The Binghamton volleyball team snapped its four-game winning streak with a loss to UMBC, 3-0, on Friday, before rebounding to take down Stony Brook, 3-1, on Saturday.
“We came out flat against UMBC,” said BU head coach Glenn Kiriyama. “We just couldn’t get it going against UMBC. Stony Brook was a highly competitive match, so I was happy we could pull off that win.”
The Bearcats (13-12, 7-4 America East) grappled with the Retrievers (16-7, 7-3 AE) in four back-and-forth matches on Friday. BU fell behind early in the first set, 9-2, but picked up the pace and closed the gap, 12-11. Both squads fought to gain an edge, eventually finding themselves deadlocked at 24. A Bearcats service error and a kill by UMBC freshman middle blocker Franchesca Reed concluded the set, giving the Retrievers the 1-0 advantage.
BU came out aggressively in the second set, taking an early 5-0 lead. The Retrievers hit .310 as they held off BU for a 25-23 victory. It was not until the third set that the Bearcats began to showcase their offensive prowess. Tied at 13, the Bearcats went off, putting nine consecutive points on the board, eight of which came off of sophomore outside hitter Gaby Alicea’s serves. A Retriever attack error sandwiched between two BU kills granted BU the 25-16 set victory.
The Bearcats, however, were unable to duplicate their effort in the fourth set, as they fell 21-25, shattering their winning streak in the process. Alicea led the the Bearcats with 13 kills, while sophomore outside hitter Erin Shultz and junior middle hitter Kristella Morina each posted 12 kills.
The Bearcats faced off with the Seawolves (6-19, 2-8 AE) on Saturday night. The first set alternated between the two teams, as they took turns tallying points until they tied at 13. BU then jumped ahead with five consecutive points with Shultz as the server. The Seawolves answered with three points of their own, but freshman outside hitter Lauren Kornmann added three more kills while Shultz earned a kill to hand BU a commanding 25-16 set victory.
BU maintained its momentum going into the second set as they took an early 3-1 lead. The two teams proceeded to exchange points until a combined block from Shultz and Morina, followed by a Shultz kill put the Bearcats ahead 14-12. The Seawolves answered with four consecutive points. Kornmann posted three more kills to keep things close, but SBU took control and won the second set, 25-22.
BU was not fazed, coming right back in the third set. Alicea posted back-to-back kills followed by an attack error and a kill by Shultz to give BU a 13-10 lead. BU refused to become complacent, pushing forward to secure a 25-18 set victory.
The fourth set was the most competitive by far. With BU up 23-17, victory appeared to be in short reach for the Bearcats. However, two consecutive BU errors opened the door for the Seawolves. SBU took a 27-26 lead before Alicea made a crucial kill to tie the set at 27. After exchanging points, a kill from Shultz put BU ahead and a kill by junior middle hitter Lexi LaGoy earned BU the 3-1 match victory.
Junior setter Sarah Ngo tallied 46 assists on the day while senior libero Bailey Walker contributed 18 digs.
Saturday night also marked Senior Night for the team’s five seniors.
“It’s always tough to say how it might affect us, but I know the five seniors are a strong core,” Kiriyama said. “We will miss their leadership and definitely miss their talent on the court.”
The Bearcats are set to take to the road next Sunday to face New Hampshire for their final regular season game. The game is slated to start at 1 p.m. from Lundholm Gymnasium in Durham, New Hampshire.