The Binghamton University volleyball team notched second place in the America East Conference after winning both of its games over the weekend by 3-1 scores.
Binghamton (14-13, 9-3 AE) started off the weekend strong, beating Stony Brook University 3-1 Friday night at the West Gym.
In the first set, the Bearcats’ offense jump-started the match, giving the Bearcats a 12-8 lead. The lead was extended to 20-14 after junior setter Julie Chambers put down two kills. Senior outside hitter Anna Lejina secured the first set, 25-17, with a kill.
The Stony Brook Seawolves’ offense sparked in the second set. The Seawolves quickly won 25-14, due in part to the Bearcats’ hitting percentage of -.108, a season low. Binghamton regained control of the match in the third set, where a 5-0 run gave the Bearcats a 23-20 lead. A kill by sophomore middle hitter Alex Roland closed out the set.
In the fourth set, both teams fought for possession of the ball. The score went back and forth until the very end. In overtime, Binghamton was able to come out on top, 29-27, after two serving errors from the Seawolves and a kill by Lejina.
Lejina finished the night with a stellar performance of 22 kills and 11 digs. Senior captain Michelle McDonough contributed 11 kills from the outside and 10 digs. Freshman libero Xiomara Ortiz cleaned up the back row with 21 digs and Chambers dished out a total of 43 assists.
This win moved Binghamton to .500 for the first time this season.
The Bearcats resumed play on Sunday afternoon as they hosted Hartford University in their final regular season match. The team finished its season with another victory, defeating the Hawks 3-1. Before the match started, six Bearcat seniors were honored for Senior Day. With four of the seven starters graduating, the Bearcats will have to revamp the team for next year.
‘Obviously [the seniors are] a big key for us. Michelle is really [good] down the stretch. She has some great plays there and really carried the team,’ said Binghamton head coach Glenn Kiriyama. ‘They will be really missed and we hope them the best as they move on here. But we are looking forward for them to play well this coming weekend.’
Binghamton dominated the first set against Hartford with a hitting percentage of .333. After an early 2-2 tie, the Hartford Hawks never caught up as the Bearcats rolled on to win it 25-11 on a tip kill by Lejina.
The Bearcats’ explosive offense continued in the second set. The Bearcats secured an early lead, 14-6. Although the Hawks managed to diminish their deficit, they never took the lead or tied the score throughout the entire set. With a kill by Lejina, the Bearcats won this set 25-17.
The Hawks’ determination came out in the third set as their offense ignited. Hartford quickly took the lead 6-0 with three blocks. They continued to control the set as the Bearcats’ hitting percentage dipped to a game-low of .048, and the Hawks took the set 25-16.
Hartford’s late surge was not enough as Binghamton regrouped and took charge in set four. Despite trailing the Hawks in the beginning, the Bearcats took the 6-5 lead after two consecutive blocks. The set continued with two more ties at 13 and 22 but the Bearcats played better defense at the net. Two consecutive blocks by McDonough gave Binghamton its last win at home with a 25-22 win in the set.
‘We served well and just played actually all-around very well the first couple of games there,’ Kiriyama said. ‘It just came down to a little bit of blocking there at the end. We had some key blocks in that last game that sort of swayed the momentum a little bit to our favor.’
McDonough carried the team with 17 terminations and eight digs. After putting down four kills in the first set, McDonough made BU history as the all-time kills’ leader, surpassing Michele Heck’s total of 1,445. McDonough now has 1,460 kills in her career.
Lejina contributed 16 kills against Hartford while Roland notched 10 kills. Lejina earned America East Player of the Week honors for her performance over the weekend, the second time she has won the award this season. Ortiz picked up the defense with 12 digs while Chambers contributed 39 assists and eight digs.
Regular season play ended Sunday and the top four teams in the conference are set to travel to Albany this weekend for the America East tournament.
‘We know we got our work cut out for us,’ Kiriyama said. ‘[University of Maryland is] a seasoned team and they’re confident in going in so we just want to have a good week of practice and hopefully play well this weekend.’
The defending conference champion Bearcats finished second in the conference behind University at Albany for the regular season. Playoffs begin this weekend as Binghamton is scheduled to play No. 3 seed UMBC at 4 p.m. Friday at Albany.