The Binghamton volleyball team entered the 2015 season with a huge question mark at the setter position. The Bearcats (1-6) had no experienced setters returning on their roster.
Despite dropping five of its first six games, including losing all three of its matchups at the Cleveland State Invitational this weekend, BU may have found an answer in sophomore Sarah Ngo.
“She puts up a nice ball for the offense,” BU head coach Glenn Kiriyama said. “We are just working with her to run the offense more efficiently, making some better choices. But overall, we are very pleased with how she has developed.”
After dropping three of four in its opening weekend of play, the Bearcats fell three straight times to difficult opponents in Ohio. BU opened the tournament with back-to-back 3-0 losses to Cincinnati (5-1) and Cleveland State (6-2) before narrowly falling, 3-2, against Central Michigan (2-4) to conclude play.
“We just want to get better each week,” Kiriyama said. “We always compete to win, but we are facing some pretty tough teams. We just want to go out there and do the best we can.”
But even through the losses, Ngo impressed. After appearing in just 18 total sets as a freshman in 2014, Ngo earned all-tournament honors at the Florida Atlantic Invitational last weekend, her first four games as the Bearcats’ full-time starter. She tallied 127 assists and 62 digs over the four-game tournament.
Ngo again was named to the all-tournament team at Cleveland State. The sophomore racked up 79 assists and 18 digs over the three-game weekend, including dishing out 42 assists in BU’s concluding contest against Central Michigan. Ngo also tallied three aces, eight digs and a block in that matchup. Ngo is currently averaging 7.63 assists per set on the season.
Flanking Ngo on the court for the Bearcats have been a variety of different players. Kiriyama has used these seven non-conference matchups to tinker with his line-ups and rotations.
“I think [the team is] getting better each week, especially with the good competition,” he said. “We’ve got some girls coming back off injuries, so we’re still mixing things up a little bit.”
BU has played 13 different players so far this season, nine of whom have competed in at least ten total sets. Freshman outside hitter Erin Shultz has burst onto the scene for BU in her debut season. She has started all seven games so far for the Bearcats and has tallied double-digit kills in three contests, including a 10 kill, four dig performance in BU’s loss to Central Michigan. Shultz currently leads the Bearcats with an average of 2.19 kills per set.
Freshman outside hitter Gabby Alicea has also impressed so far. Alicea delivered a five kill, seven dig performance against Cincinnati and a double-double against Central Michigan, delivering 13 kills and 15 digs. Alicea is averaging 2.00 kills and 2.08 digs per set on the season.
Binghamton is scheduled to return to action next weekend at the Cherry and White Challenge, hosted by Temple. BU is set to open play against Duquesne on Friday at 3 p.m. The tournament is set to conclude Saturday when BU takes on Montana at 3:30 p.m. and Temple at 7:30 p.m. All games are scheduled to be played at McGonigle Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.