“We’re learning, our little ones coming in and playing defense too, they want to be in and they’re hungry,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “Our freshmen want to learn, and they’re really hungry to get in there, and that’s all you can ask for.”

The Bearcats (7-10, 2-1 AE) opened the afternoon with a tightly contested first set. Both sides traded points early, but the Bearcats began to pull ahead thanks to long rallies and kills from freshman right side hitter Maya Coblentz-Brown, establishing an 18-12 lead.

NJIT (3-14, 0-3 AE) answered with a 10-6 run, but a decisive finish from sophomore middle blocker Sophia Holland secured the first set win.

“[Coblentz-Brown], I mean, come on,” Yaeger said. ”She got 20 kills today and hit .409 as a freshman in a conference play game. She is outstanding, and it just makes the future of this program and this team so great. I’m so excited for her.”

NJIT answered in the second set, capitalizing on the Bearcats’ inconsistencies to take a 20-11 lead. Binghamton answered with an 11-3 run, powered by back row support from senior outside hitter Merima Smajlovic and connections between graduate student setter Alexandra Koleva and sophomore right side hitter Viktoria Dimitrova. However, the Highlanders held their lead and evened the match with a 25-22 second-set victory.

Binghamton regrouped in the third, using strong communication and steady serving to establish momentum and a 10-5 lead. Koleva, who finished with 43 assists, consistently found her hitters in rhythm. Freshman middle blocker Francesca Pierdonati anchored the defense at the net as the Bearcats pulled away 25-19 to take a 2-1 set lead.

NJIT, however, refused to fold, storming back with a 25-17 win in the fourth set. Although Holland contributed key blocks, the Highlanders’ offense surged as they forced the match to a deciding fifth following the Bearcats’ lost rhythm.

”The NJIT team fought really, really hard against us,” Yaeger said. “They were digging balls like crazy, and it kind of came down in that fifth set, and I told the girls in one of the last time-outs, they’re digging, we’re digging, it’s going to come down to who makes that error at the last second. So, fortunately for us, it was them. But I’m glad we fight, that is something that we do.”

The fifth set opened with both teams again trading points, as NJIT briefly pulled ahead 10-7. However, the Bearcats dug in defensively, driven by senior libero Emily Cronkhite’s 27 digs. The Bearcats quickly regained their rhythm and closed the match with an 8-0 run, capped by a kill to secure the 15-10 set victory and overall match win.

“It’s huge,” Yaeger said. “Going into this weekend, the players knew how big this was. To go 2-0, we have to get our home games, we have to get our home matches. Last year, we played really well at home, we went undefeated in conference play.“

Coblentz-Brown powered the Bearcats with 20 kills, hitting an efficient .409 on the day. Her steady offensive presence proved vital in a match filled with long rallies and an over-regulation set number.

While Coblentz-Brown led the offense, several of her teammates played pivotal roles. Smajlovic and Dimitrova each added 12 kills, with Smajlovic also contributing 18 digs. Pierdonati tallied a team-high eight blocks, supported by Dimitrova’s four and Holland’s three. Koleva’s 15 digs complemented her 43 assists.

Binghamton will look to keep its momentum when it takes on Bryant on Sunday, Oct. 12. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, Rhode Island.

The Bearcats handily claimed the first two sets of the match before dropping the third set 25-11. After forcing the fourth set past regulation, Binghamton won the final points on serves, claiming the fourth set and the victory.

“UMBC, they’re a brand new team and so are we,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “We’ve been used to them looking a certain way for a really long time, and I know vice versa, same thing with us. We watch film and we prepare, and we prepare.”

The match opened tightly, with UMBC (3-9, 1-1 AE) staying close as Binghamton (6-10, 1-1 AE) worked to establish a rhythm. Behind a late kill from freshman right side hitter Maya Coblentz-Brown, the Bearcats secured the 25-22 first-set win.

Despite the close score, the Bearcats led for the majority of the set, never relinquishing their lead after going ahead 5-4.

“We switched to a 5-1 tonight to start, we’ve been running a 6-2 for a while now,” Yaeger said. “So I’m really happy that that turned out in our favor and we looked successful doing it.”

Momentum carried into the second set, where Binghamton pulled away early and capitalized on UMBC attack errors to build a 17-11 lead. UMBC answered with a 3-0 run, but the Bearcats put together a dominant close to the set, with an 8-2 run to claim the 25-16 victory and a 2-0 lead.

UMBC answered in the third set, however, making adjustments that challenged the Bearcats’ defense. The Retrievers’ offense broke through, and Binghamton struggled to recover, surrendering a pair of 4-0 runs and dropping the set 11-25.

In the fourth set, UMBC jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but Binghamton rallied to stay in it with steady hitting and defense. UMBC regained control throughout the bulk of the set, establishing a 19-14 lead, but the Bearcats clawed back to tie the score at 20-20, outscoring their opponents 6-1 in the process. Both sides traded points to 22-22 and later 24-24, pushing the set beyond regulation.

A service ace from sophomore middle blocker Sophia Holland cemented the victory for Binghamton, sealing the 27-25 score and match win. Throughout the fourth set, freshman libero/defensive specialist Celeste Ocampo provided a steady presence in the back row, digging key balls and helping Binghamton receive serves effectively. Sophomore outside hitter Briana Binagi contributed with consistent kills and offensive pressure.

“We subbed the 6-2 in a little bit in the fourth set, which just gave us a little bit of a different look, a different setter, a different right side,” Yaeger said. “And we started hitting more shots instead of powerful swings and getting blocked, more tipping. We were finding spots on the floor where they weren’t instead of powerful hitting at them.”

Leading the way for Binghamton in its first AE victory of the year was sophomore right side hitter Viktoria Dimitrova with a season-high 16 kills.

Graduate student setter Alexandra Koleva registered a team-high 36 assists, while senior libero/defensive specialist Emily Cronkhite chipped in 20 digs.

“We had a kind of momentum that went down, but I feel like in other matches, we couldn’t manage to come back up, and now we did it,” Dimitrova said. “And now we did it all together, and I feel like for the first time in a long time, we really felt as a team, everyone was fighting for each other, and it was just amazing.”

Binghamton will continue its season against Bryant on Sunday, Oct. 12. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, Rhode Island.

The first set proved to be the tightest of the match, with the score tied throughout much of the first half. After Albany (6-7, 1-0 AE) tied the set 14-14, Binghamton (5-9, 0-1 AE) embarked on a five-point run, thanks in part to three attack errors by its opponents, putting them up 19-14. The Great Danes followed with a 5-1 run of their own, bringing the score back within one, before Binghamton went on a 4-2 run, bringing the game to 24-21.

Albany scored another four in a row to go up 25-24, before Binghamton tied the score at 25, and then again at 26 after its opponents scored once more. However, the Great Danes managed to close out the set with two unanswered points, winning 28-26.

“We did some really good things, but our serve and pass game was not on point tonight, which ultimately cost us the match,” Yaeger wrote.

The second set started in Binghamton’s favor, with the two teams trading leads multiple times before the Bearcats went on a 7-1 run, going up 12-8. However, the Great Danes followed up with six unanswered points. After that run, they refused to relinquish the lead, winning the set 25-17.

Despite the loss, graduate student setter Alexandra Koleva had seven assists, one kill and one block on the set.

“[Koleva] brings a lot of experience to this program,” Yaeger wrote. “We are happy to have her for her final season and we look forward to her continuing to move our offense in the right direction.”

Set three opened with Albany taking an early 3-0 lead, and it continued to maintain control for a majority of the set. The Bearcats started to challenge with a 5-2 run after being down 13-7, bringing the score to 15-12, but trailed for the remainder of the set. Both teams traded blows, ultimately ending the set at a final score of 25-20 and cementing the sweep victory for the Great Danes.

“This was only one match,” Yaeger wrote. “We have 9 left to play. This loss was on us, which is a good thing because we control us. We beat ourselves tonight and will continue to work on us and making progress towards a championship.”

Binghamton will continue its season against Colgate on Tuesday, Sept. 30. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.

Binghamton’s doubleheader against Mercyhurst and Canisius on Friday resulted in a pair of 3-0 sweeps, while its final match against Bucknell saw the Bearcats secure the crown in a 3-2 comeback victory.

“This weekend was huge for us, to be able to have three wins consecutively under our belt,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “We haven’t been able to do that all season, so I think it gives confidence to the girls. It gives them a taste of winning, which we need with how young we are as a team.”

Game one saw Binghamton (4-6) take on Mercyhurst (2-8) to open the weekend’s tournament on Friday morning. In the first set, the Bearcats quickly took the lead thanks to a four-point run to go up 9-6, and they would not give up the lead for the rest of the set, winning 25-19.

Set two was a much closer battle, with Mercyhurst at one point holding a 19-14 lead. However, the Bearcats brought the match to a tie after a five-point run, thanks in part to back-to-back kills by sophomore outside hitter Briana Binagi, eventually winning the set 27-25.

The third set once again saw Binghamton take an early lead that it refused to relinquish, winning 25-19 and sweeping the Lakers. The game also marked the return of America East Preseason All-Conference selection with sophomore right side hitter Viktoria Dimitrova, who racked up 31 kills over the weekend.

“We’ve been waiting a while to get her back into the starting lineup,” Yaeger said.

“This is a good weekend to play these teams and get her out there and just see what she looks like, so it’s exciting to have her back,” Yaeger continued. “The biggest thing is that she stays healthy for us.”

Game two saw the Bearcats face Canisius (1-8) later in the evening on Friday. The first set saw the two teams going back and forth, with Binghamton maintaining a slight edge over Canisius until a 9-2 run gave it a 23-14 lead, resulting in a 25-16 victory.

The second set was Binghamton’s most dominant of the season, crushing the Golden Griffins 25-9, thanks in part to seven kills from reigning AE Rookie of the Week, freshman right side hitter Maya Coblentz-Brown. The third set once again saw Binghamton control the lead for most of the set, winning 25-19 and securing their second sweep of the day.

“It’s nice always to win, and it’s nice to come off two wins,” Yaeger said. “I think it was great that Bucknell came off two wins as well, so we were kind of playing for the championship match there.”

Game three was the Bearcats’ closest of the weekend, as they took on Bucknell (3-6) on Saturday in the final match of the invitational. In the first set, the Bearcats and the Bison exchanged leads multiple times before Bucknell went on a 7-3 run to close out the first set 27-25. The two teams traded the next two sets, leaving Bucknell up 2-1 going into the fourth set.

Facing an 18-14 deficit in the fourth, Binghamton proceeded to go on an 11-2 run, winning the set 25-20 and forcing a fifth. In the last set, teams traded blows until Binghamton went on a four-point run to close out the set 15-12, leaving the game with a final score of 3-2 and cementing the Bearcats as the winner of the invitational.

Coblentz-Brown, senior outside hitter Merima Smajlovic and graduate student setter Alexandra Koleva were named to the all-tournament team.

“Momentum is everything,” Yaeger said, following the victory. “I talk about that word all the time. When you get the momentum with the sport of volleyball, you can do so much stuff — it doesn’t matter how many points you’re down.”

The Bearcats are set to compete in the Michigan State Invitational next week. Tip-off for their first game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18 at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan.

Binghamton (1-6) opened the invitational on Friday night, defeating Rider (1-4) in three sets — 25-23, 25-16 and 25-17 — to earn its first victory of the campaign. The Bearcats held Rider to a mere .104 hitting percentage, and their victory was marked by significant scoring runs, going on 13-4 and 10-2 runs to end the second and third sets.

“Momentum is everything in this sport, so to have the momentum at the end of a set is crucial,” wrote Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “We played error free during those final pushes at the end, which is always our goal once we hit point 20.”

On Saturday, the Bearcats took on Hofstra (4-0) in a rematch of their Aug. 31 duel at the Events Center, in which BU fell to the Pride in four sets. BU narrowly dropped the first two sets 25-23 and 25-22. Facing a 22-20 deficit and a second potential sweep loss to Hofstra in the third set, the Bearcats scored five straight to claim the set 25-22.

Despite entering the fourth set with newfound momentum, the Bearcats fell 25-19, dropping their first match of the invitational. After a strong first set in which the Bearcats hit .342 percent, they were unable to break .200 percent in the final three sets.

“We were a lot fresher this second time around with Hofstra,” Yaeger wrote. “That’s a very good and experienced Hofstra team and I’m happy that we were competitive. We are just doing our best to make changes when needed. We are a young, new squad that is deep, so it’s important to see early in the season who can get the job done.”

Closing out the invitational on Sunday, the Bearcats faced off against Army (4-2), falling in four sets. In the first set, BU held a 23-19 lead before surrendering a 6-0 run to lose the set. The Bearcats surrendered a 14-8 run to the Black Knights that tied the second set at 25-25, and brought it back to close out the set with a 27-25 win.

Holding a 22-19 lead, BU allowed a 6-1 run as they lost the third set 25-23. An 8-1 run from the Bearcats, propelled by two kills from senior outside hitter Merima Smajlovic, cemented a 10-4 lead early in the fourth set. Army, however, went on to win 15 of the following 23 points, taking a 19-18 lead that it did not relinquish as the Bearcats dropped the fourth and final set 25-21.

Leading BU’s offense over the weekend was Smajlovic, with at least 14 kills in each game, amassing a team-high 43 kills over three games. Freshman right side hitter Maya Coblentz-Brown made her presence known for Binghamton with a career-high 21 kills against Army, while also accumulating 39 kills in three games.

“[Smajlovic] and [Coblentz-Brown] were outstanding this weekend,” Yaeger wrote. “They are both really starting to adapt to our offense and defense. [Smajlovic] brings such great leadership and experience, while I am just as pleased with [Coblentz-Brown] and her immediate impact she has had with us.”

Binghamton looks to grow its win count when it hosts the three-match Binghamton Invitational this weekend, where it will first take on Mercyhurst on Friday, Sept. 12. First serve is set for 10 a.m. at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.

“We’re really young, and we have a brand new team this year,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “We’re experimenting right now and we’re just trying to see what sticks. We’re throwing a lot of stuff on the wall and seeing what sticks and what doesn’t stick.”

The Bearcats (0-4) opened their season Friday, playing their first match against Fordham (3-0) and losing 3-2 in a close game. After dropping the first set 25-14, Binghamton started off the second set slow, trailing 23-19, until a second-half comeback saw the team score six straight points, ending with a 25-23 victory.

Falling 25-22 in the third set, the Bearcats eked out a 27-25 win in the fourth. However, they were unable to close the match, losing the final set at a score of 15-10.

“I mean, we fight,” Yaeger said about the team’s comeback victory in the second set. “If you saw us fresh this weekend in Friday and Saturday’s early games, we fight. We definitely are a team that fights a lot, and we have some good older leadership on the team.”

“But we have a lot of freshmen on the team too that need to learn the culture, and that is to fight, and that is to win,” she continued.

Game two was part of a doubleheader for the Bearcats on Saturday. In the first match, they faced the University of Connecticut (3-0), where they lost yet another close game 3-2.

Binghamton won its first set against the Huskies 25-23, before dropping the next two at 25-18 and 25-11. The team once again forced a fourth set with another 25-23 win, only to lose in the final set 15-9.

