After a week of anticipation, the Binghamton University volleyball team is set to face No. 1 Pennsylvania State University in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Volleyball Championship tonight at 7:30 p.m. The Bearcats (13-17, 8-4 America East) have now reached the NCAA tournament three times since joining Division I in 2001, each time drawing the Nittany Lions (29-2, 19-1 Big Ten). Penn State swept Binghamton in both of their previous tournament encounters in 2005 and 2009.
The Bearcats have just one player remaining from Binghamton’s last tournament team in senior middle hitter Alex Roland. Although Roland played in all three sets of the 2009 tournament matchup, she played a much smaller role then, recording a block assist. As a senior, Roland led the America East with a .271 hitting clip and finished seventh in the conference in blocks per set to earn All-Conference honors.
Fellow middle hitter Grace Vickers, a junior, joined Roland in earning All-Conference honors with a .264 hitting clip, good for second in the conference. Vickers, who was named to the America East first team, led Binghamton and ranked fourth in the conference in average blocks per set with 0.88. Both Vickers and Roland also found themselves in the top 20 in the conference in average kills and points per set.
Sophomore Amanda Dettmann, who became the first-ever Binghamton player to collect a major conference award with her America East Co-Setter of the Year honors, finished the regular season ranked first in assists.
The Bearcats earned their bid to the NCAA tournament by winning the America East title, upsetting No. 1-seed University at Albany in straight sets. Vickers was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament and Dettmann and senior outside hitter Iva Partaleva earned All-Tournament honors.
As tonight’s match approaches, the general sentiment around the team is that of excitement.
“I remember watching Penn State play in the NCAA finals in Sacramento,” Vickers said. “Actually being able to play on the same court as these girls is a huge honor, and I can’t wait to go out there and give it our all.”
Penn State finished the season atop the AVCA Coaches poll and No. 2 in the RPI behind Stanford University. But the program’s success runs deeper than just one season, as Penn State has established itself as a household name in the NCAA volleyball world. The Nittany Lions are the only team east of the Mississippi River in the 31-year history of the NCAA tournament to win a championship, and they have done it five times, in 1999, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.
“They’re still one of the top teams in the country,” said Binghamton head coach Glenn Kiriyama, who was named America East Coach of the Year for the third time in his career. “We’re excited to be playing them, and we still have to compete hard this weekend.”
The winner of tonight’s match between Binghamton and Penn State will play the winner of the tilt between Yale University and Bowling Green State University. That second-round matchup is scheduled for Saturday.
The Bearcats’ first-round match is scheduled to be held at Rec Hall in University Park, Pa.