Regular conference play drew to a close this weekend for the Binghamton University volleyball team, and now comes the tough part: the conference championship.

The Bearcats (15-16, 9-3 AE) are well positioned as the second-seeded team for the upcoming tournament after they split their road matches this weekend, losing to New Hampshire (11-16, 6-6 AE) but coming back the next day to defeat Maine (6-20, 4-8 AE).

On Saturday the Bearcats dropped a 3-2 decision to New Hampshire in a match that could have gone either way, by the scores 25-30, 30-18, 33-31, 25-30, 11-15. New Hampshire started out the weekend tied with Stony Brook for fourth place and came out gunning, needing a win to have a shot at making it into the conference championship.

After dropping the first game, the Bearcats won the next two matches, but the momentum did not carry into the final games and the Wildcats ultimately walked away with the win.

“We had control for most of the matches, so we were comfortable being behind,” said sophomore rightside hitter Ashley Allen. “In the back of our heads we thought we would come from behind, but we just could not pull it out in the end.”

Senior Katie Robertson led the team with 15 digs and 12 kills, and senior middle blocker Megan Hoag had her 13th double-double of the season, posting 17 kills and 11 digs.

If BU had won both matches this weekend it would have shared the regular season first place conference title with Albany, but with the loss, the Bearcats handed sole possession of first place over to the Great Danes.

“The loss was disappointing because it would have been nice to share first place honors with Albany, but what really matters is the conference championship,” Allen said.

The Bearcats redeemed themselves on Sunday night by toppling the University of Maine 32-30, 30-18, 26-30, 30-28. Hoag ended her last regular season game on a high note by recording her 1,000th career kill in the win; she recorded her 1,000th career dig earlier in the season.

Down 29-23 in the first match, BU fended off defeat and pulled out an improbable 32-30 victory. From there, Maine was unable to overcome the defeat and the Bearcats notched a final “W” into their conference record.

BU out-blocked Maine 12 to six in the win, though the Black Bears tallied a commendable 14 service aces. The seniors had an impressive showing, as Robertson and Hoag notched 15 and 13 kills, respectively. Setter Ashley Meffert had 45 assists and 16 digs.

The Bearcats ended regular season play with a stellar 9-3 America East record. The defending conference champions will head to Albany this coming weekend in an attempt to repeat last year, but will first have to take down third-seeded University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

“UMBC is a great team, but they didn’t get above 20 points last time we played them so we are looking for a repeat,” Allen said. “I mean we are out to kill these teams and are definitely looking for a repeat of last year.”