The Binghamton University volleyball team fell short once again to University of Maryland, Baltimore County as it was swept 3-0 (26-24, 25-17, 25-15) in the second round of conference matches.
The Bearcats (10-13, 5-3 America East), clad with pink hair ties in support of breast cancer research during their third annual Dig Pink! Night, did not pick up a single set in a tough match Friday. It was their second loss to UMBC (9-14, 5-3 AE) this season, as they lost their conference opener in Baltimore 3-1 (25-23, 15-25, 20-25, 21-25).
Binghamton head coach Glenn Kiriyama was satisfied with the effort his team was giving on the floor, but noted its performance could have been much better.
‘I thought we tried hard, but we didn’t execute very well,’ he said.
Binghamton jump-started the first set of the match, getting out to a quick lead of 6-4, but was unable to hold onto it as the UMBC Retrievers took the lead 8-6 after a 4-0 run. The Retrievers’ offense continued to spark as they extended their lead to 14-9. The Bearcats returned the favor and ignited their own offense to tie the set at 15 apiece. The score remained tight as each team competed aggressively, but UMBC proved to be too tough as the Bearcats lost 26-24 after fighting off two set points.
The Bearcats started off set two with the drive to win. They quickly took the lead 6-4 and kept the set extremely close. But the Retrievers went on a 4-0 run, leaving the Bearcats trailing 15-11. UMBC got its biggest lead at 21-15, forcing Binghamton to call a timeout. The timeout proved to be ineffective as UMBC quickly finished the set, 25-17.
Binghamton could not regain its confidence in the third set. Although the Bearcats were aggressive, UMBC’s defense ignited. The set started off close, with neither team taking a huge lead, but the Bearcats were unable to put themselves in a position to win as the Retrievers took their biggest lead of the night at 20-10. The Bearcats fought, but were unable to close the deficit, losing the final set 25-15.
UMBC’s hitting percentage was up to .480 in the third set.
‘We want to get back to basics here,’ Kiriyama said. ‘We want to keep working over serve receive and be a little bit more aggressive serving, and just the overall defense. It’s a lot of stuff to work on, but they’re hardworking.’
Senior outside hitter Anna Lejina finished the night with nine kills, allowing her to claim third place in Binghamton’s all-time kills list with a career total of 1,087.
‘[Lejina is] a dominant hitter ‘ so we rely on her quite a bit,’ Kiriyama said. ‘When she gets going, it helps everyone else get going. We sort of feed off of her and she’s a main key to our offense.’
Senior captain Michelle McDonough notched a total of 10 kills and cleaned up the defense with nine digs. McDonough is just 43 kills away from becoming Binghamton’s all-time leader in kills.
Junior setter Julie Chambers set up the offense with a total of 29 assists and helped out the defense with seven digs. Freshman libero Xiomara Ortiz picked up 11 digs.
Binghamton now sits tied with UMBC for second place in the conference, while the University at Albany sits alone in first with a 6-2 conference record.
The Bearcats will be away next weekend for a two-match road trip. They are scheduled to take on last-place Providence College at 7 p.m. on Friday night and fifth-place University of New Hampshire at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.