The 2015 Binghamton volleyball team features five starters from its 2014 squad that advanced to the America East Tournament semifinal. But the Bearcats have a big question mark heading into the year: who will replace former star setter Amanda Dettmann?
Dettmann, who graduated following the 2014 season, was a four-year starter for the Bearcats at the setter position. She started 118 career games and finished her time at BU ranked third in program history with 4,198 career assists. Dettmann led her team to two America East tournament appearances, including the championship in 2012.
“It is going to be tough to replace a four year starting setter,” BU head coach Glenn Kiriyama said. “It is going to be a big change for the rest of the team.”
Looking to fill the void will be sophomore setter Sarah Ngo and freshman setter Kaelan Haag. Ngo saw limited action last season, compiling 18 assists and nine digs over 15 matches. Haag has yet to compete in a collegiate game, however; as a high school senior last season, she accumulated 193 kills, 55 blocks and 354 assists.
“I think the girls [in preseason practices] are working hard, as usual,” Kiriyama said. “We’ve got three new girls in and they’ve learned things pretty quickly, so it has gone well.”
While the Bearcats may not have an experienced setter on the roster, they return a strong group of hitters, led by junior outside hitter Allison Hovie. Hovie, a first-team All-America East selection last season, finished third in the conference in kills per set (3.18), accumulated 28 service aces while recording eight double-doubles. Hovie will be the focal point of BU’s offensive attack this season.
“She is a good player for us,” Kiriyama said. “She’ll be relied upon to carry a big offensive load as an outside hitter. Also, I think with her standing comes a little bit more leadership responsibilities and she is our captain for this upcoming year.”
Also returning on the Binghamton attack are senior right-side hitter Megan Burgess and sophomore middle hitter Alexis LaGoy. LaGoy, the 2014 America East Rookie of the Year, ranked first on BU with a .294 hitting percentage, while Burgess ranked second at .225. Burgess also ranked second on the team with 2.57 kills per set.
Junior libero Bailey Walker will again anchor BU’s back line this season. Walker had one of the most successful seasons of any libero in program history last season. She ranked second in the AE and 24th nationally with 5.17 digs per set and set the program record for digs in a season, tallying 558.
“She’s very quick and she gets to a lot of balls,” Kiriyama said. “We are also looking for her to step up her leadership responsibilities on the court and just up her game a little bit this year.”
The Bearcats opened their season this weekend by dropping three of four contests at the Florida Atlantic Invitational. BU was swept, 3-0, by Georgia Southern in its first game of 2015 and followed that by falling, 3-2, to Bethune-Cookman. The Bearcats were then defeated, 3-0, by the host Florida Atlantic, before rebounding to top Stetson, 3-2. For complete coverage of the Florida Atlantic Invitational, visit bupipedream.com/sports/volleyball.