ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's volleyball team has a critical United Volleyball Conference (UVC) tri-match on the campus of St. John Fisher College on Saturday and Sunday, March 24-25. The Soaring Eagles will meet the host Cardinals first at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, before challenging Nazareth College at 1:00 p.m. the following day.
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LAST TIME OUT
The Purple and Gold went a perfect 2-0 at the St. John Fisher Invitational in Rochester, New York, on Saturday, March 17. Elmira bested both Hiram College and Baruch College in non-conference competition at the event. In a straight-set win over the Terriers, EC was clicking on all cylinders, as it owned advantages in assists (37-to-18), digs (26-to-23), blocks (11-to-4) and service aces (7-to-2).
Ryan McDonough '19 led all players with 10 kills, while
Matthew Buffum '18 finished with a match-high seven blocks. In the second match of the day, Elmira continued to roll with a 3-1 triumph over Baruch. McDonough again paced all players with 18 kills, while
Dan Symer '19 was just behind him with a career-best 16 kills.
Jeremy Best '19 assisted on 54 of EC's 61 kills in the match, his second-highest total this season.
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BUFF'S BLOCKS
Buffum finished this past weekend's action with 13 total blocks across both bouts. With seven against Hiram, the Chesterfield, Missouri, native moved past Michael Vellutato '14 (311) to take first place in program history with 318 career blocks. In terms of single-season totals, the 6-foot-7-inch middle hitter is just three shy of Zach Pugh '11 (107) for the program record for blocks in a season, and is also on pace to set an Elmira record for the highest blocks-per-set average, which is held by Dylan Kuhn '16 (1.09) from his sophomore season. In 24 matches this year, Buffum paces the UVC in total blocks (104) and blocks per set (1.10).
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SCOUTING FISHER
In their first varsity season, the Cardinals have held their own and are 11-11 overall. However, all of Fisher's wins have come out of conference play, as they are 0-5 in the competitive UVC. Most recently, the Cardinals halted a three-match losing streak with a pair of straight-set wins over Hiram and Baruch at the St. John Fisher Invite this past weekend. Sophomore outside hitter Ben De La Cruz has been the team's most effective attacker, as he paces the Cardinals in kills (227) and kills per set (2.99). Graduate student Mike Strumpfler has been another valuable member of the young program with a team-best 82 blocks and a solid .286 hitting percentage. On defense, David Cerqua, a freshman from Baldwinsville, New York, paces Fisher and ranks fourth in the UVC with 2.81 digs per set.
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SCOUTING NAZARETH
The Golden Flyers, one of Elmira's oldest rivals, enter this weekend's event with a 16-9 overall record and a 3-2 mark in conference. Naz's record has taken a hit of late, with losses against then-ranked No. 6 Dominican University (Ill.) (3-0), No. 9 SUNY New Paltz (3-1) and No. 15 Milwaukee School of Engineering (3-0) in three of their last four matches. Senior setter Jake Kemp has been the fuel for the Nazareth offense, as he has assisted on 795 of the team's 1,076 kills this season. The Phelps, New York, native is fifth in the UVC and 15th in the country in assists per set (9.46). Kemp is also valuable on defense, as he is second on the Golden Flyers with 142 digs. Junior Zachary Gillard has been the main recipient of Kemp's passes, as he has been set a team-leading 644 times and has floored a team-high 247 kills.
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UP NEXT
The Elmira men will return home to Speidel Gymnasium for the first time since February 11 for their final UVC tri-match of the season on Friday and Saturday, March 30-31. The Soaring Eagles will battle No. 13 Vassar College at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, before taking on the 14th-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology the following afternoon at 2:30 p.m.
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