Elmira, N.Y – The Elmira women's volleyball team started day two of their annual invitational facing the New England Pilgrims and closed the day out against the Gallaudet Bisons. The Soaring Eagles took two hard losses, both in three sets.
MATCH 1 | vs. New England College, 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-10)
Elmira looked to bounce back after yesterday's loss but ultimately took their second loss to the Pilgrims in match one.
Leaders – Averleigh McFarlan led EC offensively with five kills and two aces. Defensively,
Vicki Titus led the team with 10 digs while also recording three assists and a singular ace.
Play-by-Play – The Pilgrims hit the board first to open the set. McFarlan quickly responded with her first kill of the day (2-1). The Soaring Eagles then gave New England the opportunity to go on a nine-point rally before
Aimee Bridges was able to lay down a kill of her own. Trailing a distance behind, EC slowly put points on the scoreboard. A trio of errors from the Pilgrims and an
Erin Bracken kill pushed the score within five-points (17-12).
Madalyn Devonshire added a late kill but New England shut EC down to take set one (25-19).
Set two started with a four-point run by the Soaring Eagles as they took advantage of four Pilgrim errors. Elmira then allowed them to put seven points on the board to recapture the lead (7-4).
Ellora Bynoe and McFarlan each grabbed a pair of kills while Bridges tacked on one of her own. New England was able to take set two with multiple stretches of rallies, 25-15.
The Pilgrims opened set three with an eight-point run to take an early lead. Devonshire, McFarlan and Bracken were each able to put down a kill late in the set, in hopes of giving EC a run. New England continued to dominate, successfully closing out the final set 25-10.
MATCH 2 | vs. Gallaudet, 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-15)
The Soaring Eagles offensively improved from their first match of the day, but fell short against the Gallaudet Bison.
Leaders – Once again, McFarlan shined as she recorded nine kills and tallied two aces in game two. Bynoe contributed by receiving eight digs and laying down three kills.
Play-by-Play – Bynoe opened up set one with a dominant kill that was followed by a Titus ace (2-0). Gallaudet proved to be tough as they forced EC to battle offensively and defensively. The Bisons were able to take a three-point advantage from a six-point rally (12-9). The Soaring Eagles then tied the set off a Bison error and kills from Bracken and McFarlan. Elmira continued to battle but could not find the lead as another Bracken and McFarlan kill cut the deficit to just one point. Gallaudet was able to close out a tight set one 25-20.
Set two saw the Bisons hit the board first with a five-point run before Bridges laid down a kill (5-1). EC fed off Gallaudet errors where they could, closing the gap to one point. McFarlan successfully put down three kills and two aces to bring the Soaring Eagles back after a big Bison run (17-13). Gallaudet pulled away and shut down set two 25-14.
McFarlan opened set three with a solid kill followed by a Bison error. Devonshire contributed a kill of her own before Gallaudet went on a six-point run to take a 7-4 lead. Freshman
Neeva Enigk recorded her first kill of her career to put the score within one for EC (12-11). After allowing three more Elmira kills, the Bison wrapped up set three to take home the game two win.
Up Next – The Soaring Eagles have the week to prepare for the upcoming Spirit of Service Volleyball Classic down in La Plume, PA. Elmira will face Keystone College on Friday, September 11
th with a start time of 5:00 pm.
For the latest and most up-to-date information on Elmira College Athletics, please visit
athletics.elmira.edu. Follow us on Twitter - @ECSoaringEagles, Instagram - @ecsoaringeagles, YouTube - @ECSoaringEagles, and Facebook by searching Elmira College Athletics.
