Coming off a dominating performance over University of Maryland, Baltimore County last Friday, the Binghamton University volleyball team will look to build on a solid start to conference play when it faces off against Providence College tonight at the West Gym. With just one win all season, the Friars (1-17, 0-1 America East) showcase a nonintimidating record, while the Bearcats (4-12, 1-0 America East) come into the match having won two consecutive matches.
Despite the differences, Binghamton is not likely to take tonight’s tilt against Providence lightly.
“There are no easy conference games in our conference,” Binghamton junior captain and middle hitter Grace Vickers said. “Everyone is basically the same level, there’s no huge front-runner, everyone is equal competition.”
The Bearcats played some of their best volleyball of the season last Friday in their conference and home opener against UMBC, dominating the Retrievers in straight sets, 25-22, 25-18, 25-12.
“Obviously we were so excited about winning,” Vickers said. “The crowd that was there was unreal. They had a huge impact on the way that we played and we loved being supported by our fellow students. We didn’t just squeak by with a win in this game against UMBC, we completely dominated.”
The Bearcats accumulated a .402 hitting percentage in the win, their best offensive performance of the season. Sophomore outside hitter Kristin Hovie led the way with 16 kills and a .500 hitting percentage, while senior middle blocker Alex Roland finished with 11 terminations and a .526 hitting mark. Sophomore setter Amanda Dettmann racked up 41 assists in the win en route to being named America East Setter of the Week.
After the opening weekend and just one game into conference play, Binghamton is tied for first in the conference with University of New Hampshire and University at Albany.
Providence College, meanwhile, fell to University of New Hampshire last week, 3-0. The Friars, currently tied for last place in the conference, earned their only win of the season back on Aug. 29 in a 3-1 victory over St. Peter’s University.
Following tonight’s match against Providence, the Bearcats are set to take on New Hampshire (9-8, 1-0 America East) on Sunday in their third straight home match.
The Wildcats, who are scheduled to play UMBC tonight, are riding a four-game winning streak, having swept their most recent contests against Dartmouth College and Providence.
Tonight’s match against Providence is set to start at 7 at the West Gym. Sunday’s contest against New Hampshire is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.