CANTON, N.Y. -- The Elmira College women's volleyball team split a pair of matches on Saturday against SUNY Canton and Plattsburgh State, as the Soaring Eagles took down the host Roos in four sets before falling to the Cardinals in three.
Match One
The Soaring Eagles (5-10) began the tri-match by avenging their loss to the Kangaroos (2-10) from the Oswego State Invitational. After falling in the first set, Elmira took the next three sets by scores of 25-23, 25-19, and 25-15. Elmira was able to negate a match-high 16 aces from SUNY Canton by out-hitting the Roos, .178-to-.037, and flooring more total blocks, 9-to-6.
Offensively, it was a well-balanced attack that helped the Soaring Eagles secure the win.
Kaylene Sauschuck '22 and
Lauren Smith '21 paced the Purple and Gold with eight kills apiece, while
Lydia Milligan '21 and
Savannah Terry '21 each amassed seven. Terry also racked up a team-best five total blocks, while the trio of Smith (13), Milligan (10), and
Cassie Potter '20 (10) each finished with double-digit digs.
Match Two
Unfortunately for the Soaring Eagles, the Cardinals (5-8) flipped the script in the second half of the doubleheader. Plattsburgh outhit the Elmira offense, .181-to-.096, and finished with advantages in every other statistical category, including aces (11-to-4) and total blocks (11-to-4).
Smith and Terry were once again among the team's leaders with six and five kills, respectively. Setter
Kassi Hastings '21 added a double-double, her fifth of the season, by posting 15 assists and a team-high 10 digs.
In Their Own Words…
Head Coach
Daniel Miranda when asked about the Soaring Eagles' performance in Saturday's tri-match…
"We started the day off strong with a bounce-back win against Canton. We minimized our errors and had a strong blocking presence at the net to establish our defense. However, it was not the performance we hoped for against Plattsburgh, but there are lots of takeaways to build off of for our conference weekend coming up."
News and Notes
- The Soaring Eagles picked up their second road victory of the season and improved to 5-10 overall.
- After dropping a three-set match to Canton on September 13, Elmira took down the Roos in four sets in a rematch on Saturday.
- Seven different players picked up at least one total blocks against Canton, as the Soaring Eagles logged a season-high 9.5 blocks.
- Smith's 13 digs against the Roos were one shy of her season-high.
- Terry's five blocks in the win marked a single-match season-high for the junior middle blocker.
- Hastings has produced five double-doubles in assists and digs so far in 2019.
Up Next
On Friday, September 27, the Soaring Eagles will resume Empire 8 Conference play with a home match against Houghton College at 6:00 p.m. The match is also the team's Gold Rush Game. Special giveaways and food will be available for EC students that evening inside Speidel Gymnasium.