NORTHAMPTON, MASS. – The Elmira College women's volleyball program headed to Massachusetts on Friday for a non-conference matchup against Smith College. The Soaring Eagles rallied to force a fifth set after falling behind in the match 2-1 but would come up short against the Pioneers, 3-2.
 
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 2, Smith 3
LOCATION: Northampton, Mass. | Ainsworth Gymnasium
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (5-4, 0-0 E8), Smith (7-2, 1-0 NEWMAC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Elmira would come out attacking in the opening set as the Soaring Eagles tallied seven kills, while the Pioneers had a slow start to the night as they committed nine attacking errors to just eight kills. Both sides would trade the advantage in the set until EC tallied back-to-back points to take a 17-15 edge. Elmira secured the set victory, 25-22, following an attack error by Smith.

It would be all Pioneers in the second set as Smith would go on to hit .500 with 12 kills after hitting in the negatives in the first set. Makenna Clark '25, Calli Vocke '23, and Maddie Boucher '24 provided the offense in the set for the Soaring Eagles. EC looked to get back on track in the third set after putting together a late rally but would ultimately fall 25-14 as Smith took a 2-1 advantage in the match.

Smith jumped out to a 7-3 advantage in the fourth set before the Soaring Eagles would get some momentum going. A couple of kills from Vocke along with an ace from Clark would give Elmira a 9-8 lead in the set. A trio of attacking errors by the Pioneers would help to increase EC's lead to 17-15 before a kill by Boucher extended the advantage to 20-16. Errors would plague Smith late in the set as Elmira knotted the match 2-2 with a 25-19 victory.

The Soaring Eagles would see Smith race out to a quick 5-0 lead in the fifth set before Samantha Garry '25 delivered a solo block to get EC onto the scoreboard. Smith pushed its advantage to 9-2 before a kill from Garry stopped the run. EC recorded back-to-back kills from Morgan Richardson '25 and Boucher to make it 11-5 before the Pioneers used a 4-0 run to secure the 15-5 victory in the set and the match 3-2.

Boucher (7), Vocke (6), and Garry (5) paced the Soaring Eagles in kills, while Amelia Martin '23 (3), Richardson (3), and Garry (2) combined for eight total blocks in the match. Asia Curkendall '25 paced Elmira with 11 assists, while Cami Witchley '25 added 10 assists in the match.

UP NEXT:
The Purple & Gold head to Worcester, Mass. on Saturday for a pair of matches against Clark University and Western New England University at 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM.