Having swept UMass Lowell on Friday, the Binghamton volleyball team could have secured a first-place tie in America East standings with a win over UNH on Sunday. But the Bearcats (8-16, 6-3 AE) came up short, falling to the Wildcats, 3-1, to remain in second place.
Through the weekend, two of the team’s seniors recorded major milestones: With the Bearcats about to finish off UMass Lowell, setter Amanda Dettmann became the third Bearcat in program history to eclipse the 4,000 assist mark. Against UNH on Sunday, outsider hitter Kristin Hovie finished her 1,000th career kill on Senior Day.
“It’s like a fairytale,” Hovie said. “Who gets that milestone on their senior day?”
“It’s bittersweet,” BU head coach Glenn Kiriyama said of Dettmann’s accolade. “We know her career is coming to an end here. She’s achieved a lot for us, and she’s been a mainstay for us for the last four years. She’s put a lot of heart and soul into the program. It’s a great achievement for her.”
In the first two sets on Sunday, UNH (15-11, 8-1 AE) dominated Binghamton. The Bearcats often looked lost, struggling to connect on passes while committing 16 kill errors. The hosts headed into halftime down two after falling, 25-19 and 25-14.
“We started out really slow [Sunday] – just couldn’t get into any rhythm,” Kiriyama said. “We just didn’t execute that well, both on offense and on defense.”
BU looked like a completely different team in the third stanza. Led by sophomore outside hitter Allison Hovie, who put up seven kills, the Bearcats found their groove offensively and limited their mistakes, committing only two kill errors in the period. UNH never responded and dropped the set, 25-19.
Binghamton’s comeback effort came up short in the fourth. The Bearcats jumped out to a 15-11 advantage. But UNH worked its way back into the game and tied the score at 16-16, 18-18 and 20-20. Back-to-back kills from Wildcat junior outside hitter Tori Forrest and junior middle blocker Cassidy Croci pulled UNH away, and the visitors took the fourth set, 25-22, and the match, 3-1.
“We just didn’t execute very well at the beginning,” Kiriyama said. “We didn’t handle the ball very well. We got to take care of it when we get that chance.”
In spite of falling to UNH in four sets, Binghamton can take pride in some aspects of its loss.
“Just the fact that we were able to get momentum after coming up and saying ‘We’re not going down in three, this is our house,’ I think that’s a big deal because it showed UNH we were not going to roll over,” Kristin Hovie said. “UNH is a great team and I wish we could have brought more of our A game. Hopefully we’ll see them again.”
In its sweep over UMass Lowell (2-24, 0-9 AE) on Friday, Binghamton controlled the first set en route to a 25-18 win. Lackluster hitting doomed the River Hawks, who were held to a .088 hitting percentage. An efficient BU offense, led by reigning AE Rookie of the Week Alexis LaGoy’s six kills, sealed the win for BU.
In the second set, the Bearcats led from out of the gates, cruising to another 25-18 victory. They finished the set with a match-high .351 hitting percentage.
The River Hawks did not grow complacent, however: Back-and-forth play led to a 10-10 tie midway through the third stanza. At that point, however, the Bearcats responded with a 15-9 run, finishing off UMass Lowell, 25-19, while completing the sweep.
BU is scheduled to return to action this Friday as it travels to Long Island to take on Stony Brook. First serve is set for 7 p.m. in Pritchard Gymnasium.