Game three was played later that day against Lehigh (2-1), wrapping up the Bearcat Classic tournament. Despite dropping all three sets, the Bearcats managed to keep things close, particularly in the third and final set, extending the frame and losing 26-24.

Despite Binghamton’s losses in the tournament, Olmstead was named to the Bearcat Classic All-Tournament Team after recording 20 kills, 10 block assists and three digs over three games.

“I thought [Olmstead] did a great job stepping up to the plate and really coming through for us in the middle of this weekend, and that goes for a lot of our freshmen,” Yaeger said.

To close out the weekend, Binghamton played an additional game on Sunday against Hofstra (1-0), hoping to take home a win after three straight losses. However, the Bearcats failed to win a single set, losing 3-0 and ending the weekend with another defeat.

Leading the squad in kills for the final three matches of the weekend was Smajlovic, who totaled 51 kills and 48 digs over the opening weekend. She led the team in kills in three of its four games, including in Sunday’s loss against Hofstra.

“[Smajlovic] right now is one of our go-to players,” Yaeger commented. “She’s great in six rotations, her defense makes such a difference for us in the back row and even her attacking at times in the back row is huge. She plays a huge role for us. I think she’s such a great leader, too, for our younger players to look up to her and see what kind of player they want to become from her.”

Binghamton will continue its season at the Black Knight Invitational, taking on Rider this Friday, Sept. 5. First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Gillis Field House in West Point, New York.

“Bowling Green is a really, really good team,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “They’re a very physical team. There’s a reason why they won the MAC, which is also a really good conference.”

Binghamton (19-10, 8-2 AE) and Bowling Green (22-9, 16-2 MAC) were evenly matched to begin the first set, tied at six early on. A 3-0 run from the Falcons gave them the lead, which they held for the rest of the set. While the Bearcats stayed within striking distance, they could not grab the momentum they needed, falling 25-18 in set one.

“We got aced a lot,” Yaeger said. “We just couldn’t get out of certain rotations, because we just really struggled passing the ball.”

Bowling Green opened set two with a 10-0 run. The Bearcats slowly crawled back, chipping away at the deficit as two kills from fifth-year outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva and graduate student middle blocker Johanna Remy cut it to 18-15. The closest BU got was within two at 22-20 and 23-21, courtesy of kills from freshman right side hitter Viktoria Dimitrova. However, the Falcons were able to close out the set 25-21 and go up two sets to none.

“For the sets that we lost, we definitely didn’t do as well as we needed to from the service line,” Yaeger said. “We missed nine serves, which is unacceptable for us in a match.”

The Bearcats got off to a strong start in set three, holding an early 8-6 lead. Both teams were neck and neck until the very end. With eight ties and two lead changes, Binghamton grabbed the momentum late, going on a 3-0 run to make it a 24-19 game. A kill from Ilieva sealed the deal to give BU set three.

“We had a game plan,” Yaeger said. “We stuck to it, and it worked offensively for us. At times, when we won, we won the serve and pass game.”

In set four, after some back and forth, Bowling Green used a seven-point run to make it a 9-2 game. This was one of two major runs for the Falcons. Later in the set, the hosts went on another 7-0 run to make it a 24-14. Two points later, Bowling Green recorded a kill to hand the Bearcats a four-set defeat, eliminating them from the tournament and ending their season.

“I think it was really good that we played in it,” Yaeger said. “I’m proud of the girls. I never wanted that match to end. It was just really good volleyball. I knew as soon as that fourth set hit 25 for Bowling Green, there was going to be a number of our players that never wore the Binghamton jersey again. So, it was a very bittersweet moment for the program.”

While Binghamton’s season has come to an end, there were several Bearcats who earned individual accolades, highlighted by Ilieva’s third straight AE Player of the Year honor. She is the first Bearcat ever to win the award in three consecutive seasons. Junior setter Lottie Scully was named the AE Setter of the Year while being named to the all-conference first team. Sophomore middle blocker Misa Dlouha joined Scully on the first team while sophomore outside hitter Ella Schabort earned a spot on the all-conference second team. Dimitrova was the sole Bearcat to earn a place on the All-Rookie team.

“For the program, it’s kind of a distribution of all over the place and their ages and their experience, but they all train at a very high level,” Yaeger said. “I’m so proud of everybody for the work that they put in throughout the season to be able to achieve the things that we were able to achieve this year.”

With the loss of Ilieva, the most decorated player in program history who has put BU on the map, the Bearcats will head into the 2024-25 campaign looking to fill her shoes. While this may seem like a monumental task, Yaeger is confident in the team’s ability to come back stronger.

“[Ilieva] has changed everything when it comes to the words ‘Bearcat volleyball,’” Yaeger said. “She has helped me and my coaching staff completely change the culture, completely change the mindset, increase the level of play in our gym, make a name for this program on the map. People know who we are. People know [who] she is when they talk about Binghamton volleyball.”

Looking toward next season, Yaeger is excited for the next chapter of Binghamton volleyball. She said the team’s success will require others to step up and take on new roles as the team builds on the legacy that Ilieva has cemented for the program.

“It’s a new chapter for us,” Yaeger said. “I really do feel like this is a chapter that’s ending, but I’m excited for what’s to come. People are going to have to take on new leadership roles, and we’re going to have to distribute the ball a little more, and it’s going to really require people to step up. [Ilieva’s] been so great for us for so long, but all good things must come to an end.”

In front of its home crowd at the Events Center, the No. 1-seeded Binghamton volleyball team was upset by No. 4 Albany in the America East semifinals on Friday night. Despite going into championship weekend undefeated on their home floor in conference play, the Bearcats suffered a four-set loss to the Great Danes, resulting in their elimination from the AE tournament.

“It just wasn’t our day,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “Albany played outstanding against us. We couldn’t get anything to drop. They dug every single hard swing that we put over at them, and they came back even harder at us.”

Albany (12-15, 5-5 AE) came out of the gate hot in the first set with a 6-0 run, but a kill from fifth-year outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva ended the run to get Binghamton (19-10, 8-2 AE) on the board. The Bearcats recovered from the early deficit with timely kills and blocks to cut the Great Danes’ lead to 16-14. BU tied the set at 21 and then took the lead at 23-22 with back-to-back kills from freshman right side hitter Viktoria Dimitrova and sophomore outside hitter Ella Schabort. Another kill from Schabort secured BU’s 25-22 set win, sending the Events Center crowd into a frenzy.

“It was hard,” Yaeger said. “Albany was playing relentless. We just had to continue to fight and we did fight. Even in the first set, we were down a lot, and we came back and we won, and we made everything close.”

Despite having the momentum from set one, Binghamton got off to a slow start once again in set two, as Albany jumped out to a 10-3 lead. The Bearcats’ offense struggled to get things going, being held to just a .032 hitting percentage. Meanwhile, the Great Danes tallied 15 kills with a .464 hitting percentage en route to a 25-12 set win.

“[Albany] just played great defense,” Yaeger said. “They dug everything. They won the serve and pass game.”

Going into set three, the Bearcats scored four unanswered points to begin the set. Binghamton kept things rolling from there as the set stayed close, with a kill from Dimitrova and a block by sophomore middle blocker Misa Dlouha to help BU regain the lead at 12-11. Later in the frame, trailing 18-15, Binghamton strung a 3-0 run to tie it back up. However, Albany gained momentum late to stun the Bearcats and win set three 25-21.

“At times we just got down too much,” Yaeger said. “It’s just unacceptable for us to get down by seven or eight points and then have to claw and fight our way back the entire match. It was brutal at times. We didn’t have answers.”

