ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Elmira College men's volleyball team traveled to Rochester, NY for a conference matchup against the Cardinals of St. John Fisher University on Friday evening. The Soaring Eagles battled but fell short in the end, losing in three sets.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
The Cardinals scored the opening two points of the game before Drake Connors tallied a kill to get the Soaring Eagles on the board. Luke Jata notched a kill a few rallies later to make the score 4-2. Jata picked up another kill soon after to keep the deficit at two points. St. John Fisher responded by scoring five consecutive points, taking an 11-5 advantage. The Cardinals followed that with another five-point run to push ahead by nine points. Jata grabbed two more kills during a four-point run for the Soaring Eagles that cut the deficit to five points. Another three consecutive points by St. John Fisher gave them a 23-15 advantage. Two kills by Gabriel Staron got some momentum started for the Soaring Eagles. The Cardinals eventually finished off the first set, winning 25-19. St. John Fisher opened the second set with three consecutive points. Austin Hoopes tallied a service ace to pull the Soaring Eagles within one point, 4-3. A three-point run by the Cardinals pushed the advantage to four points. Jata's sixth kill of the match stopped the run and made the score 7-4. Jata added another pair of kills a bit later to cut the Cardinal's advantage down to five points. St. John Fisher responded with five consecutive points before Jata totaled his ninth kill to halt the momentum. A pair of kills by Staron tried to give EC momentum back late in the second set. Three consecutive points finished off the set for the Cardinals, winning 25-12, and taking a 2-0 advantage in sets.
 
The Cardinals tallied the opening point of the third set. Connors notched a kill, assisted by Nick Rohman, to push EC in front 2-1. Jata picked up another kill, his eleventh of the match, to give Elmira a 3-2 advantage. Jata and Staron recorded another kill each as the Soaring Eagles remained just barely in front. A kill and service ace from Staron, followed by another kill from Jata, pushed EC in front 9-6. St. John Fisher answered with three consecutive points, tying up the score at 11. Staron picked up another kill that was followed by a service ace from Erik Ziemblicki to give Elmira a four-point advantage. Staron tallied another kill that was followed by a Rohman service ace, keeping EC in front by four points. Another kill by Jata brought his total to 14 on the match and claimed a 19-16 advantage for the Soaring Eagles. A four-point run by the Cardinals took the advantage back, putting them in front 21-20. Jata and Rohman recorded back-to-back kills to put Elmira back ahead 22-21. Rohman added another kill two rallies later to reclaim the advantage for EC. The Cardinals rallied for three consecutive points, claiming the set 25-23, and the match 3-0.
 
LEADERS
Offensively, Jata led the way with 15 kills while tallying three digs. Staron notched eight kills, three digs, a pair of assists, and recorded a service ace. Connors and Rohman added a pair of kills each. Rohman led the Soaring Eagles with 23 assists.

UP NEXT
The Soaring Eagles return to Speidel Gymnasium for a conference matchup with the Hawks of SUNY New Paltz on Saturday, March 28^th. The match is set to start at 1:00 PM.