By Justin Mathew

America’s first colony was the last place the Binghamton University Bearcats wanted to be this weekend, as the women’s volleyball team was swept in three matches in the Marriott Jefferson Cup at the University of Virginia.

The Bearcats’ (3-7) opponents ran the gamut from a sub-.500 team in Appalachian State University (2-8), to a team with a middling record in Virginia Commonwealth University (5-4), to an apparent powerhouse in host school Virginia (7-2). However, regardless of the opponent, the final result was the same: a furious Binghamton rally, eventually leading to a loss.

“It’s still fairly early and we’re still working on some things,” said BU head coach Glenn Kiriyama.

The tournament opened against Appalachian State, and the Bearcats were tested from the start. The two teams battled in the first set, posting identical kills, errors and hitting percentages. However, it was the Mountaineers who pulled ahead to win the set, 26-24. BU was able to overcome its six errors to win the second set, 25-23.

It was the pivotal third set, though, that proved to be the Bearcats’ downfall. In a game they needed, Binghamton committed 10 errors and had a hitting percentage of zero, handing over the set 25-19. With their backs against the wall, the Bearcats hung tough, but could not pull out the final set, falling 28-26.

Seniors Brianna Strong and Ashley Allen each had 10 kills in the losing effort, while fellow senior Jaclyn Strader led the way with 16 digs. They could not, however, overcome the Mountaineers’ effort, in which four players recorded double-digit kills, including Lauren Swecker, who had 17 kills. The sophomore also tallied 14 digs.

“I think our play has gotten better,” Kiriyama said. “We’re getting some good play from a lot of different players, and we’ve been using quite a few different players. One thing would probably be consistency; we’re just trying to work on being consistently good and being able to execute.”

While they played a tight match against ASU, Binghamton’s match against the Virginia Cavaliers was not as close. BU was held to hitting .061 in their three-set loss to Virginia (25-18, 25-17, 25-23).

“It was sort of an average match for us,” Kiriyama said. “We didn’t play spectacular, but we didn’t play too badly.”

The Bearcats jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the first set, but allowed the Cavaliers to climb back into the game and eventually pull ahead for good. The third set involved the Cavaliers going ahead early, 12-6 and 18-11, but in what has become characteristic of this team, the Bearcats rallied back to make it tight at 24-23. Unfortunately for Binghamton, junior Lauren Dickson followed with a kill to finish off BU’s hopes. Dickson led the way for Virginia with 14 kills, followed by freshman Simone Asque’s 12 kills and .364 hitting percentage.

“Virginia’s a solid team and they had some good blocking there. They did make it pretty difficult for our hitters,” Kiriyama said. “We needed to pass a little bit better and maybe a little bit smarter, but other than that we were just up against a nice team.”

Binghamton’s five-set loss to VCU, while painful, was a shining example of the Bearcats’ resiliency and fight. In the first two sets the teams exchanged 25-21 wins. Binghamton took the third set 25-22 on the strength of a .343 hitting percentage and 15 kills, but wasn’t able to take the fourth game, losing 25-20 to the Rams.

It was the game-determining fifth set, though, that showed what the Bearcats were made of. Despite going down 9-4 and 12-6 in the game, the team refused to cave. Instead, it rallied to tie the set at 14. Their rally would fall just short, as Rams’ junior Ariel Newman and sophomore Jessica Ojokwu had kills to finish the match.

Newman led the match with 19 kills while senior Laryssa Goncalves had a match-high 27 digs. Sophomore Michelle McDonough’s 18 kills and Allen’s 17 kills and stellar .424 hitting percentage paced the Bearcat squad.

While no loss is pleasant, a five-set match against VCU, which included a strong rally when the team could have quit, is nothing to scoff at. The Bearcats have proved all year that they don’t go down without a fight.

“I thought they definitely had a good last match of the tournament; that match that could have gone either way,” Kiriyama said. “They’ve been playing some good ball.”

“I thought, especially against VCU, we competed extremely well. We actually came back from a large deficit in game five, just to tie it up there toward the end. They fought well all the way to the end, and I like to see that,” he added.

The Bearcats, after opening the season with 10 straight road games, play their home opener tonight against the Colgate University Raiders (3-6) at 7 p.m. The Bearcats are ready to play in front of a friendly crowd.

“It’s always nice to play at home,” Kiriyama said. “I’m sure they’re really looking forward to it, playing in a comfortable place that they’re used to. We always draw pretty well, so they’re looking forward to having a good crowd there and having a good time.”