Binghamton went up 8-2 in the early going, but Albany climbed back with a 7-1 run to tie the set at 15. From there on out, the Great Danes maintained a slight lead with a 4-0 run that propelled them to a 20-17 advantage. While the Bearcats battled back with three straight points to tie the set at 23, those were the final points for the hosts as Albany won the final two points to take the set and earn the victory overall.

“[Albany] took us out of system and we couldn’t serve hard enough,” Yaeger said. “They were in system a lot. So, I mean, they just played really well, and I knew they would. The deficit was too much, and we just couldn’t play well enough.”

Ilieva put together a 20-kill performance. Meanwhile, Schabort and Dlouha added nine kills of their own. While Yaeger was disappointed in the result, she expressed pride in the team’s accomplishments this past season. Hosting the AE tournament in the Events Center for the first time ever, the Bearcats made program history in multiple aspects this season.

“It was a really disappointing end for us, clearly not the results that any of us wanted,” Yaeger said. “It doesn’t take away all the great things that we did this season. We couldn’t have asked for better support from our student-athletes and our coaches, our administration and the community.”

As a result of winning the AE regular season title, Binghamton’s season will continue at the National Invitational Volleyball Championship against an opponent to be decided.

“I’m excited to play in it for sure,” Yaeger said. “It’s not the main goal. The main goal was obviously to win and go to the NCAA tournament. But it’s an honor to also be invited to this and there’s been some big-time names that have won this tournament.”

“It’s so great,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “We’re so excited. It’s something that you talk about for so long. As soon as the last point was played last season when we lost at UMBC, our minds were on this. So when I say we talk about it for so long, we really do.”

Binghamton (19-9, 8-2 AE) never trailed in set one, winning 25-19, the closest of all three sets in the afternoon. The Bearcats did not look back after taking an early 7-2 lead against NJIT (5-23, 0-10 AE). The Highlanders kept things relatively close, tying the set multiple times. However, with the score at 20-19 in BU’s favor, the visitors ended the set on a 5-0 run to take the first set.

“We had a little bit of a slow start,” Yaeger said. “In the first set, it was a little closer than I needed it to be — just a lot of our errors.”

In set two, the Bearcats continued to dominate with all the momentum swinging in their favor. Jumping out to a 7-3 lead, assisted by three early kills from fifth-year outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva, the Highlanders had no answer to Binghamton’s offense, which hit .367 in the set. Meanwhile, NJIT hit -0.138 in the second set with eight errors and just four kills, compared to BU’s 14 kills and three errors. The visitors went on to take the set by double-digits at 25-11.

“Even to start the second set off, we kind of missed a lot of serves,” Yaeger said. “We had a lot of errors, but once we started going, there was really no looking back.”

The final set of the afternoon saw more of the same for Binghamton. After trading points to start, the Bearcats used a 4-0 run, consisting of two kills apiece from sophomore middle blocker Misa Dlouha and sophomore outside hitter Ella Schabort to extend BU’s lead to 11-5. Binghamton’s offense was unable to be stopped, amassing 18 kills in the set en route to a 25-15 set victory to secure the sweep.

The Bearcats’ offense saw an even distribution of offensive production with Ilieva, Schabort and Dlouha leading the pack with 13, 11 and eight kills respectively. As a team, Binghamton hit .260 while holding NJIT to a -.031 hitting percentage and just 19 kills in the match.

“The girls dominated blocking-wise,” Yaeger said. “After the first set, we really controlled the serve and pass game, which I always talk about. It was nice to be able to do that in three and get in and out and get back here and get home.”

All season, Yaeger has discussed peaking at the right time, alluding to the fact that her team was able to go undefeated on their home floor during conference play, giving them an advantage going into championship weekend as the hosts.

“We’re definitely playing our best volleyball that we’ve been playing,” Yaeger said. “I have full confidence in these players. I know how much they love playing at home and going undefeated in conference on our home floor … It’s a different vibe when we’re at home.”

Heading into championship weekend next week, Yaeger also talked about the team’s mindset as it hosts the AE championship in the Events Center for the first time in program history. Throughout the team, confidence is high and the team is excited to get going, with their sights set on Albany.

“Spirits are high,” Yaeger said. “Again, we could not be more excited to host at home and to play in the Events Center, which will be the first time ever. It’ll be the first time ever that we’re playing the volleyball championships in the Event Center, which is all so exciting for the program, for the athletic department, for the school and for the community.”

No. 1 Binghamton will begin its playoff run against No. 4 Albany on Friday, Nov. 22. First serve is set for 4 p.m. at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.

“Every single set counts and every single point matters,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “This season has flown by so fast, but we really need to just stay focused.”

In Binghamton’s (17-9, 7-2 AE) first game of the weekend on Friday evening against UMBC (8-14, 6-3 AE), the Bearcats secured a 3-0 sweep over the Retrievers — 25-19, 25-22 and 25-22. After being swept on the Retrievers’ home court in early October, BU flipped the script to earn its fourth straight win in conference play.

“It was definitely a must-win for us,” Yaeger said. “To be able to do it in three was huge. With this conference and how good everybody is, you never know when you’re going to be in a three-way tie for first.”

The Retrievers could not find a way to stop fifth-year outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva, who led all players with 19 kills. Freshman right side hitter Viktoria Dimitrova also played a major role in the win, adding 12 kills of her own. BU’s defense, including 18 blocks, also held UMBC to a .191 hitting percentage.

“That’s a good UMBC team,” Yaeger said. “We just really, really did a good job with our scouting report and the girls being disciplined to stop their players.”

In their second match of the weekend on Sunday afternoon, the Bearcats extended their winning streak, earning their second win of the weekend against New Hampshire (15-9, 6-3 AE) — 19-25, 19-25, 25-18, 25-23 and 15-12. After going down two sets to none, Binghamton stormed back to earn a victory in reverse-sweep fashion.

“We started making defense a priority,” Yaeger said. “If you take a look at the sets after set two, [Dimitrova] started getting going. [sophomore middle blocker Misa Dlouha] started getting going. [Sophomore outside hitter Ella Schabort] started contributing. I thought [senior outside hitter/defensive specialist Sydney Aguirre] did a phenomenal job of serve receive, and passing really well.”

Four Bearcats finished with double-digit kills. Ilieva led the way for BU with 20 kills while Schabort and Dimitrova added 13 kills each. Lastly, Dlouha tallied 12 kills. In addition, after the match, Binghamton honored Ilieva and Aguirre in a Senior Day ceremony. Yaeger spoke about their impacts on the team, both on and off the court.

“[Ilieva and Aguirre] just mean so much to me,” Yaeger said. “Besides the fact of them being good volleyball players and everything that they’ve contributed to this program over the last couple of years and contributed to our success, they are such good people … We’re going to miss them so much.”

With the team likely hosting the AE tournament after defeating two of the top teams in the conference, Binghamton will shift its focus toward its final two matches, against Lehigh and NJIT. Yaeger described how the team needs to stay poised with just a few more weekends left in the season.

“We have to want it,” Yaeger said. “I know they want it. We’ve talked about this for so long, and now it’s here. I can’t believe it. By the time you get to the conference tournament, you’ve already seen everybody twice. We’ve just got to be disciplined and stay focused.”

Binghamton will take on Lehigh on Wednesday, Nov. 13, before its final conference showdown on the road against NJIT. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

“I’ll take the win,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “I’ll take it, and I’ll run with it. A road win is huge, especially against a good Bryant team.”

Binghamton (15-9, 5-2 AE) went down early in the first set as Bryant (18-8, 4-4 AE) jumped out to a 9-4 lead. The middle of the set saw more of the same as the Bearcats continued to play from being, going down 18-14. While BU cut the lead to 23-21 at one point, with a 3-0 run, it was not enough as the Bulldogs took set one 25-22.

