Match 1: SUNY New Paltz 3, Elmira College 0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-16)
Match 2: Elmira College 3, Augustana College 2 (25-18, 25-22, 25-27, 21-25, 20-18)
Records: Elmira (7-10, 1-3 UVC), New Paltz (10-4, 3-0 UVC), Augustana (5-8)
Location: Hawk Center – New Paltz, N.Y.
NEW PALTZ, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's volleyball team split a pair of matches at the SUNY New Paltz Tri-Match on Saturday morning, as the Purple and Gold fell to United Volleyball Conference (UVC) foe SUNY New Paltz before picking up a thrilling five-set win against Augustana College (IL.) in a non-conference bout.
Match 1
In an early morning match, the Purple and Gold went up against the No. 8-ranked Hawks of SUNY New Paltz. EC battled hard against its conference rival, but New Paltz used eight service aces and 10 kills from Bradley Schneider to seal a three-set victory.
Elmira's offense was led by
Garrett Coleman '20, who tallied eight kills. Senior outside hitter
Ryan McDonough '19 chipped in with seven kills, while
Jeremy Best '19 finished with 25 assists. The Soaring Eagles made life difficult for the Hawks attack, as EC totaled five blocks while
Ryan Branigan '19 posted a match-high 11 digs.
The second set was the tightest affair of the morning as the team's traded blows throughout the early goings. A kill from Coleman put EC ahead at 8-7, but the back and forth continued with New Paltz eventually opening a 12-9 advantage. The Hawks continued to build their lead, but a 3-0 run highlighted by back-to-back kills from
Landon Miller '20 and McDonough pulled EC back within three late at 24-21. It was too little, too late however as the Hawks picked up a 25-21 win.
Match 2
The second match of the day saw the Soaring Eagles dig deep to pull out a five-set victory over Augustana.
It was a tightly contested affair throughout, with all but the opening set being decided by four or less points. Elmira leaned on the trio of McDonough, Coleman and Miller offensively, as they finished with 14, 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Best orchestrated the offense to perfection, tallying 45 assists. EC found success at the service line with seven aces, with rookie
Alex Adelman '22 supplying a team-high four.
Elmira raced out to a two-sets-to-none lead, but Augustana came back to win the third and fourth set to force a decisive fifth set. After slipping behind by three at 11-8, as the Soaring Eagles rallied with a 5-0 run to retake the lead. Miller led the charge with three kills to put EC up 13-11. The team's went back-and-forth from there, as the score was tied on four occasions. Elmira pushed ahead at 18-17 following a kill from Best, but Augustana responded immediately. However, the Soaring Eagles found a way, as an Augustana service error and a huge kill from McDonough sealed the victory for the Purple and Gold.
In his own words…
Head coach
Daniel Miranda on the team coming together as a unit in today's matches…
"It was a tough loss against a good SUNY New Paltz team this morning, but the guys bounced back in a big way against Augustana. I believe that was a season defining win as we've had some losses recently and the team needed to respond. The win against Augustana was the most unified performance we've had this season, with the guys picking each other up when they were struggling. We're ready for St. John Fisher on Wednesday."
News and Notes
- Elmira is now 4-2 in five set matches this season.
- Branigan tied his season-high with 16 digs against Augustana.
- Coleman has tallied double-digit kills in seven matches.
- Best has recorded at least 40 assists on seven occasions.
- Adelman's four aces against Augustana were a season-high.
- McDonough is up to 993 career kills and needs only seven to become the fourth player in program history with 1,000 kills.
Up Next
The Soaring Eagles host UVC foe St. John Fisher College on Wednesday, February 27, in their home opener. First serve against the Cardinals is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Speidel Gymnasium.
