ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Elmira College men's volleyball team traveled to Hilbert College for a mid-week non-conference matchup. The Soaring Eagles took a set early from the Hawks to lead them to a 3-1 victory.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Elmira opened the match with a strong 4-0 rally featuring two kills from Gabriel Staron. Both teams traded points until the Soaring Eagles tallied six consecutive points to break away from the Hawks. Once again, both teams were back-and-forth until another 4-0 run saw EC close the first set 25-14. In a narrowly contested second set, the Hawks were able to string together numerous rallies to edge past EC 25-23.

With the match tied at 1-1, the Soaring Eagles opened set three with a kill from Luke Jata and a service ace from Erik Ziemblicki. The Hawks responded with four points of their own, but a kill from Ethan Davenport quickly evened the set. Both teams battled through back-and-forth action until a three-point rally for the Soaring Eagles saw both teams at 18 all. A service ace from Dylan Vargas and another Jata kill propelled EC forward as a pair of kills from Davenport shut the door on the Hawks, 25-23. In set four, an early five-point rally put Elmira in front with kills from Staron and Nick Rohman. In a high-paced action filled set, both teams were evenly contested. Back-to-back 4-0 runs from the Soaring Eagles ultimately sealed the deal and secured set four and the victory (25-18). 

LEADERS
Staron led the way offensively with 17 kills in the match followed by Jata with 14 of his own. Ziemblicki tallied 35 assists while Rohman garnered 19 rounded out by Davenport with 12 digs.

UP NEXT
The Soaring Eagles return home to Speidel Gymnasium to host Wilkes on Wednesday, February 4. The match is set for 7:00 PM.