The Binghamton women’s volleyball team picked up its first America East victory of the season Friday night, defeating UMBC in four sets at the Events Center.

The Bearcats handily claimed the first two sets of the match before dropping the third set 25-11. After forcing the fourth set past regulation, Binghamton won the final points on serves, claiming the fourth set and the victory.

“UMBC, they’re a brand new team and so are we,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “We’ve been used to them looking a certain way for a really long time, and I know vice versa, same thing with us. We watch film and we prepare, and we prepare.”

The match opened tightly, with UMBC (3-9, 1-1 AE) staying close as Binghamton (6-10, 1-1 AE) worked to establish a rhythm. Behind a late kill from freshman right side hitter Maya Coblentz-Brown, the Bearcats secured the 25-22 first-set win.

Despite the close score, the Bearcats led for the majority of the set, never relinquishing their lead after going ahead 5-4.

“We switched to a 5-1 tonight to start, we’ve been running a 6-2 for a while now,” Yaeger said. “So I’m really happy that that turned out in our favor and we looked successful doing it.”

Momentum carried into the second set, where Binghamton pulled away early and capitalized on UMBC attack errors to build a 17-11 lead. UMBC answered with a 3-0 run, but the Bearcats put together a dominant close to the set, with an 8-2 run to claim the 25-16 victory and a 2-0 lead.

UMBC answered in the third set, however, making adjustments that challenged the Bearcats’ defense. The Retrievers’ offense broke through, and Binghamton struggled to recover, surrendering a pair of 4-0 runs and dropping the set 11-25.

In the fourth set, UMBC jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but Binghamton rallied to stay in it with steady hitting and defense. UMBC regained control throughout the bulk of the set, establishing a 19-14 lead, but the Bearcats clawed back to tie the score at 20-20, outscoring their opponents 6-1 in the process. Both sides traded points to 22-22 and later 24-24, pushing the set beyond regulation.

A service ace from sophomore middle blocker Sophia Holland cemented the victory for Binghamton, sealing the 27-25 score and match win. Throughout the fourth set, freshman libero/defensive specialist Celeste Ocampo provided a steady presence in the back row, digging key balls and helping Binghamton receive serves effectively. Sophomore outside hitter Briana Binagi contributed with consistent kills and offensive pressure.

“We subbed the 6-2 in a little bit in the fourth set, which just gave us a little bit of a different look, a different setter, a different right side,” Yaeger said. “And we started hitting more shots instead of powerful swings and getting blocked, more tipping. We were finding spots on the floor where they weren’t instead of powerful hitting at them.”

Leading the way for Binghamton in its first AE victory of the year was sophomore right side hitter Viktoria Dimitrova with a season-high 16 kills.

Graduate student setter Alexandra Koleva registered a team-high 36 assists, while senior libero/defensive specialist Emily Cronkhite chipped in 20 digs.

“We had a kind of momentum that went down, but I feel like in other matches, we couldn’t manage to come back up, and now we did it,” Dimitrova said. “And now we did it all together, and I feel like for the first time in a long time, we really felt as a team, everyone was fighting for each other, and it was just amazing.”

Binghamton will continue its season against Bryant on Sunday, Oct. 12. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, Rhode Island.