The Binghamton volleyball team traveled to New Britain, Connecticut over the weekend to compete in the Central Connecticut State Tournament. The Bearcats went undefeated in the tournament, winning all three matches against the Blue Devils, Columbia and St. Peter’s while not dropping a single set.

“I feel like we were down a lot this weekend and to sit here and think that we didn’t drop a set is crazy to me,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “There were a lot of times where we were down significantly, and we fought back … I’m really proud of the performance that they put out on the floor.”

On Friday afternoon, BU (5-1) faced the hosts of the tournament, Central Connecticut State (3-3), for its first matchup of the weekend. After taking the first two sets 25-21 and 25-22, respectively, the Bearcats proceeded to earn the sweep over the Blue Devils with a tightly contested third set. Despite trailing by four points in the middle of the latter stages of the set, Binghamton clawed its way back with a 10-3 run to seal the 25-23 victory.

“They really believe in each other,” Yaeger said. “I always tell them when we’re down and we come back to remember that moment. It is stressful for all of us, but at the same time it’s fun and they believe in each other that they can come back.”

Freshman outside hitter Giulia Bonifacio led the Bearcat offense against Central Connecticut with 14 kills. Bonifacio also added four blocks to support BU’s defense along with senior middle hitter Anna Sprys, who had four blocks as well. Additionally, the offense was aided by junior outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva, who had 12 kills of her own, and freshman setter Lottie Scully, who tallied 28 assists.

“We’re really excited for [Bonifacio],” Yaeger said. “I think she still has all of this potential that we cannot wait to see. She’s a very mature player for her young age, and she’s very consistent. She doesn’t make a lot of errors which is a really good thing to have … Our goal for her, over the next few years, is to have her play six rotations and attack out of the back row … She’s gonna be really good.”

Binghamton played two games on Saturday. The first of the two was against Columbia (1-2) where the Bearcats won all three sets 25-23, 27-25 and 25-20, respectively. Ilieva and Bonifacio led the team in kills once again with nine and eight, respectively, but they had support from Scully who added five kills of her own.

“We were able to distribute the ball really well,” Yaeger said. “[Scully] as a setter had five kills against Columbia which is crazy … She made a huge difference for us in that Columbia match. She came through defensively, she got some aces and she distributed the ball.”

In the final game of the tournament, BU took on St. Peter’s (0-7) and got a commanding win to close out the weekend. The Bearcats took all three sets, winning 25-13, 25-12 and 25-13, respectively, as the Peacocks never came near their lead. Sprys led the way with a career-high 14 kills in one match.

“I was so happy for [Sprys],” Yaeger said. “She played outstanding and she did everything … she scored every way possible you could think of and she mixed everything up, and that was one of the reasons she was so successful.”

Despite coming away with a flawless record this weekend, coach Yaeger expressed that the team can still get better defensively.

“Defense is one of our weaker points,” Yaeger said. “We gotta be able to sacrifice our bodies and we talked to the girls about that after the weekend was over … We really need to be throwing our bodies on the floor, sacrificing our bodies, diving all over the place and making plays that we’re not used to making.”

Binghamton will return to action next weekend for the Georgetown Invitational starting Friday, Sept. 9. First serve is scheduled for 12 p.m. at McDonough Arena in Washington, D.C.