It may have been the same Binghamton volleyball team that took the court on both Friday and Saturday, but you wouldn’t have guessed that based on its play.
The Bearcats (5-16, 3-2 America East) looked out of sync in their five-set loss to Hartford on Friday, but proved potent in their four-set victory over Stony Brook on Saturday, splitting the weekend with a win and a loss.
“Overall, [the team] didn’t execute very well [Friday],” BU head coach Glenn Kiriyama said. “I didn’t feel comfortable at all even from the beginning. It was really nice to see them come back strong [on Saturday].”
Binghamton and Hartford opened play with a back-and-forth first set, through which neither team led by more than three at any point. That rough equality expired in the waning moments, however, during which the Bearcats were plagued by errors. The hosts committed four attack errors inside of the period’s last nine points and consequently dropped the set, 27-25.
“[We] didn’t get into a good rhythm,” Kiriyama said. “[We] didn’t control the ball well on our side and didn’t pass it well.”
But Binghamton, quickly rebounding, wouldn’t allow the first set to determine the tone of the match. Aided by a multitude of Hawks errors, the Bearcats captured the second set, 25-22, and the third, 25-23.
“I thought we played defense a little better,” Kiriyama said of his team’s play in those latter two sets. “We dug a few more balls in those games. We actually served a lot better in those games, too. And that really helps out our defense.”
BU couldn’t sustain the momentum it built. The Bearcats committed seven kill errors and struggled to connect on passes in the fourth stanza, dropping the set, 25-22. And despite an early 7-3 lead in the pivotal fifth, BU squandered its advantage and sealed its fate with a 15-11 set loss en route to losing the match, 3-2.
“On our side we made way too many unforced errors,” Kiriyama said. “Whatever it is, hitting, serving wasn’t great those last two games. We just kind of shot ourselves in the foot there.”
Come Saturday evening, the Bearcats’ play drastically improved against the Seawolves (11-9, 2-2 AE), despite missing one of their top performers, junior outside hitter Megan Burgess, to injury.
Except for the third set, Binghamton controlled the game. After a hard-fought first set, which BU won, 27-25, the Bearcats captured the second set, 25-20.
“It is always a good thing to be ahead, 2-0,” Kiriyama said. “They closed the game strong. It was good to see that. They stayed focused throughout there, even when they started coming back. It was huge to come out with those two games.”
After a shaky third, in which the team posted a .000 hitting percentage in a 25-23 loss, Binghamton closed out the Seawolves with a dominant 25-12 fourth-set victory to capture the game, 3-1.
“I think we just fought harder today,” senior setter and team captain Amanda Dettmann said. “We knew that Stony Brook was top coming into this weekend. Especially after hearing that they lost yesterday kind of just fired it up. We knew we just had to give it our all.”
Dettmann led BU throughout Saturday, consistently connecting on passes with sophomore outside hitter Allison Hovie and sophomore middle hitter Bianca Anderson. Hovie and Anderson each finished with 11 kills while Dettmann racked up 36 assists.
“They were really loud today,” Dettmann said. “It was me knowing that I had to mix up the offense and play better than yesterday. It just kind of all worked.”
Next up for Binghamton is a Sunday matchup against UMBC. First serve is set for 1 p.m. at the West Gym.