“It was all about the serve and the serve-receive game,” Yaeger said. “[Bryant] just served really, really well last night. When we were in system, [junior setter Lottie Scully] was able to set whoever she wanted to, we were very dominant.”

To begin the second set, BU used an early 5-0 run to go up 8-4. Timely kills from Schabort and Ilieva allowed the Bearcats to keep the lead at 18-15. While Bryant stayed within striking distance, Binghamton pulled away late in the second, ending the set on a 3-0 run with two kills from Ilieva and a kill from freshman right side hitter Viktoria Dimitrova, winning the set 25-19.

“We were we had open nets,” Yaeger said, “We had one one-on-ones, and [Bryant] couldn’t handle our offense. When we are in system, our offense is a very hard thing to stop.”

The Bearcats maintained the momentum going into the third set, taking a 9-2 lead. Despite going down early, Bryant chipped away throughout the set, using a 3-0 lead to cut the deficit to 16-12. Not long after, another four-point run allowed the Bulldogs to make it a two-point game. However, that was all the points Bryant got as BU capped off the set win with a 6-0 run to take the set 25-17 and go up two sets to one.

“However, when we were not in system and we struggled in serve receive and couldn’t pass the ball, that’s always when Bryant really took advantage of us and was able to put a lot of points on the board,” Yaeger said.

In the penultimate set, after Binghamton went up 4-1, Bryant utilized a 4-0 run to go up 5-4. The Bulldogs did not give up the lead after this point, despite BU tying the game at 17 late in the set with a 4-0 run. However, Bryant would not let the Bearcats regain the lead, prevailing in the set 25-22.

“Going into the fifth set, we knew what Bryant looked like,” Yaeger said. “We knew what we were going to get from [Bryant]. We just had to win the server pass game, and we did.”

In the fifth and final set to break the tiebreaker, the Bearcats went up 6-1 to gain a significant advantage. Bryant made an effort to claw back, cutting it to 10-8. However, BU would not relinquish its lead, going on a 5-2 run to pull out a 15-10 set win along with the match victory.

“[Bryant] served really well, but we were probably more in system than they were,” Yaeger said. “I really felt that we were more aggressive in the fifth set.”

Ilieva led the way with her ninth double-double of the year, tallying 18 kills and 10 digs. Schabort added a double-double of her own with 13 kills and 16 digs. Lastly, Dlouha tallied 12 kills with a .600 hitting percentage, playing error-free volleyball with zero attack errors. Scully made this possible with 42 assists on the evening.

“We really worked hard the last couple weeks to get [Schabort] better, to get her more confident,” Yaeger said. “I’m so proud of her for putting on that performance. We couldn’t have done what we did last night without her.”

Binghamton will return home for its final two-game home stand starting on Friday, Nov. 8 against UMBC. First serve is set for 6 p.m. at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.

“I’m really happy that we were able to do it in three on the road,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “Right now, across the conference, everyone is winning at home and losing on the road, so I feel like we’re kind of the first team to break that trend that’s going on with like the top-five teams.”

Set one began with Albany (9-12, 3-4 AE) having a slight edge, going up 5-1 in the early going. While the Bearcats (14-9, 4-2 AE) kept things close, they trailed until the middle of the set. The momentum began to shift courtesy of consecutive kills from sophomore middle blocker Misa Dlouha and sophomore outside hitter Ella Schabort tied the match at 15-15. Later in the frame, with Albany leading 18-17, the Bearcats went on a 4-0 run to go up 21-18. The visitors held the lead from that point on, closing out the set with another 4-0 run to take set one 25-19.

“Albany played with a lot of passion,” Yaeger said. “[Albany] worked really hard last night, and it showed in our scores early on in both the first and second sets, and when they started to come back in the third set.”

The start of the second set was characterized by back and forth from the SUNY rivals. After the Great Danes won the first point, BU and Albany traded 3-0 runs to put the score at 4-3 in favor of the hosts. Not long after, the Great Danes began to pull away, scoring five straight points to go up 11-7, forcing a BU timeout. Binghamton found its spark late in the set with a kill from Dlouha leading to a 3-0 run to cut Albany’s lead to 19-17. The Bearcats continued to put on the pressure with a 7-0 run to force match point. A kill from Dlouha sealed the set for BU at 25-21.

“I’m really happy that the girls fought even being down the way we were in the first and second set,” Yaeger said. “We got to a point where we just kind of played error-free volleyball, and we let Albany make mistakes.”

Binghamton did not let up in set three as it looked for the sweep. The Bearcats went on a 3-0 run to begin the set, led by a pair of kills from fifth-year outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva. After the 6-6 point, BU began to cement its lead, going on a 5-1 run to go up 11-7, forcing the Great Danes to burn a timeout. The visitors continued to outpace the hosts, nearly going up double digits in the set at 22-13, forcing Albany’s second timeout of the set. Albany, however, did not go down without a fight, going on a 4-0 run coming out of the timeout to make it 22-17. Ultimately, it was too little too late as BU earned the 25-19 set win to complete the 3-0 sweep.

“When we almost had them finished, [Albany] was very feisty, and they wouldn’t go away, which is a really good thing to have as a team,” Yaeger said. “They played defense against us. They were very, very scrappy, so we had to rise to their level of intensity.”

Leading the way on offense for BU were Ilieva and Dlouha with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. With her parents flying in from the Czech Republic for the match, Dlouha hit .526 to mark her second-straight game with double-digit kills and a hitting percentage greater than .500.

“[Dlouha] did a great job last night,” Yaeger said. “I love being able to look at [junior setter/right side hitter Lottie Scully] and say, ‘keep setting Misha the ball again.’ Her parents flew in from the Czech Republic yesterday. They were there to watch her play and that was really special for her.”

Binghamton will conclude its two-game road trip against Bryant on Friday, Nov. 1. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, Rhode Island.

“It’s awesome to get back into the win column,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “We definitely had to make some changes and do some different things, and we tried a different lineup today. Overall, I’m very happy with it, and that we were able to do it in three.”

BU (13-9, 3-2 AE) and NJIT (5-18, 0-5 AE) traded points to begin the first set with the score tied at nine early on. However, the Bearcats soon turned it up a gear, going on a 9-2 run to take a commanding 18-11 lead. Binghamton closed the set on a 3-0 run, with kills from freshman right side hitter Viktoria Dimitrova and sophomore middle blocker Misa Dlouha, to take set one by double-digits at 25-15.

“We had to find the momentum,” Yaeger said. “We kept finding ways to break our momentum early in the sets, like missing our serve or getting blocked or something like that. Once we would get going, we were playing really good volleyball, and we were able to get over the hump — the tide scores and everything — and then kind of just run with it.”

To kick off set two, the Bearcats and Highlanders went back and forth once again, almost mirroring set one with the score knotted at nine at one point once again. A service ace for BU followed by an error in favor of the Highlanders from Dimitrova continued the deadlock, making it 11-11. Binghamton slowly pulled away in the middle of the frame, taking a five-point lead at 21-16. The hosts stayed in front the rest of the way, taking set two 25-19.

“We just let them hang around a lot and we need to do a better job just having more intensity,” Yaeger said. “I keep telling them, it starts with our defensive intensity … It was all about finding our momentum, and I feel like we never could really find it until the 14-14 phase of the game.”

After exchanging points for the third consecutive set, Dlouha gave BU a 12-10 lead with her fifth ace of the match. Similar to the previous two sets, with the score at 13-13 apiece, Binghamton pulled away with an 8-0 run, including two aces and a kill from fifth-year outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva to go up 21-13. Binghamton would keep its momentum, as a clean kill from Dimitrova sealed the 25-16 set win and victory for the Bearcats overall.

