BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's volleyball team (5-11) came up short in a pair of non-league matches to Daemen College (10-5) and Medaille College (7-7) on Sunday afternoon. Elmira dropped both matches in three sets inside Kevin I. Sullivan Gymnasium on the campus of Medaille.
 
Match 1
Elmira opened the day with a matchup against NCAA Division II opponent Daemen and suffered a straight-set loss [25-14, 25-14, 25-15]. EC's offense struggled to find its form, as the Soaring Eagles produced 17 kills on 60 attempts with 17 errors (.000). Daemen, on the other hand, connected at a high rate of .491 (36k-8e-57ta).
 
Tyler Anderson '23 finished with the team lead in kills with five. Fellow freshmen Eric Jackson '23 and Luke Milligan '23 were not far behind with four kills each. Anderson also logged a team high two service aces.
 
Neiram Galán-Canales '23 and Garrett Coleman '20 set up the Elmira attack, as the duo split setting duties. Galán-Canales finished with eight assists, while Coleman recorded seven.
 
Defensively, Haenhyanonhna Powless '23 made a team-high three digs, while Matt Straney '20 led the team in blocks with two.
 
Match 2
The Soaring Eagles looked to bounce back in the nightcap against the host Mavericks of Medaille, but ultimately suffered a three-set defeat [25-14, 26-24, 25-18]. Elmira once again had a tough outing at the net with match totals of 22 kills and 26 errors on 79 attempts (-.051). Meanwhile, the Mavericks produced 27 kills and 16 errors on 68 swings (.162).
 
After a first set in which Medaille ran away from the Purple and Gold, the second set was a much closer affair. Elmira held an early lead on Medaille, before the Mavericks went ahead by as many as three points on several occasions. However, the Elmira men rallied late and won four out of five points to tie the match at 24-24. Unfortunately for EC, Medaille closed out the set with back-to-back points to secure the win.
 
The third set was fairly close early on, but Elmira struggled to side-out and Medaille strung together consecutive points on multiple occasions midway through the set to run away with the set, 25-18.
 
Milligan paced the Elmira attack with six kills, while Straney added five kills and Declan Quinn '22 pitched in four. Defensively, Straney led EC with four blocks and Anderson was not far behind with three rejections.
 
Galán-Canales finished with team highs in assists (16) and digs (5).
 
News and Notes

• Galán-Canales posted 24 assists across both matches.
• Galán-Canales registered double-digit assists for the second time in his young career.
• Straney led EC in blocks in both matches, finishing with six total.
• Anderson tallied three service aces.
• Milligan registered 10 kills across both matches.

Up Next
The Soaring Eagles return home on Wednesday, February 26, when they host Nazareth College for a non-league bout. Opening serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.