The Binghamton volleyball team has been getting a real taste of what the Ivy League has to offer. After heading to Harvard last week, Binghamton continues its tour of the Ancient Eight with a showdown in Ithaca at the Cornell Invitational this weekend.

The Bearcats will kick off the tournament today with a 4:30 p.m. match against American University. BU will then face off against Buffalo and St. John’s on Saturday.

The Bearcats are coming off two losses at last weekend’s Harvard Invitational and hope for a change of pace in Ithaca. Though the competition will be difficult, as it has been the entire pre-season, the team feels that a win is attainable.

“We are hoping that we can come out and show these teams our A game,” said junior middle blocker Jacki Kane. “Our record doesn’t show what we are made of.”

The first game of the tournament will be a meeting between defending conference champions. BU won the America East last year and American University (4-5) topped the Patriot League with a nearly perfect record 13-1. Both teams have gotten off to slow starts this year and are looking to regain their previous form.

Next, the Bearcats will try to cool off the scorching hot Buffalo Bulls (10-2), who after a slow start are on a 10-game winning streak. The Bulls have looked unstoppable during this school record-setting run, easily handling such high profile teams as Army and Syracuse.

BU will close out the tournament against the St. John’s Red Storm; the Bearcats and the Red Storm (10-1) split their two contests last season. Despite the Bearcats’ success of last season, they are not looking past the Johnnies, who finished second in the Big East last season and are having a phenomenal season this year, with their only loss coming at the hands of national powerhouse South Carolina.

In order to win this weekend, the Bearcats all need to be on the same page. The team’s individual statistics are good so far this pre-season, but the chemistry has been slow to come around. The tournament in Ithaca will be an opportunity for the team to come together and get their season headed the right direction.

“Pre-season hasn’t gone as well as we wanted it to, but this weekend is our chance to turn it around,” Kane said. “We have a lot of potential. I’d like to go into conference with a better record.”