“We were able to set all those people because passing was so good,” Yaeger said. “Our service receive really came through today. That was huge for us today. But we can’t do all that if the passing is not there.”

The Bearcats saw efficient offensive production across the board as Ilieva had 12 kills and four aces. Dlouha was not far behind her with 11 kills and five aces. In addition, Dimitrova and graduate student middle blocker Johanna Remy added eight kills apiece. Junior setter Lottie Scully made this possible with her passing, racking up 37 assists.

“Based off of the last three matches that we played, the box score looks exactly the same,” Yaeger said. “We’ve really emphasized other people contributing, and that it can’t just always go to [Ilieva], even though she can put the ball away most of the time, which is great. We’ve just got to continue to distribute the ball as much as possible.”

Binghamton will hit the road to take on Albany on Friday, Oct. 25. First serve is set for 6 p.m. at Broadview Center in Albany, New York.

“It could have gone either way,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “It was our unforced errors, unfortunately, that allowed [UNH] to take the wins in all three sets.”

The lead teetered between Binghamton (12-8, 2-2 AE) and UNH (12-7, 3-1 AE) to start the match. The opening set was characterized by a variety of challenges as the Wildcats were successful with their first two challenges, while also winning their third challenge to the tie game at nine. Later in the frame, consecutive aces from fifth year outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva, then made it 18-14 to give the Bearcats some breathing room. The set went into overtime as things went back and forth, but UNH gained momentum down the stretch to take set one 28-26.

“I felt like we kind of controlled the first set a lot,” Yaeger said. “We had a lead in both the first and second sets, like later on by two points, like 20 to 18, and we just couldn’t finish. We missed serves, which we can’t do, and we couldn’t find our way out of a couple of different rotations.”

BU jumped out to a 5-2 lead in set two but UNH quickly responded with a 5-0 run to go up 7-5. The Bearcats and Wildcats continued to go back and forth as a drop in kill from freshman right side hitter Viktoria Dimitrova tied things at 15. Both teams then traded runs once again with a 3-0 run giving BU a 20-17 lead. However, UNH quickly got back into it with a 7-1 run to retake the lead at 24-21. Despite two kills from Ilieva to keep the visitors in the set, an attack error from Dimitrova gave the Wildcats the set victory at 25-23.

“It was just unfortunate because we just couldn’t put enough balls away when we really needed to put balls away,” Yaeger said. “We were not connecting well when it comes to our setters and our hitters on a couple of missed opportunities that we had.”

Set three saw more of the same as UNH took an early 5-2 lead. However, the Bearcats used a 7-0 run to take the lead at 9-6. The Wildcats slowly regained the lead as the set went on, going up by as much as four at 18-14 and then 23-19 to force a BU timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Binghamton was unable to regain any real momentum falling 25-21 and suffering a sweep at the hands of UNH.

“I was proud of how focused the girls played throughout the match and how well they knew what New Hampshire was going to do,” Yaeger said. “Unfortunately, it was our errors at the end, for sure.

Ilieva led all players with 25 kills in just three sets, her 17th match of the year with double-digit kills and her third straight match with 20 or more kills. However, the team struggled overall, posting a .164 hitting percentage.

“We just need a little contribution from a couple of other people on the court,” Yaeger said. “We can’t always just rely on [Ilieva] all the time, even though she played unbelievable. She’s such an amazing player, and she continues to impress me every single day. We’ve just got to find a way to help her out and to find a way to win.”

Binghamton will stay on the road, taking on Colgate on Wednesday, Oct. 16. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Cotterell Court at Reid Athletic Center in Hamilton, New York.

Coming off its first win in conference play against Albany, the Binghamton volleyball team went 1-1 over the weekend, falling to UMBC in a sweep on Friday night but bouncing back and earning a 3-1 victory over Bryant on Sunday afternoon.

“Friday night was definitely disappointing,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “I’m really glad that we could bounce back the way we did today.”

To start the weekend against the reigning America East champions in UMBC (4-10, 3-0 AE) on Friday, Binghamton (12-6, 2-1 AE) was unable to build momentum, falling in three sets against the Retrievers — 25-20, 25-21 and 25-21. Despite all three sets being relatively close, the Bearcats could not find a way to pull away late.

“We didn’t show up,” Yaeger said. “It wasn’t our day. We can’t do that anymore, especially with conference matches. It’s really disappointing — our performance on Friday night. What’s really disappointing with it is that we didn’t play well at all, and we were still kind of in it, and in every single set.”

Fifth-year outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva led the way on offense for the Bearcats, recording 18 kills, but the Bearcats were held to just a .115 hitting percentage as a team. UMBC also beat Binghamton in kills, digs and assists to earn the victory on their home court.

“I think that maybe we underestimated UMBC because they didn’t have a great preseason,” Yaeger said. “UMBC executed really well. They played flawless against us. Everything went their way, and they played really well, and we just didn’t step up to the occasion. So yeah, it is a huge rivalry. I’m sick of losing in that gym.”

To close out the weekend on Sunday, Binghamton got back in the win column with a 3-1 win over Bryant (14-5, 1-1 AE). After winning the first set in overtime fashion 33-31, the Bearcats struggled mightily in set two, falling 25-8. However, BU got back on track in sets three and four winning 27-25 and 25-17 to win the match overall.

“That’s a good Bryant team and I could not be happier with that win,” Yaeger said. “Today’s win was a must-win, in my opinion. I continue to say that I want to go undefeated at home in conference this year. So far, we are in conference play, and we’ve got to keep it that way.”

Despite being held to a -.261 hitting percentage in set two, the Bearcats’ strong performance in every other set allowed the team to maintain a .254 hitting percentage. With three Bearcats tallying double-digit kills, Ilieva spearheaded the offense again, tallying 21 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Ella Schabort and sophomore middle blocker Misa Dlouha each added 10 kills as well.

“Minus the second set that we played, which we kind of didn’t show up for, I thought the girls fought really hard to come back after that second set and kind of clear their minds and start from scratch in that third set,” Yaeger said. “I was really proud of what they were able to pull off today.”

Yaeger also talked about the high level of talent in the AE this year, and what it will take for the Bearcats to have a successful conference season and make a deep postseason run. One major aspect she mentioned was her team’s level of intensity.

“There’s so many good teams in this conference this year, and the levels of intensity that other teams play at is something that we need to do a better job at,” Yaeger said. “We’re really good at a lot of things. We’ve got to stay consistent with everything.”

Before resuming conference play, Binghamton will hit the road for a midweek matchup against Temple on Wednesday, Oct. 9. First serve is set for noon at McGonigle Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

During Homecoming weekend, the Binghamton volleyball team started America East play with a 3-0 sweep against SUNY rival, the University at Albany, on Friday evening in front of its home crowd. The Bearcats’ offense overpowered the Great Danes, allowing the hosts to pull away quickly in all three sets to earn its first win in conference play.

“It was great,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “We were clean, we were sharp and we were smart. We executed really well. The girls did everything that was [in] the game plan that we planned out for Albany.”

Binghamton (10-5, 1-0 AE) went up 8-2 in the early going of set one with freshman right side hitter Viktoria Dimitrova adding three kills to spark the offense. However, midway through the set, a run from Albany (4-9, 0-1 AE) cut BU’s lead to two at 17-15. After this point, however, the Bearcats began to pull away, closing out the set on an 8-1 run, with a kill from sophomore middle blocker Misa Dlouha giving BU the 25-16 set one victory.

