In a season filled with high expectations, this weekend looms large for the Binghamton University volleyball team as it gears up for a home-and-home series against the University at Albany, the team in the conference that presents the greatest threat to the Bearcats’ hopes of a repeat. Last year’s regular season champions, the Great Danes swept the Bearcats in regular season conference play, but when the two teams met up again in the America East championship, BU took its revenge and the title, ending Albany’s three-year reign as conference champions. This year, it will be the Great Danes who come onto the court seeking revenge.
The history between these two teams extends far beyond last year’s play and has resulted in one of the greatest rivalries in America East volleyball. Since 2001, BU has gone 5-15 against the Great Danes, and in 10 of Albany’s 15 wins they have dominated, needing just three sets to finish off the Bearcats. In the 2008 conference championship, Albany continued their dominance over BU, sweeping the Bearcats in three straight sets to take the title. But, much like last season, BU is no longer the underdog. Picked to finish first in the America East preseason poll for the second straight year, the Bearcats (9-11, 4-1 AE) will go into the weekend series against Albany (14-6, 4-1 AE) as the favorites. In the poll, BU received five first-place votes, while Albany finished in second place with one. BU head coach Glenn Kiriyama believes it is his team’s experience that gives them the advantage.
‘I think it’s just the experience of the players we have back this year,’ Kiriyama said. ‘They performed well in the past and we do have some good senior leadership on this team this year.’
The experience Kiriyama talks about comes in the form of his seniors, who seem to have caught fire as of late, providing the Bearcats with an offensive spark that has fueled their recent streak. Senior outside hitters Michelle McDonough and Anna Lejina rank in the top five in the conference in average kills per set ‘ McDonough in first with 3.83 and Lejina in fourth with 3.60. Lejina was named America East Player of the Week on Monday for her impressive performance over the weekend, leading the Bearcats to victories against Hartford and Stony Brook while racking up a combined 35 kills.
The Great Danes’ roster does not lack impressive players of its own. As a team, Albany leads the conference in hitting percentage, average kills per set, average blocks per set and digs. Junior Casey Wright holds the individual leads for hitting percentage and blocks for the season thus far.
‘We know it’s going to be a couple of tough matches this weekend,’ Kiriyama said. ‘They’ve got some good hitters on their side so we’re working on defense and trying to make some adjustments. They’re a really consistent team that doesn’t make a lot of errors.’
BU and Albany enter the weekend with identical conference records of 4-1, which place them atop the America East conference standings. One of the factors separating the two teams, however, may be BU’s momentum. The Bearcats are currently riding a four-game winning streak, their longest of the season, and are coming off an impressive comeback win over Stony Brook on Sunday, when they battled for the 3-2 victory after falling behind two sets to none.
‘[The team’s] confidence is at a good level ‘ now, after this past weekend,’ Kiriyama said. ‘They’re just looking forward to getting back and seeing what they can do.’
Albany, on the other hand, is coming off its first conference loss of the season, falling to the University of Hartford 3-2 in a major upset. The first loss for the Great Danes was interestingly just the first victory of the season for Hartford, who was picked to finish second-to-last in the preseason poll. BU defeated Hartford when they faced off on the road earlier this season, sweeping the Hawks 3-0. Prior to the upset at Hartford, the Great Danes had accumulated a 26-game winning streak in regular season conference play and will undoubtedly be entering this weekend’s series against the Bearcats looking to get back on track.
The weekend series is set to begin at 7 p.m. tonight at Albany and will come to a close at 5 p.m. Sunday at the West Gym.