The Binghamton volleyball team is back where it belongs.

The Bearcats reclaimed sole possession of first place in the America East Conference and continued their 12-game home winning streak after an exciting weekend of volleyball.

The University of Maine (4-16, 2-4 AE) pushed the Bearcats (11-14, 6-1 AE) to a five-set match on Friday night, but BU ultimately triumphed, winning by the scores 23-20, 30-24, 30-21, 32-34, 15-8.

As a team of mostly freshmen and sophomores, no one expected Maine to come out swinging as hard as it did. The front line seemed to find every seam in the Bearcats’ defense and the Black Bears blocked well at the net.

Facing certain defeat, with the score at 25-29 in game four, BU was finally able to shake up Maine. Needing only one point to win, the Black Bears made a critical serving error, putting the ball in the Bearcats’ hands. Sophomore Katherine Courage pulled Binghamton into the lead by serving up five straight points.

The Bearcats ended up losing the game 32-34, but carried the momentum into the fifth and final game of the set, where they closed out Maine for good.

“My heart was just pounding in game four,” said sophomore libero Jaclyn Strader. “Being down, it seemed almost impossible to come back against Maine, but we got the serve and just ran with it.”

Sophomore rightside hitter Ashley Allen had some ferocious swings for Binghamton and compiled 13 kills in the win. Senior setter Ashley Meffert had 45 assists and 23 digs, and senior middle hitter Megan Hoag added 14 kills and a stellar .400 clip.

Maine’s leading outside hitter, Lindsay Allman, was held to just five kills and a -.143 hitting percentage in the match.

On Sunday, the Bearcats defeated the last-place Hartford Hawks (7-14, 0-7 AE) in three straight games.

The difference in talent between the two teams became apparent in the first game. It was very telling for the Hawks that the player with the best hitting percentage on their team hit at a clip of .000. The Bearcats would average a point every 30 seconds, as they dismantled the Hawks in 15 minutes by the score 30-11.

The second and third games were a completely different story, however. The Bearcats played down to Hartford’s level and were forced to play catch-up in both games. In the end, BU pulled itself together and won by the scores 30-24 in the second game and 30-27 in the third.

“Sometimes we need to play like a first-place team,” Strader said. “We can’t let anyone think that they have a chance against us and we are here to show people that we are No. 1.”

Hoag had five service aces against the Hawks, and sophomore Jacki Kane contributed six blocks. Binghamton had a .239 clip for the match to Hartford’s lowly .031.

“We’ve always had trouble playing Hartford,” Strader said. “They are the last-ranked team and sometimes we play down to their level. I honestly feel like sometimes it’s more difficult to play a bad team than a good team.”

The Bearcats will finish out a three-game home stand this Wednesday night at 7 p.m. against Colgate.