Score: St. John Fisher College 3, Elmira College 1 [22-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-23]
Records: St. John Fisher (14-4, 3-1 UVC), Elmira (8-11 1-4 UVC)
Location: Speidel Gymnasium – Elmira, N.Y.
                       
ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Despite a season-high 19-kill effort from do-it-all senior Ryan McDonough '19, the Elmira College men's volleyball team fell in a hard-fought four-set battle in United Volleyball Conference (UVC) action to St. John Fisher College.
 
Of McDonough's 19 kills, his sixth of the match was one to remember, as the Lindenhurst, New York, native became just the fourth player in EC history to log 1,000 career kills. He joins former teammates Erik Griffin '16 and Mike Ellison '16, as well as Ryan Gelenitis '14, as the only players in the program's nine-year history to reach the 1,000-kill plateau.
 
McDonough was superb this evening, hitting at a 42.9-percent clip on a 19k-4e-35ta stat line. He also tied for the match high in digs with nine and registered Elmira's lone solo block of the night.
 
Fellow senior Dan Symer '19 had a solid outing as well with an 11k-5e-23ta stat line, good for a 26.1 attack percentage in his first action since January 18 against Endicott College. Symer also chipped in on the defensive side of the ball with four digs. Landon Miller '20 was close behind in kills with eight and finished as EC's leader in blocks with two block assists.
 
Senior setter Jeremy Best '19 paced the Elmira attack with 41 assists on the night. It marked the eighth time this season he has produced 40-or-more in a single match.
 
In the first set, efficient hitting from the Soaring Eagles was key in taking a 1-0 lead in the match, as the Purple and Gold connected at a 47.8-percent clip. Symer and McDonough set the tone in the opening set by combining for 11 of Elmira's 15 kills. Additionally, a 47.8 side-out percentage was critical in EC jumping out to a 1-0 lead.
 
The second set saw the Cardinals go on a 7-2 run, one that put the visitors on top, 13-7. However, Elmira slowly chipped away at the lead to pull to within two points, 15-13, but Fisher closed out the set by doubling up EC for a 25-18 win.
 
In the third set, both teams traded blows through the early stages, which saw the two squads tie at 14-14. From that point on, Fisher went on a mini 6-2 run thanks to a slew of EC errors to take a 20-16 advantage. The four-point cushion was more than enough, as Fisher marched away with a 25-20 third-set victory.
 
After trading point-for-point, Elmira eventually went on a 6-1 run to claim a 14-10 lead in the fourth set. However, Fisher responded with a 4-0 run of its own to level the set at 14-14. From there, the Cardinals went on a 6-2 run to take a 20-16 lead, but the Soaring Eagles clawed their way back late in the set and pulled to within one point at 24-23. Unfortunately a kill by Fisher's Andres Ramirez put an end to EC's comeback hopes, as the Cards escaped Speidel Gymnasium with a four-set win.
 
News and Notes

• EC finished with a 34-to-27 advantage in digs against St. John Fisher.
• The Cardinals held a slight edge in attack percentage, .250-to-.225, although both teams had 47 kills.
• McDonough tied a season high with 19 kills and hit above .400 for the sixth time this year.
• McDonough's sixth kill of the night was the 1,000th of his career, as he became the fourth player in program history to eclipse the milestone.
• McDonough moved into a tie for fourth place in program history for matches with 10-plus kills, equaling former teammate Mike Ellison '16 (51).
• Best finished with 40-plus assists for the eighth time this season.
• Miller has recorded at least one block in sixth consecutive matches.
• Symer appeared in his third match of the season and logged single-match bests for kills (11), attack percentage (.261) and digs (4).
• Symer is four kills away from the 500th of his EC career.

 
Up Next
The Elmira men will look to bounce back this Saturday, March 2, when they travel to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to take part in the Lancaster Bible Tri-Match. Elmira opens the one-day invite with a 2:00 p.m. showdown against Ramapo, before concluding the trip with a 4:00 p.m. bout against 12th-ranked Lancaster Bible.