Ferocity, determination and a phenomenal amount of teamwork have left the BU women’s volleyball team tied with Albany for first place in the America East conference. Now with the loss of junior outside hitter Katie Robertson, the girls will have to work harder than ever during the final stretch of the season.
Robertson fractured her fibula during practice Saturday and is not expected to recover in time to finish the season. Freshman outside hitter Brianna Strong, who was just named America East Rookie of the Week, has boldly stepped in to take her place.
“I knew I had to step it up,” Strong said. “I just went out there and played and didn’t worry much about anything else.”
Strong fit in nicely on Sunday, contributing 14 kills and 10 digs to lead the Bearcats (16-10, 8-1 AE) over the Hartford Hawks (8-18, 0-9 AE) in a three-game sweep by scores of 30-13, 30-17, 30-28.
“I thought [Strong] did a really good job when she was out there,” Robertson said. “She impressed me and I was proud of her.”
Junior middle blocker Megan Hoag also had an impressive all-around effort with eight kills, seven digs and six blocks.
Prior to defeating Hartford at the West Gym, BU won a tight match at New Hampshire (6-18, 3-6 AE) on Friday night by scores of 30-27, 24-30, 33-31, 30-25.
“It was a tight match throughout and a huge win for us,” said head coach Glenn Kiriyama. “We were able to execute very well down the stretch.”
The always productive junior outside hitter Katie Brody finished with 15 kills and 13 digs, and junior setter Ashley Meffert had a strong performance with 43 assists and 14 digs.
The two wins brought BU’s America East total to eight, the most since joining the conference. The Bearcats also clinched a playoff berth for the second straight season.
The Bearcats return to the West Gym Friday at 7 p.m. to face the Stony Brook Seawolves. They then wrap up the season at Maine and against UMBC. Binghamton has defeated all three teams by a combined score of 9-3.
“All three teams are tough down the stretch,” Kiriyama said. “Hopefully we’ll be up for the challenge.”