The Binghamton volleyball team took care of business at home this weekend, sweeping NJIT 3-0 at the Events Center on Sunday afternoon. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Bearcats as they remain undefeated on their home floor in conference play.
“It’s awesome to get back into the win column,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “We definitely had to make some changes and do some different things, and we tried a different lineup today. Overall, I’m very happy with it, and that we were able to do it in three.”
BU (13-9, 3-2 AE) and NJIT (5-18, 0-5 AE) traded points to begin the first set with the score tied at nine early on. However, the Bearcats soon turned it up a gear, going on a 9-2 run to take a commanding 18-11 lead. Binghamton closed the set on a 3-0 run, with kills from freshman right side hitter Viktoria Dimitrova and sophomore middle blocker Misa Dlouha, to take set one by double-digits at 25-15.
“We had to find the momentum,” Yaeger said. “We kept finding ways to break our momentum early in the sets, like missing our serve or getting blocked or something like that. Once we would get going, we were playing really good volleyball, and we were able to get over the hump — the tide scores and everything — and then kind of just run with it.”
To kick off set two, the Bearcats and Highlanders went back and forth once again, almost mirroring set one with the score knotted at nine at one point once again. A service ace for BU followed by an error in favor of the Highlanders from Dimitrova continued the deadlock, making it 11-11. Binghamton slowly pulled away in the middle of the frame, taking a five-point lead at 21-16. The hosts stayed in front the rest of the way, taking set two 25-19.
“We just let them hang around a lot and we need to do a better job just having more intensity,” Yaeger said. “I keep telling them, it starts with our defensive intensity … It was all about finding our momentum, and I feel like we never could really find it until the 14-14 phase of the game.”
After exchanging points for the third consecutive set, Dlouha gave BU a 12-10 lead with her fifth ace of the match. Similar to the previous two sets, with the score at 13-13 apiece, Binghamton pulled away with an 8-0 run, including two aces and a kill from fifth-year outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva to go up 21-13. Binghamton would keep its momentum, as a clean kill from Dimitrova sealed the 25-16 set win and victory for the Bearcats overall.
“We were able to set all those people because passing was so good,” Yaeger said. “Our service receive really came through today. That was huge for us today. But we can’t do all that if the passing is not there.”
The Bearcats saw efficient offensive production across the board as Ilieva had 12 kills and four aces. Dlouha was not far behind her with 11 kills and five aces. In addition, Dimitrova and graduate student middle blocker Johanna Remy added eight kills apiece. Junior setter Lottie Scully made this possible with her passing, racking up 37 assists.
“Based off of the last three matches that we played, the box score looks exactly the same,” Yaeger said. “We’ve really emphasized other people contributing, and that it can’t just always go to [Ilieva], even though she can put the ball away most of the time, which is great. We’ve just got to continue to distribute the ball as much as possible.”
Binghamton will hit the road to take on Albany on Friday, Oct. 25. First serve is set for 6 p.m. at Broadview Center in Albany, New York.