Ladies and gentlemen, the women of the West Gym are back.

With head coach Glenn Kiriyama leading the way, the Bearcats will attempt to go as far as they can to make 2008 a successful season. This year the team comes back with a solid set of four starters and a libero and has also recruited two new players. The team finished fourth in the America East with a 7-5 conference record last year and led the conference in blocking with an average of 3.00 a game. Binghamton also came in second for the most number of digs (17.12) in a game as well.

Even though the team still has a bunch of good players, there is still some work that needs to be done. Kiriyama wants to develop his team on all fronts by improving both the offense and defense.

“We hope to improve just on our overall play,” said Kiriyama who has been coaching the Bearcats for 10 years. “We need to learn to handle the ball better, play a little bit more aggressive defense, keep the ball in play and just be able to terminate a little bit better.”

The Bearcats fell into a bit of a slump in the last season, going on an eight-game losing streak. In order for them to come out on top they will have to prevent it from happening again this season and consistently win games.

The volleyball team will also have to manage without their star player and Binghamton alumna Jacki Kane, who dominated the court last season. The middle blocker finished the 2007 season ranking 14th in the nation with 1.55 blocks a game and was first team all conference player for the last three seasons.

“Jacki is going to be tough to replace,” Kiriyama said. ”She was a big part of our success the last few seasons, but I think at least a year under the belt for the rest of the team is a big factor, and I think they have come in … improved. We’re just hoping to get it all together and have a good season.”

Among the returners are star players junior middle blocker Dawn Lammert, senior libero Jaclyn Strader and sophomore setter Lindsey Mueller.

Lammert ranked second in the AE conference for blocking last year just behind her former counterpart Kane with 1.26 per game. She also ranked second on the team with a hitting percentage of .258 and recorded double-digit kills in six matches and five or more blocks 14 times. Lammert is also one of five athletes to be named to both the Commissioner’s and the America East honor rolls.

As Strader enters her last year, she goes in ranking second in the AE for the most digs a game (2.57) and having already broken the Binghamton record in career digs (536). She also posted 10 or more digs in 30 matches last season and led the Bearcats with 43 service aces, the top in the team.

Mueller made her mark last year, ranking seventh in the America East in digs (3.40 per game) and fifth in assists (9.85 per game). Mueller was also named first year setter to the America East all rookie team.

The team added only two new players to its roster. Freshman setter Julie Chambers from Nichols, N.Y., broke her high school record at Lady Tigers for career service points and career assists. Sophomore outside hitter and middle blocker Anna Lejina from Riga, Latvia, played her freshman year at the University of Latvia.

With the America East conference championships at hand, the squad will need to work on all aspects of the game, but more specifically, on the offense to make it to the top.

“We’re going to have to execute well on offense, especially with the connection between the setter and the … middle hitters,” said Kiriyama. “We are going to need to convert at a high rate when we have the chance and [also] improve our blocking.”

Binghamton was ranked fourth in the America East preseason poll this year, but both Kiriyama and his team are not worrying too much on that.

“That’s where I thought we would probably end up just from last year’s performance and how the other teams did, but it’s always hard to say how teams are going to end up during the year,” Kiriyama said. “Obviously [the pre-season poll] is not always the most accurate thing.”

The Bearcats will kick off their first game of the season against Rutgers this Friday at 7:30 p.m. The team will be on the road until Sept. 16 when the team will face off against Colgate in its first home game of the season at the West Gym.