It took four tough games for the visiting Stony Brook Seawolves to triumph over the Bearcats volleyball team, 3-1, Thursday night at the West Gym.
While the Seawolves are now on a 10-game winning streak, BU remains in fourth place in the America East Conference, unadulterated by yesterday’s result and overall, glad with its performance.
‘I thought our team fought well,’ said BU head coach Glenn Kiriyama. ‘We made some nice comebacks.’
The Bearcats proved to be a worthy opponent for the first-place Seawolves. The four games had a total of 50 tie scores and 25 lead changes. The first match yielded an explosive force from Stony Brook as they were victorious 30-26 while battling through six ties.
Game 2 clasped 15 ties and 50 attempted team attacks from Stony Brook, and the Bearcats held them off as long as possible, even taking a 28-26 lead. But the Seawolves kept firing, tying the game at 29-29 and then winning the next two points for the 31-29 victory.
The Bearcats played Game 3 with an undisputed force. Deadlocked at 27, Binghamton won the match 30-28 keeping themselves alive for another match.
The Seawolves, however, kept bringing it to the Bearcats in Game 4 while Binghamton stood strong and ready for the challenge as there were 13 ties and eight lead changes. Tied at 28 and the Bearcats hoping to force a final fifth game, Stony Brook won the remaining two points, the last one on a Bearcat error, to win the match and sweep the season series with Binghamton.
‘It was a tight match,’ said Kiriyama. ‘We had plenty of lead changes and when it came down to the wire, we fought back hard.’
The Bearcats committed fewer errors than the Seawolves and had no more than six a game. Binghamton proved once again why it was ranked 25th in the nation in blocks with 11. Three Bearcats, sophomore Dawn Lammert, junior Kathleen Schauer and freshman Michelle McDonough yielded double-digit kills for the team (14, 11, and 13, respectively) while freshman setter Lindsey Mueller placed a total of 49 assists. Junior libero Katie Thomas also came through for the team anchoring a team-high 17 digs.
Stony Brook played how a first-place team should play. The Seawolves attempted over 180 attacks and had four players reach double digit scores, two of which grasped double-double scores. Michael Jordan would have been proud of graduate student outside hitter Jackie Ahlers. The Seawolf, who donned the number 23 on her jersey, clinched 30 kills and attempted a total of 58. Senior Morgan Sweany, who despite being verbally jeered by a couple of jeering Bearcat Hooligans through the whole match, added 20 kills and 13 digs.
As the season draws to a close, senior Jacki Kane continues to achieve milestones and set new records. Kane had seven blocks to put her at 175, slating a new record for the most blocks in a season surpassing the previous mark of 174 by Anne Crocus in 2002. Kane now has 600 career blocks and is just one shy of second on the all-time list and 13 behind Susan Rinde for the program’s all-time lead (613).
The final game of the season takes place at home this Sunday at 2 p.m. against Hartford, which lies in last place in the conference. Prior to the match, the Bearcats will honor its four graduating seniors: Kane, Schauer, Rachel Ayers and Ashley Hoin. And while the Bearcats want to end the season on a win, their fate for the AE Tournament is already decided as they will carry the No. 4 seed and face off against No. 1 Stony Brook.