Binghamton University women’s volleyball fans, it’s time to get excited again.
Not only did the team pull out a solid home win over Robert Morris on Sunday afternoon, BU’s win over the Colonials (10-6) gives the team some much needed momentum going into the highly anticipated conference play after having won just one of its previous eight matches.
“The win against Robert Morris really helped out our confidence,” said head coach Glenn Kiriyama. “We definitely needed that win, especially going into the conference season.”
Things looked bleak early for the Bearcats (5-11) as they lost the first set, 25-22, despite recording more kills and having a higher hitting percentage. It appeared that the match would be a tight one throughout, but it did not play out that way. The next three sets were lopsided affairs. The Bearcats took the second and fourth sets, 25-13 and 25-12, while the Colonials took the third set, 25-13.
“It was just one of those matches, sometimes it happens,” Kiriyama said. “The momentum swings were big in that match, and once a team got going, it was really hard to stop them.”
With such a back-and-forth match, it was unclear how the game-deciding fifth set would play out. Binghamton made sure the result was never in doubt, soaring to a 9-0 lead en route to a 15-5 victory.
“I thought we started off strong in that final set,” Kiriyama said. “I think Lindsey Mueller was serving and she was serving really well, and they couldn’t run a very good offense.”
Senior Jaclyn Strader led the match with 19 digs on Sunday. However, the match was all about sophomore Michelle McDonough, who led the team with her career-high 20 kills, tallying 12 digs as well.
“She’s been one of our strong hitters all year,” Kiriyama said. “She had a really nice match, picking up some kills. She’s a tough one to stop when she gets going. She’s got a strong arm and gets a lot of power behind her hits.”
The Bearcats open America East Conference play tonight at 7 p.m. against the Stony Brook Seawolves (9-9), a team that defeated Binghamton three times last year, including in the America East semifinals. But this is not the same squad the Bearcats faced last year.
The Seawolves currently have five underclassmen on their roster.
“Stony Brook’s got a lot of new faces, so it’s hard to know what they’re going to bring,” Kiriyama said.
Conference play has historically been a good time for the Bearcats, who haven’t posted a losing record against the America East since 2003. Kiriyama warned that there was much greater parity this year, meaning nothing can be taken for granted. However, this is still a special time for the team.
“I think the conference season is when we want to compete,” he said. “They’re always excited to play in conference, and there’s a lot at stake in these matches. Especially having a lot of them at home, it really helps our confidence.”
Binghamton’s next four matches are home games against conference opponents.