NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The Elmira College men's volleyball program traveled to SUNY New Paltz for a tri-match on Saturday as the Soaring Eagles dropped a 3-0 decision against the No. 10 Hawks before responding with a 3-0 victory later in the day against Kean University.

In the victory over the Cougars, Elmira would hit .462 as a team in the third set and .286 in the match as the Purple & Gold tallied 45 kills compared to 23 for Kean. Alberto Mauricio '25 guided the Soaring Eagles in the match offensively as he finished with 20 kills to go along with 18 digs. Jordan Peiser '24, Oscar Munoz Trinidad '23, and Ryan Mattes '23 combined to record 21 kills for the Soaring Eagles, while Max Cohen '25 dished out a match-high 36 assists.

Elmira used a pair of 3-0 rallies in the opening set to take a 14-7 lead over the Cougars as Mauricio tallied five kills. The Soaring Eagles would work past recording seven attacking errors in the set as a late kill from Peiser followed by a service error from the Cougars would secure a 25-20 victory.

The second set would have plenty of lead changes early as Kean knotted the score 9-9 before Elmira used a 4-0 run to take a 13-9 advantage. Mauricio notched three kills with each of the sets coming from Cohen during the run while Cohen recorded one of his three service aces for Elmira. Leading 21-18 in the set, the Soaring Eagles would see Kean rally to knot the score 21-21 before a 4-0 run secured a 25-21 victory for Elmira.

Elmira gained some breathing room midway through the third set as a 3-0 run would give EC a 12-9 lead. Another 3-0 rally later in the set would increase the advantage to 17-12 for Elmira following a pair of attacking errors by the Cougars. A pair of kills from Munoz Trinidad and Peiser late in the set would secure the 25-18 victory and 3-0 sweep for the Purple & Gold.

In the loss to open the day for the Soaring Eagles, it would be Mauricio recording a team-high 15 kills while Munoz Trinidad added five kills. Cohen added 16 assists and five digs for Elmira as the Soaring Eagles hit just .117 in the match going without any service aces or blocks. New Paltz hit .493 as a team while adding 43 kills, seven aces, and seven blocks.

JUST THE BASICS (Match 1):
Location: New Paltz, N.Y. | Hawk Center
Score: Elmira 0, No. 10 New Paltz 3
Records: Elmira (9-4, 2-2 UVC), New Paltz (16-7, 3-0 UVC) 

JUST THE BASICS (Match 2):
Location: New Paltz, N.Y. | Hawk Center
Score: Elmira 3, Kean 0
Records: Elmira (10-4, 2-2 UVC), Kean (9-6, 0-1 CVC) 
 
UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles return to action on March 15 for a UVC contest on the road against St. John Fisher beginning at 7:00 P.M.