ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Elmira College men's volleyball team hosted the Hawks of SUNY New Paltz for a conference matchup inside Speidel Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. The Soaring Eagles battled but came up short in the end, losing in three sets.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
The Hawks captured the first point on the opening rally of the contest. Luke Jata followed right back with a kill of his own, assisted by Nick Rohman. A bit later, Gabriel Staron notched his first kill of the match to cut the Hawks advantage to 5-4. Jata picked a kill two rallies later to maintain the deficit at one point. Drake Connors totaled his first kill that kept the Soaring Eagles within one point, 8-7. Jata tallied another kill as part of a five-point scoring run for EC that gave them a 11-8 advantage. Ethan Davenport picked up a kill to take some momentum back for EC, as they stayed in front 12-10. Staron notched a pair of kills a few points later, as the Soaring Eagles kept themselves in front by two. A kill from Erik Ziemblicki, assisted by Connor Barton, pushed Elmira in front 17-14. Davenport added another kill as EC remained out in front 19-16. The two teams continued trading points back and forth, as another kill from Davenport kept EC out in front 21-18. Back-to-back kills from Staron answered two points by the Hawks as the Soaring Eagles claimed a 23-20 advantage. The Hawks responded with five consecutive points to claim the first set 25-20.

Jata opened the second set with a kill to get Elmira on the board. Jata, Staron, and Davenport each picked up a kill as the teams traded off points, Elmira gaining the edge 5-4. The Hawks followed up with a three-point run to take the advantage 7-5. Staron answered back with a kill to take back some momentum. SUNY New Paltz went on another three-point run to make the score 10-6. Staron again tried to get momentum back for EC with another kill that halted the Hawks scoring run. The Hawks scored another three consecutive points as they built momentum again, moving in front 13-7. Jata tallied three kills in four rallies to slow down the Hawks and cut the deficit to 15-11. Staron notched his ninth and tenth kills of the match as part of a three-point scoring run for Elmira, capped off with a kill from Ziemblicki. Staron and Davenport each added a kill to their total as the Soaring Eagles cut the deficit to 22-18. Jata picked up another kill as the Soaring Eagles tried to gather momentum as the end of the set. The Hawks finished off the second set, claiming it 25-20 and taking a 2-0 lead in sets. SUNY New Paltx captured the first two points of the third set. Jata 11^th kill of the match got the Soaring Eagles started in the third set. Jata followed up with another one a few rallies later to even up the score at four. Davenport added another kill to pull Elmira within one point, 6-5. The Hawks responded with a three-point scoring run, that got halted by Staron's 12^th kill of the contest. A service ace by Rohman and another kill from Staron capped off a three-point run for EC. A kill from George Flores Jr. put Elmira down by just one point, 10-9. Jata tallied his 13^th kill of the game to keep Elmira within one point. The Hawks answered with four consecutive points to claim a 15-10 advantage. Staron picked up another kill on his total to being the deficit down to 17-13. SUNY New Paltz responded with four out of five points as they moved in front 21-14. Jata added another kill to his total, but the Hawks finished off the set, claiming it 25-18, and claiming the match 3-0.

LEADERS
Offensively, Staron led the way with 14 kills, while also picking up three digs and a pair of assists. Jata notched 14 kills of his own and totaled four digs. Davenport picked up six kills along with a block and a dig. Rohman tallied 29 assists leading the way for the Soaring Eagles.

UP NEXT
The Soaring Eagles return to Speidel Gymnasium for a conference matchup with the Violets of New York University on Sunday, March 29^th. The match is set to start at 1:00 PM.