ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The No.15 Elmira College men's volleyball team is preparing for a pair of matches at the Nazareth College Invitational, hosted by the Golden Flyers on Saturday, March 3, inside Kidera Gymnasium in Rochester, New York. The Soaring Eagles will start the day with a rematch against D'Youville College at 12:00 p.m., followed by a 2:00 p.m. matchup against Medaille College.

LAST TIME OUT
The Purple and Gold took part in the Hiram College Invitational on Saturday, February 24 in Hiram, Ohio. In the first match of the day, the Soaring Eagles fell to No. 11 Mount St. Joseph University, 3-1, after a comeback attempt fell short in the fourth set. After dropping the first two sets, Elmira took the third set by a score of 25-14, however the match concluded with a tight fourth set ending with extra points, 26-24, in favor of the Lions.  The Soaring Eagles finished the day with a split after a 3-2 win over the Hiram Terriers in the second match of the day. EC dropped the first two sets before winning three straight in a comeback victory after close scores in both the fourth (26-24) and fifth sets (16-14). In Elmira's victory, freshman Jose Malave '21 posted a double-double (14k-11d), while Matthew Buffum '18 and Landon Miller '20 had seven blocks apiece.

MOVING UP THE RANKS
During the first of two matches at the Hiram College Invitational, senior Buffum surpassed his former teammate, Mark Kawecki '17, in all-time career kills. Kawecki's 676 career kills were topped after Buffum's fifth kill against nationally-ranked Mount St. Joseph. Buffum now sits in fourth place with 695 kills, with another 13 matches yet to be played in his senior season. Another former teammate, Mike Ellison '16, holds the third-place spot with 1,095 kills in his career. 

SCOUTING D'YOUVILLE
The Spartans (4-8) were defeated 3-1 by the Soaring Eagles in their first meeting of the season back on January 27, bringing the all-time record to 8-3 in Elmira's favor. In their last win over the Mavericks of Medaille College on Sunday, February 18, two Spartans recorded double-doubles. Junior Zac Bochacki led the team with 12 digs and 11 kills, while senior Pat Stroh had 18 kills and 11 digs. Stroh leads the team with 170 kills on the season, ranking fourth overall in the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC), while his 4.05 kills per set ranks second in the conference. Freshman Ali Khadra leads the team with a .357 hitting percentage that ranks second in the NEAC, and is tied for first overall in blocks per set (0.84).

SCOUTING MEDAILLE
The Mavericks (4-9) head into their lone matchup against the Soaring Eagles this season trailing 6-8 in all-time meetings. After dropping five straight matches, Medaille claimed a 3-2 victory over the Penn State-Behrend Lions on Tuesday, February 27. In the win, sophomore Brazil Thompson recorded a double-double (10k-10d), with Matt Dickerson and Shawn Barbalato having five blocks apiece. Thompson leads the team with 93 kills this season and 2.21 kills per set. Barbalato has a team-high 86 blocks and is tied with D'Youville's Khadra for first overall in blocks per set (0.84) in the NEAC. Dickerson boasts a team-high attack percentage of .316 and ranks third in the NEAC in blocks per set (0.80).

LOOKING AHEAD
No. 15 Elmira will travel to New York City to compete in a UVC tri-match on Saturday, March 10, and Sunday, March 11. On Saturday, the Soaring Eagles match up against the hosting Violets of NYU at 4:00 p.m., and will take on the Ducks of Stevens Institute of Technology at 11:00 a.m. the following day.