AMHERST, N.Y. – The Elmira College men's volleyball dropped its Tuesday evening matchup to Daemen College in its final non-conference matchup before beginning UVC play, falling in straight sets. The Soaring Eagles were able to take the Wildcats deep into each of the three sets before late-set rallies from the home team propelled Daemen to victory.
Oscar Munoz Trinidad '23 and Alberto Mauricio '25 combined for 20 kills in the match, while Neiram Galan-Canales '23 added two dozen set assists to the line.
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 0, Daemen 3
LOCATION: Amherst, New York | Lumsden Gymnasium
RECORDS: Elmira (10-5, 0-0 UVC), Daemen (7-2, 0-0 Independent)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Wildcats won its fifth straight match on Tuesday in straight sets, for its fourth win in its last five tries coming in such fashion. On Tuesday, the Wildcats jumped out to an early 8-2 lead in the opening set before the Soaring Eagles pulled within two at 8-6. From there, Daemen was able to make a run and keep its first-set lead, but late set heroics that saw Elmira take four of the next five points trimmed the EC deficit to just one, 22-21. After Mauricio recorded a kill to pull within one, the Wildcats scored the final three points (including two attack errors from Elmira) to secure a 25-21 opening set win.
In the second, it was the Wildcats once again who jumped out to an early lead, something they did in each of the three sets. Leading 6-4, the Soaring Eagles squandered seven of the next eight points to put the Wildcats back on top 11-7. From there, the teams would battle back-and-forth with Elmira closing in within two points (16-14) before Daemen scored the final point on a service error from Elmira to win by its largest margin of victory in the match, 25-20.
Trailing 2-0 early, the Soaring Eagles bounced back to tie the set at 7-7 on a kill from Mauricio before Daemen used a four-point swing to regain the lead at 11-8. The stretch marked the start of an 8-2 run for the Wildcats who ended up winning the third in 25-21 fashion.
UP NEXT:
Elmira will head east this weekend when it takes on Vassar on Friday evening. First serve is set to begin at 6:00 PM from Poughkeepsie, New York before the Soaring Eagles head to NYU the following day.
