ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Elmira College men's volleyball team hosted the Cougars of Misericordia University for a non-conference battle inside Speidel Gymnasium on Saturday Morning. The Soaring Eagles captured an intense third set, but it wasn't enough, falling to Misericordia in four sets.
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Elmira opened the game with two straight kills by Luke Jata to go ahead early. The Cougars answered with six of the next seven points. Back-to-back service aces by Gabriel Staron generated some momentum for EC, and tied the first set up at ten. The Cougars scored five out of six points in response to go up 16-13. Staron picked up two more kills, but the Soaring Eagles still trailed 21-17. Misericordia scored three of the last four points and closed out set one, winning 25-21. Both sides evenly traded the first ten points of the second set, EC getting kills from Ethan Davenport and Drake Connors. After falling behind, the Soaring Eagles picked up three consecutive points, including another kill by Connors, to even it up at nine. The Cougars rallied, but the Soaring Eagles responded with two kills from Jata, cutting the deficit to two. Misericordia again scored three of the last four points to finish set two, winning this one 25-20. Connors picked up three kills during the second set for the Soaring Eagles.

The Cougars opened the third set with four consecutive points. EC followed up with three points in a row, capped by a kill by Davenport. The Soaring Eagles picked up four of out five points shortly after, cutting the Cougar advantage to one point. Staron added another service ace to even up the set at 11 points. Jata tallied a kill a few points later that brought the score to 15 a piece. The Cougars had multiple four point runs that gave them a 23-18 advantage, putting the pressure on EC to extend the contest. The Soaring Eagles rallied for five consecutive points, including a kill by Staron, that tied up the set at 24 points. The teams went back and forth, neither side being able to claim the set point despite both sides having opportunities, as the set continued with the score now tied at 30. A kill by Dylan Vargas gave Elmira the lead and momentum, as they finished the set off a point later, EC taking this one 32-30. The Cougars took three of the first four in the fourth set. A kill by Davenport evened up the score at four a few points later. The Cougars went on a run that included six points in seven rallies to go ahead 12-8. The Soaring Eagles scored three points in a row, trying to get momentum back, but still trailed 19-16. Jata picked up two more kills, but it wasn't enough as the Cougars closed out the fourth set 25-19, claiming the match three sets to one.
 
LEADERS
Jata led the way for the Soaring Eagles, tallying 14 kills. Davenport notched 11 kills and recorded three digs, while Staron had ten kills and led the team with three service aces. Erik Ziemblicki totaled 36 assists and five digs.

UP NEXT
The Soaring Eagles travel to Poughkeepsie, NY on Saturday, February 28^th for a conference matchup with Brewers of Vassar College. The match is set to start at 12:00 PM.