An auspicious start to the women’s volleyball team’s season hit a snag last weekend as the Bearcats were swept 3-0 in each of their three matches at the Marquette Challenge. The team will look to bounce back as it hosts its own tournament here in Binghamton this weekend.
The Bearcats (2-4, 0-0 America East) were coming off a 2-1 weekend at the Hofstra tournament before the three losses. Binghamton head coach Glenn Kiriyama hoped the tough weekend served a good purpose.
“Every team’s got to deal with it [losing] and work to get past that,” he said. “It is a learning experience. As long as they can get something out of it then it was probably worth going to that tournament.”
Binghamton opened the tournament against Austin Peay State University (4-3). Facing a team that featured a new coach but went 22-11 last year, the Bearcats had their poorest performance of the tournament. The Lady Governors scored 12 kills to the Bearcats’ six in the first set to win it, 25-13.
Binghamton played a much closer game in the second set, even recording more kills than Austin Peay. However, they were doomed by sloppy play, committing 10 errors compared to just two for their opponents, resulting in a 25-19 setback. The Governors went on to cruise in the final set, taking it 25-13.
For the match, the Bearcats recorded 27 kills but matched it with 27 errors. Junior Anna Lejina led the team with 11 kills, followed by fellow junior Michelle McDonough with nine.
Unfortunately for BU, no other Bearcat had more than four kills, and Lejina and McDonough combined for 15 errors. Senior Brianna Strong contributed 23 digs.
Senior Stephanie Champine paced Austin Peay with a match-high 12 kills and .407 hitting percentage.
“Our first match was the match that we really never got into,” Kiriyama said. “We didn’t play well at all at just about every aspect of the game.”
While the score against Butler University (6-4) was far closer, the end result was the same, losing 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-20). Lejina again led the team with 11 kills and a solo block. Bulldog junior Jessica Wolfe had a match-high 15 kills. Although the score was close, coach Kiriyama was not pleased with the performance.
“It wasn’t a particularly well-played match by our team,” he said. “We’ve got lots of things to work on.”
Binghamton closed out the tournament by facing host-team Marquette University (6-1). The Bearcats opened up strong against the Golden Eagles, opening up a 17-10 lead in the first set. However, Marquette secured three straight blocks from three different players and scored seven unanswered points to tie up the set at 17. They went on to take the set, 25-22. The Golden Eagles then went on a run in the second set to take it, 25-16.
That left one final set for the Bearcats to make a comeback. Despite nine errors for BU, the game was close throughout, as they trailed just 22-20 near the end of the third set. Marquette held on, though, scoring the final three points to take the set 25-20 and end the match.
Lejina led the team with 14 kills, hitting at .393, while McDonough followed with 11 kills of her own. Although the team recorded more kills than the Golden Eagles, they also committed 10 more errors and allowed nine blocks. Marquette went on to win the tournament.
Binghamton looks to shake off the poor performances this weekend as they host the Binghamton Invite. This will be the first tournament the Bearcats’ volleyball team has hosted since 2004. For coach Kiriyama and his team, playing the team’s first games at home this year, as well as being a host team for a tournament, is significant.
“It’s actually pretty big,” he said. “It’s always nice to be able to play in your home court, in front of your home fans. It’s a big deal to the team and they’re looking forward to the competition this weekend.”
Senior co-captain Dawn Lammert was also excited about the home opener. “Although frustrating, the weekend was a great learning experience, and the team is looking forward to stunning the crowds of BU supporters this Friday and Saturday in the West Gym,” she said in a blog for the Bearcats’ Web site.
Binghamton kicks off the tournament tonight with the second match of the day, as they face Towson University at 7 p.m. They then face Fairleigh Dickinson University tomorrow at noon and wrap up tournament play at 6 p.m. against Cornell University.