After recording just one victory over its first two tournaments, the Binghamton volleyball team found success at the Northeastern Tournament over the weekend. The Bearcats (3-6) defeated Presbyterian and Fordham before falling to Northeastern.
“I can see improvement in a lot of areas,” said BU head coach Glenn Kiriyama. “Our overall ball control was good.”
In its opening match against Presbyterian, Binghamton fell behind them (3-8) in the first set, 4-2. From this point on, though, the Bearcats seized control. Sophomore Gaby Alicea sparked a 9-0 run for BU when she served three aces to give Binghamton a 9-4 advantage. With the score even at 22, BU tallied two straight points, and after a Presbyterian point, the Bearcats closed out the set for a 25-23 win.
The Blue Hose came out firing in the second set, winning by a comfortable margin of 25-16. The third set proved to be much tighter as neither team led by more than two points until BU went on a 3-0 run to push the lead to 21-17. After a rally by the Blue Hose, the Bearcats found themselves ahead, 24-23. A service error by Presbyterian redshirt senior Samantha Del Toro gave BU the third set.
The fourth set was just as tight as the third. With the score tied at 21, the Bearcats scored three consecutive points to give themselves match point. After Presbyterian scored twice to make it 24-23, junior setter Sarah Ngo set up sophomore outside hitter Erin Shultz for the match-clinching kill.
“They’ve got a good intensity on the court, so even after that [second set] loss they kept that intensity up,” Kiriyama said. “It’s good to see them battle for every point out there.”
The Bearcats came out flat against Fordham, going down in their first set, 10-5, but quickly turned it around going on a 20-10 run to claim the first set, 25-20. In the second set, BU found itself tied with the Rams (5-5) at 14. Binghamton again closed the set out strong, going on to win the second set, 25-18.
Fordham fought back to win the second set, 25-20, but the Bearcats proved too much in the final set. For the third time in the match, BU closed out a set on a strong run. Binghamton outscored Fordham, 11-4, down the stretch to win the set, 25-17, clinching its second straight win.
“It’s good to see [them close out sets],” Kiriyama said. “We talk about it a lot, about not really paying attention to the score, just going after the point.”
BU’s third match, against tournament host Northeastern, was the most challenging of the Bearcats’ weekend. The Huskies (6-4) blitzed Binghamton, opening the first set by going up, 11-5. They went on to win the first set, 25-18. It was more of the same in the second set as Northeastern held a comfortable lead throughout and won, 25-20. The final set was the Bearcats’ best, as they stayed competitive throughout. BU held a 21-17 advantage but faltered as the Huskies closed the set on an 8-2 run to clinch the match and win the set, 25-23.
One key for the Bearcats this weekend was their balanced attack. BU had four players contribute 26 or more kills during the tournament. Alicea and Shultz led the way with 33 and 30 kills, respectively.
Following close behind was senior middle hitter Bianca Anderson and freshman outside hitter Lauren Kornmann with 26 kills apiece.
“That is probably one area we’re a little bit stronger [in] this year, we do have a little more depth,” Kiriyama said. “We have a lot of experience with our hitters this year. Hopefully they’ll be able to keep it up and keep growing.”
With only four games remaining before the America East play starts, Binghamton only has a few more opportunities to fine-tune its play.
“With these last games we want to build up what we’ve done in the past three weeks,” he said. “We know we’ve got quite a few areas to improve on. We’ve got a ways to go but we’re hopeful we’ll improve enough to be competitive once conference [play] starts.”
BU’s next match is set for Wednesday against Siena. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. from the Alumni Recreation Center in Loudonville, New York.