It’s been a turbulent past few weeks for the Binghamton University volleyball team, which fell to University at Albany on Friday but salvaged the weekend with a win over University of Hartford on Saturday.
After completing a tough but rewarding non-conference tournament season, the Bearcats (6-14, 3-2 America East) began their America East schedule with wins over University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Providence College before falling to the University of New Hampshire on Sept. 30. This weekend’s results leave Binghamton in third place in the conference, behind New Hampshire (12-8, 4-0 America East) and Albany (7-11, 4-0 America East).
The Great Danes needed just three sets (16-25, 21-25, 17-25) to finish off Binghamton on Friday. Senior middle blocker Alex Roland led both teams in kills with 13. She posted a .522 hitting percentage, while junior libero Xiomara Ortiz racked up 15 digs.
“I think that Albany is always a solid team,” junior captain and middle hitter Grace Vickers said. “They weren’t anything different from that this year. That being said, we didn’t play our game on our side of the net. We gave them a lot of points on our errors.”
Even with Friday’s loss, the Bearcats remained determined when they traveled to Hartford (6-14, 0-4 America East) on Saturday afternoon. Binghamton defeated the Hawks in straight sets (25-20, 25-21, and 25-16), improving to 4-2 over its last six games.
“I was very happy with our team [against Hartford],” senior defensive specialist Jordyn Suhr said. “We were able to come back from how we played at Albany the night before. I think we really turned it around. We played a much cleaner game. We really focused more on our side and what we needed to do and just executed better at Hartford.”
Sophomore hitter Kristin Hovie, who posted a .440 hitting percentage, collected the most kills with 15. Sophomore setter Amanda Dettmann reached a match high of 40 assists, and the Bearcats recorded 56 digs to Hartford’s 37, overall.
On Friday, the Bearcats will take on Stony Brook University, the only America East team they have yet to play this season.
“I think we’re in a really good spot right now,” Suhr said. “We’ve seen what everyone in conference is able to do and what we need to do in order to remain on top … I am very optimistic because I feel that we can really capitalize and take control of the America East.”
The Seawolves (7-10, 2-2 America East) have also fallen to both New Hampshire and Albany, and they currently sit behind the Bearcats in fourth place.
But before the Bearcats take on the Seawolves, they are scheduled to get a break from conference play when they travel to Ithaca, N.Y. for a matchup with Cornell University. The match is set for 7 p.m on Wednesday at Newman Arena.