ELMIRA, N.Y. -- After five consecutive matches against non-league competition, the Elmira College men's volleyball team resumes its United Volleyball Conference (UVC) schedule on Wednesday, March 8, against the Golden Flyers of Nazareth College. The conference bout is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Nazareth's Kidera Gymnasium, located in Rochester, New York.
LAST TIME OUT: The Soaring Eagles tasted victory for the third time in the last four matches by ousting the Wolves of Keuka College in straight sets (25-21, 25-18, 27-25) in Keuka Park, New York, on Wednesday, March 1. EC attacked at a rate of .287, the team's fourth-best hitting percentage of the season, while compiling 41 kills, the most for the Purple and Gold in a three-set match in 2017.
Matthew Buffum '18 led the Elmira offense with match highs of 14 kills, four blocks and a .813 attack percentage.
Henry Cleveland '20 finished with six kills, followed by
Dan Symer '19 and
Mark Kawecki '17 with five apiece.
Jeremy Best '19 dished out 32 assists, a figure that tied his previous career high for helpers in a three-set match, to go along with three kills and three blocks.
BEST CLOSING IN ON 1,000: Best, a native of Wexford, Pennsylvania, heads into Wednesday's bout against Nazareth with the third-most assists in EC's seven-year history with 915 career helpers. With 85 additional assists this season, Best will become the third player in Elmira's history to reach the 1,000-assist plateau. Best is having a banner season in 2017 with 709 assists, as the second-year setter has finished with double-digit helpers in each of Elmira's 22 matches thus far; 12 of those 22 matches have resulted in 30-plus assists, including last week's 32-assist effort against the Wolves.
A LOOK AT THE LAST FOUR: The Purple and Gold boast a 3-1 record in their last four matches, all against non-conference opponents. Elmira has connected at a 22.5-percent clip during this time and have held opposing teams to 19.8-percent, which is nearly eight full percentage points lower than what teams are averaging against EC this season. Credit the Elmira defense for much of the success in the last four contests, as the Soaring Eagles posted per-set averages of 12.07 digs and 1.93 blocks, both of which are better than the team's season average.
SCOUTING NAZARETH: The Golden Flyers began the 2017 season as the country's seventh-ranked team, according to the AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll, but have since dropped out of the national rankings and enter Wednesday's clash against Elmira with a 15-8 overall record. After suffering back-to-back losses to the Milwaukee School of Engineering and Mount St. Joseph, Nazareth has won three straight heading into the final stretch of the season. Zachary Gillard has carried the load offensively for the Golden Flyers with a team-high 3.26 kills per set, a mark that ranks fourth in the conference. Kane Wittorff has been consistently productive on the attack with a team-leading .389 attack percentage, which ranks third in the league.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Nazareth has controlled the all-time series since EC's inaugural season in 2011, boasting a 10-2 record. The Golden Flyers opened the series with seven straight wins, until the Purple and Gold struck for back-to-back victories during the 2014 and 2015 seasons. However, since those two wins, Nazareth has gone on to capture three straight.
LOOKING AHEAD: Elmira continues its UVC schedule with a pair of matches at the UVC Crossover in New Paltz, New York, this Saturday, March 11. The Soaring Eagles open the weekend with an 11:00 a.m. showdown against third-ranked SUNY New Paltz, before concluding the trip with a 1:30 p.m. clash with Bard College.