“I think [Dimitrova] is going to be such a great volleyball player for this program and for this league,” Yaeger said. “[Dimitrova is] just getting started. I think she’s finally just catching the hang of our offense and our blocking system. What [Dimitrova] is doing a really good job at is hitting different zones and hitting different angles.”

To begin set two, the Bearcats and Great Danes traded points with things knotted at 6-6. However, a 5-0 run propelled Binghamton to an 11-6 lead, forcing Albany to burn its first timeout of the set. Coming out of the timeout, BU maintained its momentum, with an 8-3 run, to extend its lead to 19-9. The rest of the set saw a flurry of kills from fifth-year outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva and Dimitrova, with Binghamton hitting .478 en route to a 25-12 set win.

“I think it helps that they’re excited to get conference play going,” Yaeger said. “It’s exciting to be home in front of our home crowd. The girls played really well tonight.”

Both teams briefly traded points in set three once again, with BU leading at 3-2. BU then went on a 7-0 run to take a commanding 10-2 lead. The Bearcats refused to relinquish their advantage, maintaining a 20-14 lead later in the frame. Binghamton continued its strong serve and pass game, piling on the points while keeping Albany at bay, winning set three 25-15 and the match overall.

“We have so many good hitters, and I say that all the time we got to be able to pass the ball and play defense,” Yaeger said. “Our blocking is there. We’re one of the best blocking teams in the country, which is very fun for us, but our defense behind the block, it just needs to get a little better, always.”

The offensive trio of Ilieva, sophomore outside hitter Ella Schabort and Dimitrova added 16, 10 and nine kills respectively. Yaeger attributed the offensive distribution to the strong passing, courtesy of junior setter/right side hitter Lottie Scully, who tallied a season-high 38 assists on the evening.

“[Scully] was able to distribute the ball to everybody because the passing was really good tonight,” Yaeger said. “We got to continue to be the best passing team in this league and stay in system, and that way [Scully] can set all the hitters as much as she wants to.”

Binghamton will resume conference play against the defending conference champions, UMBC, on Friday, Oct. 4, looking to avenge last year’s loss in the AE title game. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.

In its final match before America East conference play, the Binghamton volleyball team defeated Le Moyne in four sets on Tuesday afternoon. After winning the first set 25-16, BU dropped a tight second set, 25-22. However, the team bounced right back, dominantly winning the final two sets — 25-9 and 25-13 — to secure its ninth win.

“We took the opportunity tonight to get a couple of other people in and kind of mess around with a couple of different lineups,” head coach Allie Yaeger said. “Overall, [the match] was good.”

Binghamton (9-5) and Le Moyne (1-9) traded points to begin set one, with the score tied at 9-9 before either team went on a significant run. After this point, the Bearcats went on a 9-0 run to go up 18-9, with slide attacks from sophomore middle blocker Misa Dlouha playing a major role. The Dolphins responded with a 3-0 run to make it 19-12. However, this came too little, too late as BU closed out the set 25-16.

“With the five-one with [junior setter Lottie Scully] being in the front row with [Dlouha] for two rotations, the whole point is to try and feed [Dlouha] the ball as much as possible,” Yaeger said. “The best offensive hit that [Dlouha] comes through on is the slide. That’s one of our go-to plays.”

To start set two, Bearcats got off to a slow start with the Dolphins taking a 9-5 lead early in the set. Le Moyne maintained this lead as Binghamton’s defense struggled, allowing 18 kills and three service aces throughout the set. BU came up with a late comeback, cutting Le Moyne’s lead to one at 22-21 to force a timeout. Despite this, the Dolphins were able to close out the set on a 3-1 run for the 25-22 set victory.

“I just kind of wanted to try a couple other things out in the first couple sets,” Yaeger said. “We just couldn’t execute them, which was okay.”

The visiting Bearcats bounced back in set three, dominating in all aspects to regain the lead and win 25-9. Binghamton never trailed in the set, taking an early lead and preserving it the entire way. BU had a .520 hitting percentage in the set with 15 kills while its defense held Le Moyne to a -.115 hitting percentage.

In set four, Binghamton maintained its momentum from the set before. The visitors replicated their offensive dominance with 15 kills on a .538 hitting percentage en route to a 25-13 victory. The Bearcats also totaled six blocks and held the Dolphins to a -.036 hitting percentage, keeping Le Moyne from going on any significant runs. A kill from freshman right-side hitter Viktoria Dimitrova and a Le Moyne error sealed the match in four sets for BU.

“We went right back to our normal five-one with the regular starters in the third and fourth sets,” Yaeger said. “They were able to dominate and completely take over, which I knew they would.”

Three Bearcats finished with double-digit kills. Fifth-year outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva led the way with 24 kills, her second straight match with more than 20 kills. Sophomore outside hitters Ella Schabort and Dimitrova each had 10 kills. In addition, going into conference play after nearly five weeks on the road, Yaeger asserted that the team is excited to play in front of the home crowd and bring home a win.

“The girls are so excited to be home this weekend,” Yaeger said. “They can’t wait. It’s all they talk about. Hopefully, we can put on a good show for the home crowd. We’re excited to get conference play started. It’s what we work so hard up until this point for.”

Binghamton will return home for the first time since Aug. 31 to take on Albany in its AE opener on Friday, Sept. 27. First serve is set for 6 p.m. at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.

The Binghamton volleyball team took on Cornell and competed in the Rose Hill Classic, registering a 1-2 record over the past week. The Bearcats fell to Cornell in four sets on Wednesday to kick off the week, but got back on track, sweeping Fordham at its home tournament on Friday. However, on Saturday, BU was unable to finish off West Virginia after taking an early lead, falling in five sets.

“The games that we had against Cornell, they’re not going to be acceptable once we hit conference play,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “We got to be able to show up for every single match.”

On Wednesday evening, the Bearcats (8-5) were defeated in a midweek matchup against the Big Red (6-3) in four sets — 25-20, 22-25, 20-25 and 18-25. After winning a tight first set, Binghamton was unable to keep the pace offensively, tallying 39 kills with a .156 hitting percentage, compared to the Big Red’s 56 kills on a .270 clip.

“That was a tough match for us,” Yaeger said. “We struggled to show up. It just wasn’t our night. We couldn’t get anything going … [Cornell] just completely outplayed us in every single category possible, and we just really had a hard time responding to them.”

In its first matchup of the Rose Hill Classic on Friday afternoon, Binghamton made easy work of Fordham (4-5), earning a 3-0 sweep — 25-14, 25-16, 25-19. Despite getting to the Fordham gym late due to navigation issues on the bus, the Bearcats still dominated offensively by hitting .305 with just nine errors through three sets. The defense held Fordham to a .080 hitting percentage while totaling 10 blocks.

“I was really proud of the girls on how they got in there and did exactly what we talked about,” Yaeger said. “They were focused, they were ready to go, and they got the job done in three [sets]. Everything was working, and especially bouncing off of, the Wednesday loss against Cornell. I was really proud of everything.”

To close out the tournament, BU took on West Virginia (6-5), ultimately falling in five sets. The last time the two teams met was in 2022 when the Mountaineers won in four sets. After winning an overtime thriller of a first set 35-33, Binghamton dropped set two 25-20. The Bearcats bounced right back, winning set three 25-23 to take a one-set lead. However, the Mountaineers came back, winning set four 25-17 and set five 15-12 to secure the victory.

“When we played well, we played really well,” Yaeger said. “The sets that we lost, we just beat way too many errors, and we couldn’t pass the ball. We couldn’t be in system. It was nothing that West Virginia did. They didn’t outplay us. They didn’t overpower us. We did a lot of things to ourselves, which we have to get better at.”

