For the second time in three years and the first time since 2022, the Binghamton volleyball team has clinched the America East regular-season title. With a sweep win against hosts NJIT on Sunday afternoon to cap off conference play, BU will also host AE championship weekend at the Events Center for the first time in program history.

“It’s so great,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “We’re so excited. It’s something that you talk about for so long. As soon as the last point was played last season when we lost at UMBC, our minds were on this. So when I say we talk about it for so long, we really do.”

Binghamton (19-9, 8-2 AE) never trailed in set one, winning 25-19, the closest of all three sets in the afternoon. The Bearcats did not look back after taking an early 7-2 lead against NJIT (5-23, 0-10 AE). The Highlanders kept things relatively close, tying the set multiple times. However, with the score at 20-19 in BU’s favor, the visitors ended the set on a 5-0 run to take the first set.

“We had a little bit of a slow start,” Yaeger said. “In the first set, it was a little closer than I needed it to be — just a lot of our errors.”

In set two, the Bearcats continued to dominate with all the momentum swinging in their favor. Jumping out to a 7-3 lead, assisted by three early kills from fifth-year outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva, the Highlanders had no answer to Binghamton’s offense, which hit .367 in the set. Meanwhile, NJIT hit -0.138 in the second set with eight errors and just four kills, compared to BU’s 14 kills and three errors. The visitors went on to take the set by double-digits at 25-11.

“Even to start the second set off, we kind of missed a lot of serves,” Yaeger said. “We had a lot of errors, but once we started going, there was really no looking back.”

The final set of the afternoon saw more of the same for Binghamton. After trading points to start, the Bearcats used a 4-0 run, consisting of two kills apiece from sophomore middle blocker Misa Dlouha and sophomore outside hitter Ella Schabort to extend BU’s lead to 11-5. Binghamton’s offense was unable to be stopped, amassing 18 kills in the set en route to a 25-15 set victory to secure the sweep.

The Bearcats’ offense saw an even distribution of offensive production with Ilieva, Schabort and Dlouha leading the pack with 13, 11 and eight kills respectively. As a team, Binghamton hit .260 while holding NJIT to a -.031 hitting percentage and just 19 kills in the match.

“The girls dominated blocking-wise,” Yaeger said. “After the first set, we really controlled the serve and pass game, which I always talk about. It was nice to be able to do that in three and get in and out and get back here and get home.”

All season, Yaeger has discussed peaking at the right time, alluding to the fact that her team was able to go undefeated on their home floor during conference play, giving them an advantage going into championship weekend as the hosts.

“We’re definitely playing our best volleyball that we’ve been playing,” Yaeger said. “I have full confidence in these players. I know how much they love playing at home and going undefeated in conference on our home floor … It’s a different vibe when we’re at home.”

Heading into championship weekend next week, Yaeger also talked about the team’s mindset as it hosts the AE championship in the Events Center for the first time in program history. Throughout the team, confidence is high and the team is excited to get going, with their sights set on Albany.

“Spirits are high,” Yaeger said. “Again, we could not be more excited to host at home and to play in the Events Center, which will be the first time ever. It’ll be the first time ever that we’re playing the volleyball championships in the Event Center, which is all so exciting for the program, for the athletic department, for the school and for the community.”

No. 1 Binghamton will begin its playoff run against No. 4 Albany on Friday, Nov. 22. First serve is set for 4 p.m. at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.