ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The No. 2-seeded Elmira College women's volleyball team saw its postseason run come to an end in a hard-fought five-setter against No. 3 Nazareth College inside Speidel Gymnasium on Thursday evening.

The Soaring Eagles (6-4) won the first and third sets, 25-22 and 28-26, to take a two-sets-to-one lead in the match. However, the Golden Flyers rallied with a 25-16 fourth-set win before rolling to a 15-9 victory in the fifth.

Senior outside hitters Lydia Milligan '21 and Lauren Smith '21 led EC's offensive attack with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Second-year right Amelia Martin '23 also reached double figures with 10 kills. All three players finished with double-doubles, as five different Soaring Eagles collected 10-or-more digs. Standout freshman libero Maddie Hampton '24 had a team-leading 18 digs, followed by Smith (16), Martin (13), and Milligan (13).

As a team, EC hit no higher than .189 in any of the five sets against Naz. But the Soaring Eagles came to life late in the opening set to take an early lead in the match. Down 21-18, Elmira ended on a 7-1 run that featured two kills from Kaylene Sauschuck '22, a pair from Martin, and a critical double-block from Smith and Savannah Terry '21.

The third set was back-and-forth throughout. A five-point run by the Golden Flyers forced head coach Daniel Miranda to call a timeout down 13-11. After the brief break, Elmira claimed four of the next five points and took a 15-14 lead on another Smith-Terry combo block. Behind 26-25, the Soaring Eagles broke serve and ended with three consecutive points. The set point resulted from an incredible diving play by Hampton to keep a swing from McKenzie Hart off the ground. The free ball fluttered back onto Naz's side of the court, landing out of Kaylee Kelly's reach and just inside the boundary line.

Hart and Kelly went on to guide the Golden Flyers from behind, as the former led all players with eight kills in the fourth set and the latter had a team-high six kills in the fifth. As a tandem, the Nazareth outsides combined for 46 of the team's 73 kills.

News and Notes

• The 2021 Empire 8 Championships marked Elmira's second consecutive postseason appearance.
• With the win, Nazareth advances to the E8 title match against its crosstown rival and the No. 1 seed in the tournament, St. John Fisher College.
• Thursday's semifinal was EC's second five-set match of the shortened spring campaign.
• Both teams finished with seven total blocks, while Terry finished with a team-high three for the Soaring Eagles.
• Terry ends her EC career seventh all-time with 134 block assists.
• Fourth-year setter Kassi Hastings '21 had 38 assists and will graduate just outside the program's all-time top-10 with 1,112.
• Five Soaring Eagles - all of the starters minus the middle blockers - finished with double-digit digs.
• Milligan (12k-13d), Smith (11k-16d), Martin (10k-13d), and Hastings (38a-10d) all had double-doubles.