The Binghamton University volleyball team continued to roll this weekend, going an undefeated 3-for-3 at the Rutgers Invitational to capture the title.
The Bearcats (6-6) opened the tournament with a 3-1 victory over host Rutgers University on Friday, before knocking off Princeton University 3-1 the following day. The Bearcats were able to retain momentum going into the final game of the weekend, topping Howard University 3-2.
After getting off to a dismal 0-5 start, Binghamton has now won six of its last seven matches to improve its record to an even .500.
“I think in just every aspect they’re playing a little better,” head coach Glenn Kiriyama said. “Our serving has gotten better and our serve-receive and to me those things power the offense [and] power the defense.”
Binghamton continued to see quality performances from players across the roster. The Bearcats saw double-digit kills from four players in two matches and had three players named to the all-tournament team, including junior outside hitter Iva Partaleva, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Junior middle blocker Alex Roland and freshman setter Amanda Dettmann also received all-tournament honors.
In addition to tournament honors, Partaleva and Dettmann garnered weekly conference awards for their performances as well, nabbing America East Player of the Week and AE Rookie of the Week honors, respectively.
“It’s good to see different individuals sort of step up this weekend than we’ve had in the past,” Kiriyama said. “I thought [Partaleva] was just really aggressive on the court, hitting, and kept us in the matches and kept the rest of the team going. Boy, she was unstoppable at times, sort of powered through the blocks at times.”
On Friday, after dropping the first set of the opening match against Rutgers (5-7) 25-22, the Bearcats stormed back, taking the next three to secure their first victory of the weekend.
Trailing for much of the second set, the Bearcats found themselves down 21-18 before back-to-back kills from freshman outside hitter Kristin Hovie cut Rutgers’ lead to one. Although the Scarlet Knights would make one final push, four straight kills from the Bearcats ended the set 25-23.
BU continued the comeback with a 25-21 win in the third set.
In the final set, the Bearcat offense continued to dominate, posting a .382 hitting percentage en route to knocking off the Scarlet Knights 25-18 and taking the match 3-1.
Partaleva and Roland each notched a match-high 13 kills, while Hovie and Grace Vickers contributed 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Vickers led the team with a .476 hitting percentage.
Dettmann tallied a match-best 39 assists and sophomore libero Xiomara Ortiz collected a match-high 18 digs.
In Saturday’s match against Princeton (4-3), four different Bearcats collected 10 or more kills for the second consecutive day and the third time this season. Partaleva and Roland once again led the squad with 17 kills apiece and hitting percentages over .300. Hovie added 16 terminations and 11 digs for her second consecutive double-double, and Vickers contributed with 10 kills of her own.
Dettmann collected the third double-double of her career with 19 digs and a match-high 54-assists.
Ortiz anchored the BU defense with 25 digs.
After topping the Tigers 25-21 in the opening set, BU battled to tie the second set at eight. While Princeton would regain the lead, it would be short-lived. A kill from Roland pushed the Bearcats ahead 20-19 before two terminations from Partaleva sealed a 25-22 BU victory.
The Bearcats dropped the third set 25-21 before finally closing out the match 3-1 with a 25-20 win over the Tigers in the fourth.
BU’s final match of the weekend, a rematch against Howard (1-10), proved to be the closest and Binghamton’s first five-set match of 2011. BU swept Howard 3-0 at the UConn Toyota Classic earlier in the season. This time around, though, would be more of a challenge.
BU grabbed the first set 25-14 before Howard quickly turned the tables in the second, downing the Bearcats 25-11. The teams split the following two sets, Binghamton taking the third 25-18 and Howard staying alive with a 25-22 victory in the fourth.
In the deciding fifth set, with Howard ahead by two, the Bearcats embarked on 6-3 run to take a slim 11-10 lead. An Ortiz ace extended the BU lead, and a pair of kills from Vickers ended the set 15-13. The Bearcats took their third match of the weekend 3-2.
Partaleva shone in the victory, collecting a match-high 22 kills and registering a hitting percentage of .434. The tournament MVP also tallied a match-best six service aces.
Roland added 12 kills to the BU cause, while Dettmann nabbed a match-best 41 assists.
Binghamton is set to continue play this weekend at the Columbia Invitational at Levien Gymnasium in Manhattan. The Bearcats are scheduled to face off against Columbia University at noon on Friday before taking on St. John’s University at 5 p.m. On Saturday, BU is set to face University of Iowa at 10 a.m. and finish the tournament with a 5 p.m. match against St. Francis College.