ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's volleyball team started strong against United Volleyball Conference (UVC) rival Nazareth College, but the Golden Flyers rebounded to win both matches at Speidel Gymnasium on Tuesday evening.

The Soaring Eagles (0-12, 0-5 UVC) took the first set of the opening match, but the Golden Flyers (4-2, 3-0 UVC) rallied for a conference 3-1 victory. Naz then won the second match in straight sets, despite a valiant comeback attempt by EC in the third.

Nazareth 3, Elmira 1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-21)
Early on, Elmira did its best to frustrate the Golden Flyers, who were ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III Coaches Poll as recently as last week. The Soaring Eagles won three consecutive points to start the match and raced out to a 9-3 lead, with the team's ninth point coming on a well-place service ace by Jordan Peiser '24.

Naz fought back to even the score at 11-all, but Elmira pieced together another 9-3 run over the following dozen points to take a comfortable lead. A heads-up spike on a free ball at the net by Matt Amoddio '22 made it a six-point gap at 20-14. Oscar Muñoz Trinidad '23 recorded the final point of the set, as the Dominican Republic native floored a left-handed kill to seal the win.

After hitting .278 as a team in the first set, however, the Soaring Eagles cooled off in the middle sets. Meanwhile, the Golden Flyers' attack became more dangerous as the match wore on, and the visitors swung at a match-high rate of .474 (12k-3a-19ta) in the third en route to the comeback win.

Nazareth 3, Elmira 0 (25-21, 25-19, 26-24)
Although EC fell in straight sets in the nightcap, the Soaring Eagles ended the match with a 32-to-31 advantage in kills and a 4-to-3 lead in blocks. On the other hand, the Golden Flyers were more efficient on offense with a .246 attack percentage while siding out at a higher rate (66%-to-56%).

The first and third sets were both competitive right down to the end. Trailing 15-11, the Soaring Eagles roared from behind to even the score at 19-all in the first. That included a four-point swing during which Amoddio logged an ace, and Eric Jackson '23 picked up one of his team-high 12 kills. Neiram Galán-Canales later earned a kill when Naz's Sargent was whistled for being in the net to keep the margin at one, 22-21, but the Golden Flyers ended the set with three consecutive points.

The tides turned numerous times in the third before the Soaring Eagles broke a 16-16 draw with four straight points. Up 23-20, Elmira appeared on its way to forcing a fourth set, but the Golden Flyers responded mightily by taking the next four points, three of which ended with Naz kills. Peiser put down a kill of his own to tie the set at 24-24 before the Golden Flyers secured the set and match by logging the next two points.

News and Notes

• In both matches combined, Jackson posted team-highs in kills (22) and kills per set (3.14).
• In the nightcap, Jackson ended with a match- and season-high 12 kills.
• Peiser (19) and Muñoz Trinidad (16) also had double-digit kills for the Soaring Eagles.
• Peiser and Alex Adelman '22 both had a team-high 12 digs.
• The duo of Muñoz Trinidad and Amoddio had seven blocks apiece, including one solo rejection by Amoddio.
• Elmira's 8.0 total blocks in the opener are a season-high.
• Galán-Canales handed out a season-high 36 assists in the opening match, just four shy of his career-high, while his 26 assists in the late match equal his second-best total of the 2021 season.

Up Next
On Friday, March 26, the Soaring Eagles will host No. 6 nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College. The UVC matchup inside Speidel Gymnasium begins at 7:00 p.m.