Score: Elmira College 3, Keuka College 0 (25-23, 25-8, 25-23)
Score: Elmira College 3, Thiel College 0 (25-20, 25-12, 28-26)
Records: Elmira (3-2), Keuka (0-1), Thiel (2-1)
Location: Elmira, N.Y. -- Speidel Gymnasium

ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's volleyball team opened the first day of the 2018 EC Invitational in impressive fashion, as the Soaring Eagles swept both Keuka College and Thiel College in straight sets at Speidel Gymnasium on Friday night.

Although the Soaring Eagles were pushed to the fifth set in all three matches during their season-opening weekend, a pair of tremendous offensive performances helped the Purple and Gold make relatively quick work of the Wolves and Tomcats. Elmira posted its two best attack percentages of the young season, hitting .343 (35k-12e-67ta) as a team versus Keuka and an astounding .474 (45k-9e-76ta) in the nightcap against Thiel.

The effort was a balanced one in the victory against Keuka. Landon Miller '20 paced EC with seven kills, while Matthew Buffum '18, Dan Symer '19 and Jose Malave '21 each compiled six kills. Of that group, Buffum registered the highest hitting percentage at .635, as he committed just one error on eight total attempts. The fourth-year middle also amassed a team-leading three total blocks in the match.

Symer's effort from the service line shouldn't go unnoticed, either. While he only tossed one ace, he is one of the main reasons that the Soaring Eagles cruised to a 25-8 win in the middle set, as the junior outside hitter served 11 unanswered points that turned an early 2-2 tie into a lopsided 13-2 score.

In the second match of the night, Malave made his mark on Elmira program history in just the fifth match of his freshman campaign. The San Juan, Puerto Rico, native broke Buffum's record for the best hitting percentage in a single match, flooring 14 kills with just one error on 15 tries (.867). Not to be outdone, Buffum hit at a .706 rate himself while finishing second on the team with 13 kills.

The third set with the Tomcats was a thrilling one, with Elmira ultimately pulling out a 28-26 win. The two sides traded a series of service errors, the latter giving the Soaring Eagles a slim 27-26 advantage. Thiel then dropped the match point after Stephen Borgen haplessly threw an attempted setter dump into the net.

In Their Own Words…
Head Coach Daniel Miranda on Elmira's straight-set wins to open the EC Invitational…
"I was very proud of how they finished out and were able to close out, because I know last weekend we had some real struggles with that. It shows their resiliency and ability to learn from some of their issues. We always want to progress, so that's ideal."

Coach Miranda on the difference from Friday's three-set wins, in comparison to last week's trio of five-set matches…
"The leadership really stepped up; both McDonough and 'Buff' really kept the guys going and made sure they were on track when things were under pressure and when things were light."

Coach Miranda on Jose Malave's record-setting performance against Thiel…
"I have to give credit to our freshman, Jose, who went off in that second match. I'm pretty sure he hit close to 1.000. That's a way to start off a freshman year."

Coach Miranda when asked about using Friday's wins to build momentum for the second round of the EC Invitational on Saturday…
"Getting that confidence back is going to mean a lot. These wins will go a long way in helping us know what do well and what we need to work on."

News and Notes

• With three consecutive wins, Elmira climbed above .500 with a 3-2 overall record.
• Three straight victories match the longest win streak from all of 2017.
• The Soaring Eagles posted their two best hitting percentages of the young season, as well as their two lowest totals for service errors on Friday.
• The .474 team hitting percentage against Thiel is the highest recorded by the Soaring Eagles since establishing a new program record with a .564 clip against D'Youville College on March 16 of last season.
• Malave broke the individual record for hitting percentage by swinging at a rate of .867 percentage.
• Malave tied his season-best with 14 kills in the record-setting win over the Tomcats.
• Jeremy Best '19 picked up 40 assists in addition to a season-best five blocks the 3-0 win vs. Thiel.

Up Next
The EC men will return to the court on Saturday, January 27, for a pair of matches on the second day of the 2018 Elmira College Invitational. The Soaring Eagles open the day with an 11:00 a.m. matinee with the Spartans of D'Youville, before finishing the tournament against Wells College at 3:00 p.m.