC's first two Empire 8 series of the season. EC clashes with the Cardinals of St. John Fisher on Saturday, April 1, and will battle the Golden Flyers of Nazareth the following afternoon. Both doubleheaders are scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m.
  Elmira will begin the Empire 8 Conference portion of its schedule on Tuesday, March 28, when it challenges Route 13 adversary Ithaca College. The league contest is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. at the Bombers' Higgins Stadium and marks the first of three games in a six-day stretch for the Elmira women. After the road bout with the Bombers, EC welcomes Utica College and New England College to the Southern Tier for a pair of games. The Soaring Eagles take on the Pioneers of Utica on Saturday, April 1, at 1:00 p.m. and will conclude the weekend the following day against the Pilgrims of New England at 2:00 p.m.
  Elmira is fresh off a doubleheader sweep against Utica College over the weekend in EC's home-opener. The Soaring Eagles will be looking to ride that momentum into this week's action, as EC hits the road for five games. Elmira travels to Aurora, New York, on Tuesday, March 28, for a non-conference doubleheader against Wells College starting at 3:00 p.m. The matchup will be the first-ever between the two teams. EC concludes the week with a three-game series against the Highlanders of Houghton College, starting with a single game on Friday, March 31, in Houghton, New York, at 6:00 p.m. The Soaring Eagles and Houghton wrap up the series the follow day with a twin bill beginning at 1:00 p.m.
  The Elmira men dropped their conference-opening contest on Saturday, but will have the chance to get into the win column this Wednesday, March 29, when the Soaring Eagles host Houghton College. The E8 bout is scheduled to take place on the turf field at Notre Dame High School and will begin promptly at 4:00 p.m. EC will also travel this week to face non-league foe SUNY Geneseo on Saturday, April 1, at 1:00 p.m.
  The nationally-ranked Elmira cheerleaders have a full slate this week, as the Soaring Eagles will be in action three times in a four-day span. Elmira will showcase its nationals routine for the EC campus this Thursday, March 30, inside Speidel Gymnasium at 4:00 p.m. The showcase will serve as a tune-up for a pair of competitions over the weekend, starting with a trip to Providence, Rhode Island, for the East Coast Classic on Saturday, April 1. EC returns to Upstate New York the following day for the Cortland Showcase, hosted by the Red Dragons of SUNY Cortland.
  It has been nearly six months since the Elmira men were last in action, as the Soaring Eagles prepare for this Thursday's spring season-opener at the Gettysburg Spring Invitational, hosted by Gettysburg College at the Hanover Country Club in Abbottstown, Pennsylvania. The invite marks the first of five events on the spring schedule for the Purple and Gold.
  A month-long layoff didn't seem to have any effect on the Soaring Eagles (3-3) in their Empire 8 opener on Saturday at historic Dunn Field, as EC belted a combined 28 hits en route to a pair of 10-4 and 6-5 victories over visiting Utica College. Elmira scored a season-high 10 runs in the first game to cruise to win. After the Pioneers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, the Purple and Gold pushed across five runs on five hits, including a Dylan Bellinger '17 two-run homer, to take the lead for good. Nick Sampogna '18 earned the win on the mound, striking out nine and surrendering just one run on two hits in 5.0 innings.
 
In the nightcap, EC had to overcome a pair of late one-run Utica leads to walk-off in the ninth. Back-to-back two-out doubles from Conor Bawiec '18 and Nate Hanner'18 in the fifth gave the Soaring Eagles a 3-1 advantage, but the Pioneers quickly erased the deficit with three runs in the sixth. Bryce Plante '18 knotted the game, 4-4, with an RBI base hit in the bottom of the sixth, but UC once again pulled ahead with an unearned run in the top of the ninth. The Soaring Eagles managed loaded the bases in the bottom half of the frame and Dennis Rudolph '18 drove in the game-winning run with two outs for the 6-5 walk-off win.
