ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Elmira College men's volleyball will welcome a quintet of opponents to the Southern Tier for the 2018 EC Invitational, hosted by the Soaring Eagles at Speidel Gymnasium. Action begins on Friday, January 26, when EC takes on Keuka College at 6:00 p.m., in the first of a four-match weekend.
LAST TIME OUT
The Soaring Eagles picked up their first win of the young 2018 campaign on Saturday, January 20, by topping the Roadrunners of Ramapo College in five sets at the Golden Dome Invitational in Newark, New Jersey. After falling in a competitive third set, 30-28, Elmira leveled the score at 2-all by taking the fourth set, 25-22. With the decisive fifth set tied at 4-4, the Purple and Gold went on a momentous nine-point win streak, all but sealing the win in the process. Freshman
Jose Malave '21 floored a team-high 14 kills and registered 12 digs for a double-double, while
Dan Symer '19 recorded 12 kills and
Landon Miller '20 hit a team-best .385 (6k-1e-13ta).
BUFFUM ON THE BLOCK
In the first three matches of his senior season,
Matthew Buffum '18 accumulated a team-leading 19 total blocks. He heads into Elmira's home tournament ranked third in the ultra-competitive United Volleyball Conference (UVC) with a 1.27 blocks-per-set average, this after a record-setting performance in a narrow five-set loss to Rutgers University-Newark. With four solo rejections and six block assists, the fourth-year middle from Chesterfield, Missouri, established a new EC record with 10 total blocks. He also owned a share of the former record of nine, one of three Soaring Eagles to accomplish the feat.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
The full schedule for the two-day Elmira College Invitational is as follows:
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| Friday, January 26 |
| Court #1 |
Court #2 |
| Elmira vs. Keuka – 6:00 p.m. |
D'Youville vs. Thiel – 6:00 p.m. |
| Elmira vs. Thiel – 8:00 p.m. |
Wells vs. Cairn – 8:00 p.m. |
| Saturday, January 27 |
| Court #1 |
Court #2 |
| Elmira vs. D'Youville – 11:00 a.m. |
Wells vs. Thiel – 11:00 a.m. |
| D'Youville vs. Cairn – 1:00 p.m. |
Thiel vs. Keuka – 1:00 p.m. |
| Elmira vs. Wells – 3:00 p.m. |
Keuka vs. Cairn – 3:00 p.m. |
TOURNAMENT FIELD
The 2018 Elmira College Invitational features three opponents from the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) – Keuka, Wells College, and D'Youville – and two from the Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) – Cairn and Thiel. Of this group, only Wells finished last season with a winning record at 19-13 overall (11-5 NEAC). The Express, who face the Soaring Eagles in their final match on Saturday at 3:00 p.m., enter the weekend with a 2-2 mark, including the team's first-ever win over a ranked opponent. In the season-opener on January 19, Wells beat No. 4 Vassar College by a 3-1 score.
Thiel, the second opponent for the Soaring Eagles on Friday, began its season with a 3-2 victory over Penn State Altoona, led by a 16-kill performance from Mitch Patterson. Patterson heads a returning core of sophomores, after pacing the Tomcats with 308 kills as a rookie. This weekend's invite will open the 2018 season for both Keuka, who takes on Elmira in the first match on Friday night, and Cairn.
LOOKING AHEAD
Elmira will trek Cincinnati, Ohio, for the Mount St. Joseph/Wittenberg Invitational on Friday, February 2, and Saturday, February 3. The tournament begins with a 6:30 p.m. match against Dominican University (Ill.) on Friday, before the Soaring Eagles take on the co-hosts from Mount. St. Joseph University at 8:00 p.m.
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