The Binghamton volleyball team fell to New Hampshire in four sets Friday night before turning the page on Sunday and earning a three-set victory against UMass Lowell.
The Bearcats’ (5-16, 3-4 America East) sweep of winless UMass Lowell (0-19, 0-7 AE) pushed Binghamton into the top six teams in the conference. With seven games remaining, the Bearcats stand two wins out of the fourth and final conference tournament spot.
“It was a big win for us,” BU head coach Glenn Kiriyama said. “I think from here on out we have to treat every game like it’s a big one. We have to play a lot better in the second half if we want to make the tournament.”
Early kills by freshman hitter Allison Hovie, senior hitter Grace Vickers and sophomore hitter Shannon Kirkpatrick guided BU to a 12-8 lead in the first set. UMass Lowell cut the gap to 14-13 before back-to-back kills by junior hitter Kristin Hovie and Vickers gave Binghamton some breathing room. The Bearcats would go on to win the set, 25-18.
UMass Lowell didn’t put up much of a fight in the next two sets, falling 25-13 in the second and 25-14 in the third.
“We started off a little bit slow,” Kiriyama said. “[UMass Lowell] did pick up a bit [in the first set]. I thought they were passing well, and they were playing well in the first set. It was good to see us play a lot better in the last two games.”
Junior setter Amanda Dettmann recorded 26 assists, six kills and seven service aces to lead the Bearcats in the win. Vickers contributed 14 kills, and Kristin Hovie added eight kills and five digs.
“[This win] is good for the morale,” Kiriyama said. “Everyone has a role, and it’s good to see everyone can contribute.”
The Bearcats held UMass Lowell to a .000 hitting percentage. Not one player added more than six kills for the River Hawks, who posted 20 kills and as many attack errors.
The contest marked the first time the two teams had met since 1999, when each competed at the Division II level.
Two days earlier, New Hampshire (11-12, 5-2 America East), which sits in a four-way tie for first place, surrendered just one set to the Bearcats en route to a four-set victory. The Wildcats easily handled the Bearcats in the first set, winning by nine points, but BU stormed back in the second to even the match. From there, the Wildcats found their rhythm and claimed the next two sets.
“We did alright [on Friday],” Kiriyama said. “I thought we fought hard as a team. We didn’t give up, we were pretty scrappy out there and got a lot of balls up. We just had way too many unforced errors on our side.”
The Bearcats were plagued by errors throughout the entire match, especially in the first set. Back-to-back kill errors by Kirkpatrick staked New Hampshire to an early 8-3 lead. The Wildcats would never look back in the set, cruising to an easy 25-16 victory.
The second set was a different story for Binghamton. The score was tied at six when Dettmann took control.
“We just had to be really aggressive,” Dettmann said. “It is halfway through the season, and everything becomes more important.”
Dettmann recorded three kills and eight assists in the set, connecting twice with Vickers for the final two points of the Bearcats’ 25-22 victory.
“I thought Amanda [Dettmann] was playing well,” Kiriyama said. “She kept them off guard with her setting. She was doing a good job leading the offense. We passed pretty well that game.”
The third set saw Binghamton commit eight kill errors and five service errors at very crucial points in the game.
“We made way too many errors,” Kiriyama said. “It’s a momentum killer every time you win a nice point and then serve out.”
BU dropped the third, 25-17, before losing a tight fourth set, 26-24.
Binghamton is set to conclude its home stand on Oct. 26 against Albany in the West Gym. First serve is set for 5 p.m.