POTSDAM, N.Y. – The Elmira College men's volleyball team picked up its fifth straight victory on Saturday, defeating the Saints from D'Youville College (3-2) and the Bears from SUNY Potsdam (3-1) in the SUNY Potsdam Invitational. The Soaring Eagles kept its winning ways in tact after a five-set thriller against D'Youville, before defeating Potsdam in the weekend finale.

On the day, Eric Jackson '23 recorded 30 kills, while as a team Elmira went for 67 kills in the opener against D'Youville. 

JUST THE BASICS (MATCH ONE):
SCORE: Elmira 3, D'Youville 2
LOCATION: Potsdam, New York
RECORDS: Elmira (15-10, 2-3 UVC), D'Youville (5-9, 0-0 DII Independent)

HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Saints came out in the first set, immediately jumping out to a 4-0 lead before the Soaring Eagles were able to battle back, eventually tying the contest at 16-16. From there, the Soaring Eagles would go on to take its first lead in the set at 17-16. After Elmira extended its lead to 21-18 on a kill from Alberto Mauricio '25, D'Youville battle back to take a 24-23 lead. Oscar Munoz Trinidad '23 was able to push the set into extras after a kill tied the frame at 24-24. D'Youville was able to fend off the EC comeback, scoring a pair of points to end the set with a 26-24 victory. 

From there, Elmira would take the second set 25-23 in back-and-forth fashion despite seven attacking errors from the Soaring Eagles. The third set proved to be the biggest of the match, one that Elmira went on to take 31-29 as an attacking error from Ian De Wilde capped the set and gave EC a 2-1 lead in the match. 

The Saints fought back to take the fourth set 25-23 before the fifth set thriller went in favor of the Soaring Eagles (15-11) to secure EC its fourth consecutive victory. 

Mauricio led the way for the Soaring Eagles with 19 kills, while Jackson, Jordan Peiser '23, and Edwin Sosa '25 each reached double-figures also. 

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JUST THE BASICS (MATCH TWO):
SCORE: Elmira 3, Potsdam 1
LOCATION: Potsdam, New York
RECORDS: Elmira (16-10, 2-3 UVC), Potsdam (12-12, 3-0 NECC)

HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Soaring Eagles came out and took the first set of the nightcap against the Bears in dominant fashion. After taking the opener 25-16 in which the Soaring Eagles recorded a hitting percentage of .379%, the Bears were eventually able to bounce back and take the second set 25-21 to tie the match at 1-1. 

In the third set, the Soaring Eagles were able to grab momentum after taking seven of nine points in the middle of the set. Elmira eventually captured the third set 25-17 after Sean Murphy committed an attacking error. In the third set, Elmira was able to record 16 kills while committing zero attacking errors.

The Soaring Eagles cleaned up in the fourth set with the largest set victory of the evening with a 25-15 victory. The match was capped after Mauricio recorded a kill to send Elmira home with its fifth straight win.

UP NEXT:
Elmira will returns to the floor on Friday, April 1 against SUNY New Paltz in a UVC matchup slated for 6:00 PM inside Speidel Gymnasium. The Soaring Eagles will then conclude its season a day later, April 2, against Bard and Juniata.