Buffum Earns AVCA Player of the Week Award
LEXINGTON, K.Y. -- The accolades keep rolling in for Matthew Buffum '18 of the No. 15-ranked Elmira College men's volleyball team, as he was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Player of the Week for Division III this afternoon. Buffum was also tabbed as both the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) and Empire 8 Conference Player of the Week yesterday. Today's announcement marks just the third time program history that an EC player has garnered this accolade, the most recent being two-time AVCA All-American
Erik Griffin '16, who did so on February 23, 2016.
Buffum helped guide the Soaring Eagles to a perfect 2-0 weekend at a UVC tri-match hosted by St. John Fisher College on Saturday and Sunday, March 24-25. The Purple and Gold picked up a 3-1 win over Fisher and a 3-2 comeback victory over Nazareth College at the event. The 6-foot-7-inch middle blocker paced Elmira with a stellar .465 hitting percentage on 43 attempts in the two matches, while also being second in kills (24), kills per set (2.67) and blocks (10). Not only did the triumph over the Golden Flyers mark the first time in Elmira history that it defeated Naz twice in a season, it also clinched a spot in the UVC Tournament for EC.
It did not take long for Buffum to flex his muscle against the Cardinals in Elmira's opener, as he posted 10 kills and six blocks with a match-high .563 hitting percentage in the four-set win. The pride of Chesterfield, Missouri, sparked EC's two-sets-to-none comeback against Naz with five kills and two blocks in the do-or-die third set. In total, Buffum logged 14 kills and four blocks against the Golden Flyers, while hitting at a team-best .407 clip.
This weekend's contests were just two of a long line of strong matches from Buffum this season. The senior paces the UVC with 114 blocks, which is also a single-season program record for the Soaring Eagles. He also ranks fourth in the league with a .413 hitting percentage, which is on pace to break his own single-season record posted in 2017 (.397).
Buffum and the rest of the Soaring Eagles will not have much time to dwell on their success, however, as they host their final UVC matches of the season on Friday and Saturday, March 30-31, at Speidel Gymnasium. EC challenges No. 10 Vassar College at 5:00 p.m., before taking on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology the following afternoon at 2:30 p.m.