The Binghamton volleyball team won twice and lost twice at last weekend’s Western New York Invitational in Buffalo.
A record-breaking drudging of St. Francis (N.Y.) highlighted the 2-2 weekend for the Bearcats (3-4), who continue their out-of-conference road schedule today with a rematch against the Canisius Golden Griffins. The Bearcats opened the Labor Day weekend with a 3-1 victory over host Canisius on Friday afternoon.
The 49 points allowed by the Bearcats in their 30-13, 30-12, 30-15 victory over St. Francis were the fewest points allowed by the program since the switch to the rally scoring system in 2001. It was the first time a BU opponent failed to record 20 points in any one game.
The official match time was only one hour.
Junior outside hitter Brianna Strong recorded perhaps the most impressive statistic in program history, recording nine kills on 11 attempts, with no attack errors, for a whopping .818 hitting percentage ‘ obliterating the previous record of .750, set by Michele Heck on Sept. 24, 2002.
By comparison, Binghamton is hitting .176 as a team this season. (An attack error counts against the percentage, while a strike that is blocked doesn’t count for or against the figure.)
On Saturday, Binghamton dropped a tight contest, losing a five-set match to Valparaiso before falling 3-0 to Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Junior outside hitter Ashley Allen recorded 38 kills and 16 blocks for the weekend, earning all-tournament honors. Allen, senior Jacki Kane and sophomore Dawn Lammert are currently eighth, third and sixth, respectively, in blocks per game in the America East.
The Bearcats will play today and two matches tomorrow, against Youngstown State and host Kent State, before opening their home schedule Tuesday night against Syracuse at 7 p.m. Home games are played in the West Gym and admission is free.