The Binghamton volleyball team took on Cornell and competed in the Rose Hill Classic, registering a 1-2 record over the past week. The Bearcats fell to Cornell in four sets on Wednesday to kick off the week, but got back on track, sweeping Fordham at its home tournament on Friday. However, on Saturday, BU was unable to finish off West Virginia after taking an early lead, falling in five sets.

“The games that we had against Cornell, they’re not going to be acceptable once we hit conference play,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “We got to be able to show up for every single match.”

On Wednesday evening, the Bearcats (8-5) were defeated in a midweek matchup against the Big Red (6-3) in four sets — 25-20, 22-25, 20-25 and 18-25. After winning a tight first set, Binghamton was unable to keep the pace offensively, tallying 39 kills with a .156 hitting percentage, compared to the Big Red’s 56 kills on a .270 clip.

“That was a tough match for us,” Yaeger said. “We struggled to show up. It just wasn’t our night. We couldn’t get anything going … [Cornell] just completely outplayed us in every single category possible, and we just really had a hard time responding to them.”

In its first matchup of the Rose Hill Classic on Friday afternoon, Binghamton made easy work of Fordham (4-5), earning a 3-0 sweep — 25-14, 25-16, 25-19. Despite getting to the Fordham gym late due to navigation issues on the bus, the Bearcats still dominated offensively by hitting .305 with just nine errors through three sets. The defense held Fordham to a .080 hitting percentage while totaling 10 blocks.

“I was really proud of the girls on how they got in there and did exactly what we talked about,” Yaeger said. “They were focused, they were ready to go, and they got the job done in three [sets]. Everything was working, and especially bouncing off of, the Wednesday loss against Cornell. I was really proud of everything.”

To close out the tournament, BU took on West Virginia (6-5), ultimately falling in five sets. The last time the two teams met was in 2022 when the Mountaineers won in four sets. After winning an overtime thriller of a first set 35-33, Binghamton dropped set two 25-20. The Bearcats bounced right back, winning set three 25-23 to take a one-set lead. However, the Mountaineers came back, winning set four 25-17 and set five 15-12 to secure the victory.

“When we played well, we played really well,” Yaeger said. “The sets that we lost, we just beat way too many errors, and we couldn’t pass the ball. We couldn’t be in system. It was nothing that West Virginia did. They didn’t outplay us. They didn’t overpower us. We did a lot of things to ourselves, which we have to get better at.”

Fifth-year outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva tied her career high with 27 kills against West Virginia. For the entire week, Ilieva dominated the stat sheet on offense, accumulating 64 kills over three games. Junior setter/right-side hitter Lottie Scully was a major contributor to Ilieva’s success as she had a season-high 37 assists against West Virginia. Scully is second in the America East conference with 6.75 assists per set.

“[Ilieva’s] so good right now,” Yaeger said. “[Ilieva’s] just at the top of her game. She’s so confident with her swings and what she does, and she knows what she can do. She knows herself best. [Scully] spread the offense out really well. She contributed aces in there for us as well at the serving line. I think [Scully’s] on her way this season to being one of the best setters in this conference.”

Binghamton will finish off its nonconference slate with a matchup against Le Moyne on Tuesday, Sept. 24. First serve is set for 6 p.m. at Ted Grant Court in Syracuse, New York.