ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Elmira College women's volleyball team picked up its first Empire 8 victory of the season on Friday evening, sweeping Nazareth University in straight sets (25–19, 25–23, 25–21) inside Speidel Gymnasium.

JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 3, Nazareth 0
LOCATION: Elmira, NY | Speidel Gymnasium
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (3-19, 1-4 Empire 8), Nazareth (0-20, 0-5 Empire 8)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• After taking the opening set 25–19, Elmira found itself facing adversity in the second. Trailing 18–11 late in the frame, the Soaring Eagles stormed back behind Aimee Bridges '29, who ignited a stunning turnaround from the service line. With Bridges at the stripe, Elmira rattled off nine straight points after trailing 20–13, flipping the momentum and sealing the 25–23 comeback win to go up two sets to none.
• Elmira carried that energy into the third, maintaining control throughout the frame to close out the match 25–21 and secure the sweep.
• The Soaring Eagles were led by Morgan Sica '28, who paced the offense with 10 kills while hitting .296 and adding a block assist and a pair of digs. Madalyn Devonshire '29 followed with eight kills on a .333 hitting percentage, while Gabriella Rustine '26 chipped in six kills and Lilyanah Doolittle '29 added four kills and three total blocks.
• Running the offense, Erin Bracken '27 distributed a team-high 14 assists with two service aces and 12 digs, while Alyson Hagberg '26 added nine assists and seven digs. From the back row, Gabriela Rodriguez '26 anchored the defense with a team-best 13 digs, supported by Cloe VanFleet '28 with six and Vicki Titus '28 with another six.

UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles will return to action on Saturday, October 18 when traveling to Rochester to take on the Cardinals from St. John Fisher University with first serve scheduled for 2:00 PM