Wednesday, May 23, 2012 73° - Binghamton, NY

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BU volleyball to play UNH and Maine

It’s nearly playoff time for the Binghamton University women’s volleyball team.

Yaris Ng Pang/Contributing Photographer

But before they can think about the America East Tournament, the Bearcats will have to finish up the regular season with two road matches against conference opponents this weekend.

BU (14-13, 8-2 America East) will finish up its season with away games this weekend at the University of Maine and the University of New Hampshire.

The Bearcats have beaten each of the teams once already this season, including a dominating win over Maine on Oct. 10.

The Bearcats, coming off a 1-1 weekend, have already secured the No. 2 seed for the America East Tournament, making these last two games meaningless for their playoff position. However, the Maine Black Bears (13-12, 6-5) currently sit in third place in the America East, and a win against BU could clinch that spot for them. If they retain the No. 3 seed, they would play the Bearcats in the semifinals of the America East Tournament. So, as head coach Glenn Kiriyama explained, the team still has plenty of reason to play hard.

Maine’s best players include Brittany Kiehl, who is fourth in the America East in hitting percentage (.296), and Jessica Wolfenden, who is fourth in kills with 9.23/game. The Black Bears are first in the conference in service aces and third in hitting percentage.

“These games are important,” Kiriyama said. “Maine is still fighting for a particular seed, either third or fourth. If we have to play them again, we want to make sure that we play them well this time, so that we get more confidence when we play them if we have to play them again.”

The New Hampshire Wildcats (7-20, 4-7) will not be going to the tournament this year. However, they will still likely come out with intensity, especially since the match will be senior day for UNH. The Wildcats pushed Binghamton to four sets the last time the two faced off.

Kirsten Bates of New Hampshire is fourth in the conference for points with 3.75 per game, while Wildcat Alyse Lahti is second in digs with 4.06 per game.

The America East Tournament will be hosted by the University of Albany, the No. 1 seed. Last year BU was eliminated in the first round by Stony Brook University, a team that is currently trailing UMBC for the final playoff spot.

Tonight’s matchup between BU and Maine starts at 7 p.m.

BU then heads to New Hampshire for a 5 p.m. start on Saturday.

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