ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Elmira College women's volleyball team put together a strong showing on Friday evening to kick off the final weekend of Empire 8 play, defeating the visiting Wildcats from SUNY Poly in straight sets. Elmira, who received double-digit kills from the senior duo of Morgan Richardson '25 and Makenna Clark '25, would also see eight kills from Madi Conti '28, and 29 set assists from Erin Bracken '28.

JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 3, SUNY Poly
LOCATION: Elmira, New York | Speidel Gymnasium
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (3-21, 1-9 Empire 8), SUNY Poly (2-18, 0-10 Empire 8)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Purple & Gold would come out strong from the opening set, hitting .273% as a team while notching 14 kills and just five errors in the frame. Elmira, who gained an 8-3 advantage from the start, would not look back, scoring six of the final ten points in the set to take the frame 25-20. In the opener, Conti would lead the way with four kills, while Clark and Richardson followed close with three apiece. 
• From there, Elmira would see its largest set victory of the evening, collecting a 25-16 frame against the Wildcats. Elmira would take a 12-4 lead from the jump, while using five consecutive points to its advantage with Gabriella Rodriguez '26 at the service position. After a small run from the Wildcats which pulled them within three, Elmira would ultimately score seven of the final eight points which saw four kills and three attacking errors used to its advantage. 
• The third set would prove to be the closest of the evening, as each team hit .167% from the floor. Elmira saw 13 kills and seven errors, while Poly used ten kills and four errors. After seeing just three ties and one lead change through two sets, the final frame featured 11 ties and five lead changes, with Elmira eventually taking the frame 25-23 to earn its first E8 victory of the season.

UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles return home tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 PM when taking on the Pioneers from Utica University in the final game of the regular season. The afternoon with consist of honoring the Class of 2025 inside Speidel Gymnasium.