POTSDAM, N.Y. – The Elmira College men's volleyball team picked up its second win of the week on Friday evening, taking down the Gators from Sage in straight sets in the SUNY Potsdam Invitational. 

The Soaring Eagles outmatched the Gators in nearly every statistical category, leading the way in kills (39), blocks (6), assists (39), and service aces (16). Jordan Peiser '24 led the Purple & Gold with 11 kills, while Oscar Munoz Trinidad '23 recorded 28 assists. 

JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 3, Sage 0
LOCATION: Potsdam, New York
RECORDS: Elmira (14-10, 2-3 UVC), Sage (4-20, 0-4 NECC)

HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Soaring Eagles came out strong in the opening set, scoring six of the first seven points to take the early lead. From there, Sage would tally a pair of points before a kill from Alberto Mauricio '25 and two service aces from Munoz Trinidad increased the Soaring Eagle lead to 10-3. From there, the teams would battle back and forth before Elmira concluded the set scoring 11 of the final 14 points, capped off with a setting error from Ryan Jennings to give EC a 25-10 opening-set victory. In the set, the Soaring Eagles hit .550%, its largest of the contest. 

In the second, the Soaring Eagles recorded its greatest number of kills (14), while hitting .520% compared to .308% for the Gators, who had just five kills and one attacking error. The set began with Elmira jumping out to a 9-1 lead, and eventually taking the set 25-15 as Hunter Bloomer '25 capped it off with a service ace. 

In the third and final set, the Soaring Eagles once again jumped out to a large lead (11-2) and never looked back. The lead grew to as many as 12 in the set as the Soaring Eagles led 16-4, before a kill from Munoz Trinidad capped off the match. 

Of Elmira's 16 service aces, which was the most since February 16, 2020 against Bard (19), Ryan Mattes '23 posted six. 

UP NEXT:
Elmira will be back in action tomorrow afternoon as they wrap up the SUNY Potsdam Invitational with a pair of games against D'Youville and Potsdam. First serve against D'Youville is set for 12:00 PM, followed by a 2:30 matchup with the Saints.