  Elmira (3-3) has been on a roll as of late, as the Soaring Eagles cruised to a 9-0 sweep of the Marywood University Pacers on Wednesday, March 23, in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. EC won 96-of-110 games played on the afternoon and earned its first 9-0 win in on the road since April 25, 2015. Theo Tran '20 and Patrick Tracey '18 teamed up for an 8-2 triumph at No. 1 doubles, before earning wins at first and third singles, respectively. Tracey was flawless in his singles bout with Brendan O'Rourke, as he was the only Soaring Eagles to produce a 6-0, 6-0 win. Tracey and Yaniv Kogan '18, who earned a 6-2, 6-0 victory at fourth singles, moved into a three-way tie for fifth place in program history in career singles wins (21) with their victories over the Pacers.
  Every Elmira netter who competed in Saturday's Soaring Eagle Spring Invitational at the Murray Athletic Center earned at least one win. Leading the charge was Tilila El Yazidi '20 and Megan Fitzgerald '18, who teamed up to go 3-0 in the top doubles flight and win their respective singles flights. El Yazidi won all three of her matches at No. 1 singles, including an 8-4 victory over the College at Brockport's Kelsey Shanahan in the final. Fitzgerald, who bested Wells College's Kamarie Maturine by an 8-3 score in the round robin portion of the second singles flight, went on to beat Maturine by an identical score in the second singles final. Sophomores Danielle Bliss '19 and Cheyanne Holwell '19 picked up one win apiece in their singles flights, before combining to go 2-1 in the second doubles flight.
  The Elmira women (0-4) dropped a pair of non-conference games last week against SUNY New Paltz and Cazenovia College. In New Paltz, New York, on March 23, the Soaring Eagles overcame a three-goal deficit with consecutive goals from Sarah Hughson '18, Louisa Lippiatt Durnell '18, and Kelsey Quail '17 to even the score at 5-5 early in the second half. However, the Hawks broke a 6-6 tie by tallying seven of the last eight goals of the game to secure a 13-7 win.
In Saturday's home opener, played at nearby Ernie Davis Academy, the Soaring Eagles surrendered a season-low nine goals and goaltender Lindsay Wargo '17 made a season-high 12 saves, but it proved to not be enough, as Cazenovia walked away with a 9-6 win. A woman-up goal from Hayley Baker '19 to end the first half and a tally from rookie Rachael Goetz '20 to start the second had EC within one, 5-4, but the Wildcats ended the game on a 4-2 run. Despite the loss, Hughson established career highs with nine ground balls and seven caused turnovers against Caz.
  The Soaring Eagles (10-18) had only one match on the slate last week, and it was essentially a must-win for EC to keep its hopes of a United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Tournament berth alive. However, the Lions of Penn State Behrend won the opening sets and held off a comeback attempt in the fourth, resulting in a 3-1 victory inside Elmira's Speidel Gymnasium on Tuesday, March 21. A spirited performance by Mark Kawecki '17 led the late charge for the Soaring Eagles, who captured the third set, 26-24, and led by as many as four points in the fourth. Kawecki recorded a double-double with a career-high 22 kills and a team-leading 12 digs. The senior from Bangor, Pennsylvania, floored nine of his kills in the third set, including three of EC's last four points in the set.
  After limiting the Golden Flyers to just two goals in the first quarter, the Soaring Eagles (0-4) struggled to contain an explosive Nazareth offense on Saturday, as EC was defeated 20-2 in the 2017 conference opener. Naz held a 10-1 advantage at the halftime intermission, with Colby Runk '18 scoring the only goal for Elmira in the opening half. Only 12 seconds into the third quarter, Wyatt Katsos '17 registered a man-up goal, but the Golden Flyers ended the game with 10 unanswered goals. Mike Chaderjian '19 was busy between the pipes in his first collegiate start, as the sophomore goalie made a career-high 20 saves in 53:32 minutes of playing time.