For the second consecutive week, players on Binghamton’s volleyball team swept the America East weekly awards. This time, for their efforts in defeating SUNY rival Albany in four sets and capturing sole possession of second place in the AE, junior outside hitter Megan Burgess, senior setter Amanda Dettmann and freshman middle hitter Alexis LaGoy earned Player, Setter and Rookie of the Week honors, respectively.
The Bearcats (7-16, 5-2 AE) opened the match red hot. They finished the first set on a .433 hitting clip and never trailed the Great Danes (6-13, 4-3 AE) in the period. The 25-17 win in the first stanza set the tone for the rest of the match.
“We started off strong and it was good to see that,” BU head coach Glenn Kiriyama said. “I think it was important to get the rhythm going for us.”
The Bearcats struggled to set up their offense in a highly contested second set. Binghamton kept it close, tying it up at 15 and again at 16, but Albany pulled away on a 9-2 run to take the set, 25-20, leveling the match at 1-1.
“We didn’t pass very well,” Kiriyama said. “We just played predictable offense and they blocked a lot better and they handled the ball better that game.”
Albany opened the third set strong, securing a 19-15 advantage on strong hitting and untimely BU errors. BU responded with a 7-3 run of its own, fueled by three attack errors from Albany sophomore outside hitter Laini Leindecker. BU rode the momentum and captured the set, 25-23.
The Bearcats were tenacious to open the fourth set and earned a 6-3 lead. The hosts pressured the Great Danes to call a timeout at 18-10 and Albany responded with a 12-4 run to tie the score at 22, now forcing a Bearcat timeout.
“We had to calm down,” Kiriyama said. “I thought they were a little hyped up, worried about things, so we tried to calm them down the best we could and just focus on one play. That was it.”
In the end, BU closed out the set. Two kills by sophomore outside hitter Allison Hovie finished off the Great Danes, 25-23, and gave Binghamton the victory.
“We played really well,” Hovie said. “Second game we lost it a little bit, but the third and fourth game we came back fighting ready to go.”
Binghamton received major contributions from a variety of players. Burgess finished the match with 18 kills, Hovie chipped in 16 of her own as well as five service aces and LaGoy added eight kills. Dettmann distributed the ball to the tune of 48 assists and sophomore libero Bailey Walker led BU with 28 digs, thereby tallying her seventh straight game with at least 20 digs.
After starting the season 2-14 against a testing non-conference schedule, the Bearcats have now won four of their last five contests. The victory moved the Bearcats past the Great Danes in the conference standings, with BU now poised just one game behind New Hampshire for first place.
“It puts us in a nice spot right now,” Kiriyama said. “We know we have some tough games coming up here. Every victory is very important, especially in the second half of the conference play.”
The win has the Bearcats looking ahead to the conference tournament. After missing the postseason last year, Binghamton is poised to return.
“It puts us in a really good spot for making the tournament this year, and maybe potentially being first place and getting to host it,” Burgess said.
Binghamton is set to conclude its six-game home stand with two matches this weekend. First serve against last-place UMass Lowell is set for 7 p.m. Friday, while that against first-place UNH is slated for 1 p.m. Sunday. Both will take place at the West Gym.