Volleyball loses four matches to New Hampshire, NJIT
The Binghamton volleyball team dropped all four of its matches over the past week, including two tough losses in the fifth set to NJIT and New Hampshire. With the regular season nearing a close, the team is eliminated from playoff contention. On Sunday, the Bearcats (0-10, 0-10 America East) were swept by the Wildcats (5-3, 5-3 AE) in the first match before taking NJIT (2-9, 2-8 AE) to five sets. The Bearcats were looking to bounce back on Monday against the same two teams but lost 3-2 to New Hampshire 3-1 to NJIT.
The Bearcats never broke 20 points against the Wildcats on Sunday. BU could not find a lead in the first set of the match, and initially took a one point lead in the second set thanks to a kill from freshman outsider hitter Stefana Stan. However, Binghamton lost the lead and the Wildcats took over.
New Hampshire took control from that point on and won the third and final set to sweep the Bearcats. In the rematch against the Wildcats on Monday, the Bearcats were able to force them to a fifth set but lost the match 3-2.
The match against NJIT on Sunday was much closer, and the Bearcats won two sets for the first time this season prior to dropping a tight final frame. In the second match against the Highlanders on Monday the Bearcats lost 3-1.
Binghamton will play its final games of their season on Sunday, March 28 in a double-header against Stony Brook. First serve is set for 11 a.m. at the West Gym in Vestal, New York.
Golf finishes eighth at the Carpetbagger Classic
Over the weekend, the Binghamton golf team played their first round of golf since Oct. 19, 2019. The team participated in the Carpetbagger Classic in Urbana, Maryland, finishing the first day in fifth out of 10 teams at the tournament, but falling to eighth place at the end despite a better second round score. All together, the team shot a 611 for the tournament.
Senior D.J. Griffiths had a strong showing over the weekend after finishing Saturday, scoring 1-over par on Saturday and 2-over par on Sunday. Griffiths finished with the tournament with a final score of 147, tying for fourth individually in the tournament, recording his first career top-10 finish. Senior Nacho Glagovsky finished tied for 22nd place overall with a final score of 153. Senior Justin Lane finished with a score of 154 and a tie for 30th place.
“[Griffiths] hit the ball very well this weekend,” said Binghamton head coach Bernie Herceg, per bubearcats.com. “He had some puts that didn’t go in that could have put him right up at the top of the leaderboard. But for a first tournament, he did very well and knows what he needs to work on more before next weekend.”
The Bearcats will return to action next weekend on Saturday, March 27 at the Battle of Rum Point in Berlin, Maryland.
Men’s tennis drops both matches on road trip
In their second and third matches of the 2021 season, the Bearcats took a weekend road trip to Kalamazoo, Michigan and Dekalb, Illinois. The Bearcats (0-3, 0-3 Mid-American Conference) dropped both matches to the Western Michigan Broncos (15-1, 3-0 MAC) and the Northern Illinois Huskies (15-1, 4-0 MAC).
The Bearcats were defeated in every match against the Broncos on Saturday, losing by a final score of 7-0. Binghamton failed to win one match in doubles, while the Broncos’ took the point and continued to dominate in singles.
The Bearcats’ weekend continued when they lost 5-2 to the Northern Illinois on Sunday. The match started with Binghamton dropping all three doubles and ended with the Bearcats winning only two matches in singles. Ultimately, the Bearcats struggled and only won two out of six of their matches. Sophomore Michael Pawlowicz won his singles match in three sets, 2-6, 7-5 and 10-7, alongside sophomore Dan Pergel who won his singles match in two sets, 6-4 and 6-4.
“Although we had a disappointing weekend in doubles, we ended on a solid note today with [Pergel] and [Pawlowicz] coming up with tough wins at the top of the lineup,” said Binghamton head coach Nick Ziezula, per bubearcats.com. “We get some time to regroup and work on some things ahead of our next match and we need to take advantage of that.”
Next up for the Bearcats is a matchup against Ball State on Friday, April 2. Play is set to begin at noon at the Binghamton Tennis Center in Binghamton, New York.