Score: Hartwick College 3, Elmira College 0 [25-18, 25-23, 25-17]
Score: Nazareth College 3, Elmira College 1 [25-19, 25-16, 22-25, 25-13]
Records: Elmira (7-6, 0-3 E8), Hartwick (7-7, 2-0 E8), Nazareth (9-4, 2-0 E8)
Location: Elmira, N.Y. -- Speidel Gymnasium
 
ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College women's volleyball team fell to both Hartwick College [25-18, 25-23, 25-17] and Nazareth College [25-19, 25-16, 22-25, 25-13] in Empire 8 Conference competition this afternoon at Speidel Gymnasium in Elmira, New York.

EC started the day with a 3-0 setback to the Hawks. Hartwick's offense was working well throughout the match, as the road team outhit the Soaring Eagles .297-to-.107. The Hawks committed just eight errors for the entire match, compared to Elmira's 21. Hartwick also did a good job of controlling play at the net, as it finished the match with five blocks, compared to the Soaring Eagles' 3.

The Soaring Eagles took an early three-point lead in the opening set, 6-3, but the Hawks clawed their way back into the set and eventually took a three-point lead, 13-10, thanks to a 5-0 run. EC pulled within one point of Hartwick on a pair of occasions, but the Hawks pulled away each time and closed out the opening set with a 5-1 run to clinch it, 25-18.

Elmira opened the second set in similar fashion, going up by as many as four points at 7-3. The Hawks chipped away at the EC lead, before taking its first lead of the set at 13-12. Hartwick's advantage ballooned to as many as five points, 23-18, but a kill from Tiara John '19 helped ignite an EC comeback down the stretch. Including John's kill, EC won four straight points, much of which can be credited to Casey Campbell '19 and her precision serving. The third-year libero served up a pair of aces during that stretch, while rookie Lauren Smith '21 floored one of her team-high 11 kills to close the gap to 23-22. Unfortunately for Elmira, this was as close as EC would get, as the Hawks held on for a 25-23 second-set win.

Elmira opened the third set by taking the first three points. John and Taylor Kaznowski '19 fueled the run, as both tallied a kill and an assist in the stretch. Hartwick answered with an 11-2 run of their own to take an 11-5 lead. Following an EC timeout, the Purple and Gold reeled off five straight points to put the deficit at just one, 11-10. Again the Hawks were up to the challenge, as a 5-0 run of their own put Hartwick up 16-10. The Soaring Eagles made a few more runs before the end of the set, but it proved to not be enough, as the Hawks held on to take the third by a 25-17 final score and take the match 3-0.

The second contest of the day against the Golden Flyers was another hard-fought affair, as Naz bested their feathered foes 3-1. Nazareth's offense was clicking against Elmira, as it outhit the home team .264-to- .111. The Golden Flyers also utilized effective serving to propel themselves over the Soaring Eagles, as the road team hit nine aces, compared to EC's four.

The start of the opening set was tightly contested, as both teams traded runs, until Elmira sat ahead by one point, 7-6. The Purple and Gold used a 7-6 run to extend their lead to two points, 14-12. Natalie Schieder '19 was Elmira's main catalyst for the run, as she recorded two of her match-high 20 kills in the stretch. The Golden Flyers would answer by taking six of the next eight points to take an 18-16 lead of their own. EC would draw the score to one point before the end of the match, but it would not get any closer, as the Soaring Eagles would fall in the first, 25-19.

Elmira would again come out on fire in the second, as it stormed out to a 6-3 lead in the first nine points. Schieder again fueled the run, as she tallied the first three EC points of the set. A 10-1 run by the Golden Flyers put the road team up 16-7. Despite the deficit, the Soaring Eagles continued to battle, as they drew the hole to just two points, 17-15. Naz answered this adversity by taking eight of the last nine points to seal a 25-16 set win.

In the third, Elmira took the first real advantage of the set, as a 5-0 run in the middle of the set gave the home team a 12-7 lead. EC continued the pressure, as they built its advantage up to as high as six points, 16-10. John helped ignite the advanced play, as she contributed six of her eight kills in the in the third set. Nazareth would answer by taking eight of the next 11 points to draw its deficit to just one point, 19-18. The Soaring Eagles held strong, however, as they kept their advantage on the way to the 25-22 set win.

After showing great resilience in the third set, Elmira struggled to stop the Golden Flyers offense in the fourth. Naz opened the set by taking 13 of the first 15 points to build an 11-point advantage, 13-2. EC battled back to cut the deficit to just a seven points late in the fourth, 19-12, but it proved to not be enough, as the Golden Flyers won the set 25-13, sealing their second E8 victory of the year.
 
News and Notes

• With two losses today, Elmira falls to 7-6 on the season.
• EC also falls to 0-3 in conference play to start the year.
• The Soaring Eagles have not hit above .200 in its current season-long four-match losing streak.
• Hartwick's .297 attack percentage in the first match is the second highest clip by an Elmira opponent this season.
• Schieder's 20 kills and 20 digs against Naz are both season highs for the junior.
• The last Soaring Eagle to record a 20-kill-20-dig performance was Schieder, who did so in a 3-2 win over Penn College on September 15, 2016.
• With her performance against Nazareth, Schieder also has a team-leading seven double-doubles on the year.
• With 33 assists against the Golden Flyers, Kaznowski has recorded at least 30 helpers in five games this season.
• Kaznowski also chipped in 26 assists and 10 digs in the match against Hartwick, her fourth double-double of the campaign.
• Rachel Katzenberger '19 recorded a season-high 15 d in the bout against Naz.
• Smith's 11 kills in match one were just one shy of her season high.

 
Up Next
The Elmira women return to action on Friday and Saturday, September 29-30, when they will head to the Canton Classic, hosted by SUNY Canton and St. Lawrence University. On Friday, EC will square off against Cazenovia at 6:00 p.m., before challenging Plattsburgh State at 8:00 p.m. at St. Lawrence's Burkman Gymnasium.