For the Binghamton University women’s volleyball team, it’s playoff time.
The Bearcats finished up their regular season with a 1-1 weekend. Their final record for the year stands at 15-14, with a 9-3 record in the America East, a two-game improvement over last year’s conference mark. The No. 2-seeded Bearcats will match up against the No. 3 seed UMBC, while top seed Albany will face No. 4-seeded Maine.
BU opened the weekend on the road against the University of Maine (14-12, 7-5). Binghamton had won the last meeting between the two by a large margin, but this time that would not be the case. In the first set, BU built a lead, only to forfeit it in a tight 26-24 loss. The second set was also a very close one, and went even further, but the result was the same as the Black Bears won, 29-27.
“We had some big leads in the first and second games and let them get away, then came back well,” said Binghamton head coach Glenn Kiriyama. “They finished well the first two games against us.”
Down two sets to none to a strong conference opponent, the Bearcats showed how much they wanted to win the match. BU reeled off 25-15 and 26-24 wins, tying the match at two sets apiece. With momentum in their favor, Binghamton went into the game-determining final set. The Black Bears were able to get ahead early, and though BU kept it close, Maine was able to hold on to win, 15-12. It was the Bearcats’ first conference loss to a team other than Albany.
“The fourth game … we came back at the very end of that game, and sort of came back from the dead there,” Kiriyama said. “The fifth game was neck-and-neck. They got off to a small lead and held it to the end of it. I thought we fought well. We competed hard and didn’t give up. So it was good, and I’m glad we stretched it out to at least five games even though we lost.”
America East Player of the Week Anna Lejina posted a .411 hit percentage to go along with a Division I record-tying 29 kills, followed by fellow sophomore Michelle McDonough with 17. Senior Lindsay Allman led Maine with 20 kills.
Having lost their last two conference matches, the Bearcats faced New Hampshire (7-21, 4-8), a team that had already been eliminated from the tournament. The Wildcats proved to be no match for the Bearcats, as Binghamton rolled 25-12, 21-25, 25- 15 and 25-22.
“We definitely needed that,” Kiriyama said. “We didn’t want to go into the conference tournament losing our last three conference matches. We wanted to get on a winning streak going in. It was a hard-fought win, and it was a good win for us.”
Lejina led the match with 18 kills, and McDonough posted another solid performance with 12 kills, 11 digs and 10 blocks. Both have won multiple Player of the Week honors, and Kiriyama is well aware of their contribution to the team’s performance this year.
“They’ve been a big key to our success,” he said. “I think their consistency throughout the season, and especially throughout the conference season, really carried us. We relied on them a lot, and they carried us at certain times during the matches, but they were up to it and did a great job for us.”
Binghamton opens the America East tournament against UMBC (18-12, 7-5). BU won both matches between the teams this year, but both were also very close. No set between the two was decided by more than five points. While coach Kiriyama knows UMBC is not a team to be taken lightly, he also notes that the team is excited to surpass expectations (they were predicted to go fourth in the conference) and be part of the tournament.
“They’ve been looking forward to the tournament, and I think they’re ready for it,” he said. “A lot of them have experienced it before. They know what to expect, and they know it’s going to be a tough battle with UMBC on Friday. We’re just trying to prepare as best we can for it.”