The Binghamton volleyball team established itself as a potential America East playoff threat this past weekend as it tacked two critical wins onto its record, one of which ended in a grueling five-set victory.
To begin a long weekend full of play, the Bearcats (8-18, 5-6 AE) faced the UMBC Retrievers (11-13, 5-5 AE) at home in an America East conference match. The last time these two teams had faced one another was nearly a month ago and UMBC took the match three sets to one.
This time, however, didn’t go as smoothly for the Retrievers. Binghamton came out confident, taking the first set, 25-22. The second set was a neck-and-neck battle throughout, and the visitors were able to gut it out in extra play, 32-30. BU sophomore setter Sarah Ngo, who earned America East Setter of the Week honors in part for her performance against UMBC, helped Binghamton regain its composure in the third game. She provided key sets to senior right side hitter Megan Burgess and sophomore middle hitter Kristella Morina to maintain a strong lead and take the third set easily, 25-16. Ngo tallied 57 assists and 12 digs throughout the course of the match on Friday night.
The fourth set proved to be the most suspenseful when it came to intensity of play. Throughout the course of the set, BU and UMBC battled back and forth, with nine ties and six lead changes occurring. The Retrievers came out hot to start the set, turning an initial 3-0 lead to a 7-4 lead despite consecutive kills by junior middle hitter Bianca Anderson and freshman outside hitter Gabby Alicea, the latter of whom garnered AE Rookie of the Week honors due in part to her performance on Friday night.
The Bearcats responded with a 5-0 run to regain the lead, as Ngo found Burgess, Morina and freshman outside hitter Erin Shultz for consecutive kills. Following a relatively even exchange of points throughout, it appeared as though UMBC was pulling away with a 20-17 lead. However, Binghamton responded well to the pressure, scoring the next eight consecutive points to win the set, 25-20.
Binghamton head coach Glenn Kiriyama saw a positive change in his team’s performance against the Retrievers compared to the first time that the teams faced off this season.
“I thought we played better tonight,” Kiriyama said. “We played well offensively. Our hitters were hitting well, [Burgess] started off well on the right side, and Stella [Morina] really exploded towards the end.”
Kiriyama also acknowledged new team leadership, which became a necessity after junior libero and co-captain Bailey Walker went down with an ankle injury.
“[Junior defensive specialist] Kasey Muchnicki has done a great job coming in as our new libero,” he said. “Also, Sarah Ngo has brought a lot of leadership to the court as well.”
Saturday night was a momentous game for senior Burgess as she helped lead the Bearcats on her senior night against Stony Brook (11-17, 5-5 AE). After splitting the first four sets, Binghamton found itself in a must-win scenario to take the match. After an exchange of kills and errors on both sides of the court, the two squads found themselves tied at eight. Following two kills by Alicea complemented by two points from Burgess, BU pulled ahead 14-11. SBU responded with a point, but Shultz delivered a final kill that incited a thunderous applause from the home crowd. The Bearcats took home the win, capping off a successful weekend.
Kiriyama was impressed with his team’s ability to perform late in the game.
“You could tell they wanted the win badly,” Kiriyama claimed. “They played with confidence.”
By taking both victories, Binghamton shot to fifth in the polls, just half a game out of third place, for which UMBC and Stony Brook are currently tied.
BU is set to play UMass Lowell in its final game of the regular season. First serve is set for this Sunday at 1 p.m. from the Costello Athletic Center in Lowell, Massachusetts.