Fifth-year outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva tied her career high with 27 kills against West Virginia. For the entire week, Ilieva dominated the stat sheet on offense, accumulating 64 kills over three games. Junior setter/right-side hitter Lottie Scully was a major contributor to Ilieva’s success as she had a season-high 37 assists against West Virginia. Scully is second in the America East conference with 6.75 assists per set.

“[Ilieva’s] so good right now,” Yaeger said. “[Ilieva’s] just at the top of her game. She’s so confident with her swings and what she does, and she knows what she can do. She knows herself best. [Scully] spread the offense out really well. She contributed aces in there for us as well at the serving line. I think [Scully’s] on her way this season to being one of the best setters in this conference.”

Binghamton will finish off its nonconference slate with a matchup against Le Moyne on Tuesday, Sept. 24. First serve is set for 6 p.m. at Ted Grant Court in Syracuse, New York.

The Binghamton volleyball team extended its winning streak to six games, defeating Hofstra in a midweek matchup and sweeping Rutgers and VCU at the Rutgers Invitational over the weekend. The win against Rutgers marked BU’s first-ever win against a Big Ten opponent in program history and its second win against a Power Four opponent this year.

“They’ve gotten so much more confidence along the way, since it’s just an experience thing,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “As the time passes, we keep getting better and we keep learning how to play with each other.”

The Bearcats (7-3) kicked off their week with a matchup against Hofstra (2-4), winning in four sets. Graduate student outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva, coming off an MVP performance the weekend before, led all players with 20 kills off a .349 hitting percentage. Despite all four sets being relatively close, BU was able to gather momentum late — with error-free volleyball — to earn the victory.

“I feel like the whole weekend was close sets,” Yaeger said. “Once we get to the 20s, we really harp on not making any errors and being as aggressive as we can. I thought we did a really good job closing out and staying focused and being error free once we hit the 20s with a lot of our matches that we played this weekend.”

Binghamton then went on to compete in the Rutgers Invitational starting on Thursday evening, earning a sweep — 25-22, 26-24, 28-26 — against the hosting Scarlet Knights (3-5). In set one, Binghamton overcame a small deficit as a kill from Ilieva gave Binghamton the first set victory. The Bearcats’ defense held Rutgers to a .000 hitting percentage in set two while pulling away late in overtime in set three to get the win.

“For the girls’ confidence, it was huge [to beat Rutgers],” Yaeger said. “It was huge for the program. It’s very rewarding to coach this team and see how far we’ve come in just a short amount of time. It was a lot of fun because it shows the girls that they’re capable of beating big and physical teams.”

To finish off its two-game slate on Friday, BU captured another 3-0 victory against VCU (1-4) — 25-20, 25-13 and 26-24 to finish off the weekend. The Bearcats found themselves ahead for almost the entirety of the match. Despite being down 24-22 in set three, Binghamton ended the game on a 4-0 run to close out the match, with an ace from Ilieva to seal the deal.

“That was the one I was the most worried about, especially after coming off that Rutgers match, just because I know we were tired,” Yaeger said. “I knew we had to be focused and I was hoping that we were going to be as fresh as we possibly could be. But, we won long rallies. We got big points when we needed big points.”

Yaeger mentioned that while Ilieva’s continued success on the court is fantastic, the team’s overall success this year will also rely on those around her to step up and contribute. This weekend, she discussed how she enjoyed seeing the parts around Ilieva come together and click well.

“[Ilieva] really came through,” Yaeger said. “We tried really hard to not make it the ‘Tsvet’ show. Even though she is our best player, we can’t win if it’s just [Ilieva] all the time. I thought everybody did a good job contributing and the setters running the 6-2 are doing a good job of setting who needs to be set at what times. Everybody’s doing a really good job.”

Binghamton will look to extend its winning streak as it takes on Cornell on Wednesday, Sept. 18. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Newman Arena at Bartels Hall in Ithaca, New York.

The Binghamton volleyball team won the Fairfield Invitational over the weekend, going 3-0 and defeating Central Connecticut, Fairfield and Boston College. After sweeping Central Connecticut 3-0 on Friday, BU defeated Fairfield in four sets and BC in a reverse sweep to cap off its doubleheader on Saturday.

“It was exactly what I was looking for and waiting for,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “I continue to talk about taking steps forward and learning to play as a team and learning to win as a team and that’s exactly what we were able to do this weekend.”

Binghamton (4-3) dominated its tournament-opening match against Central Connecticut (0-5) on Friday afternoon, winning in three sets — 25-12, 25-21 and 25-8. The Bearcats cruised to victory, firing on all cylinders with a .466 hitting percentage while holding the Blue Devils to a .134 hitting percentage overall and a -0.087 hitting percentage in the third set.

“We were really able to distribute the ball,” Yaeger said. “We had lots of aces, we took the other team out of system and we stayed in system.”

On Saturday, the Bearcats took on Fairfield (2-4) in their first game of a doubleheader, defeating the Stags in four sets. After dropping the first set 25-19, BU went on to win the next three sets 25-17, 25-22 and 25-17 to earn the victory. Despite coming out of the gates slow with just a 0.059 hitting percentage and nine attack errors in set one, Binghamton’s offense picked things up, consistently hitting over .333 for the rest of the match.

“We had to stay really focused and disciplined while playing them,” Yaeger said. “I thought we did a good job. Our serve and pass game really helped us throughout the weekend.”

In its final match of the invitational on Saturday, Binghamton matched up against an undefeated Boston College (5-1) team, looking to be crowned tournament champions. The Bearcats went down two sets to none, dropping the first set 26-24 and the second set 25-18. However, Binghamton stayed in the match, taking the third set 25-22 and the fourth set 25-20 to even things at two.

BU went down early and played from behind for most of the fifth set. With BC leading 13-10, a service error by the Eagles and two service aces from sophomore middle blocker Misa Dlouha contributed to a 5-0 run to end the set with a 15-13 win, completing the reverse sweep. The win marked Binghamton’s first victory against a Power Four school since 2012.

“We had that on our minds, but it just shows that even though we’re a smaller school in a smaller conference, we can still do really big things,” Yaeger said. “Beating a team like Boston College was huge for this program.”

Graduate student outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva captained the offense for BU over the weekend, amassing 47 kills over three games, earning her tournament MVP honors. Sophomore outside hitter Ella Schabort and Dlouha were also named to the all-tournament team. Schabort had a bounce-back weekend with 35 kills while Dlouha reinforced the BU defense, totaling 21 blocks.

“[Schabort] was a huge part of this weekend,” Yaeger said. “I felt like this weekend was kind of her break out weekend. [Dlouha] had a ridiculous amount of blocks and that helped too. The things that we were good at, we did a really good job with.”

Binghamton will continue its preseason schedule against Hofstra on Wednesday, Sept. 11. First serve is set for 6 p.m. at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center in Hempstead, New York.

“I was happy with our performance, especially when comparing it to last weekend,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “We fought, we competed [and] we played really well at times.”

The first set was highly contested throughout as the Bearcats (1-3) and Wildcats (1-2) traded points to begin. With the score tied at 15, Binghamton used a 6-2 run, topped off by a kill from graduate student outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva to go up 21-17 as Villanova burned its first timeout. The Wildcats responded with a 6-2 run of their own to knot things up at 23. The set would go into overtime with Villanova taking set one 28-26.

“We weren’t disciplined on defense and we had too many errors in that first set,” Yaeger said. “If we would’ve done those things a little bit better, we would have been able to close.”

Villanova kept the momentum in the second set, winning 25-16. Binghamton went down early and was unable to recover. After exchanging runs with the score at 20-16 in favor of the Wildcats, they closed out the set on a 5-0 run.

“We’re just trying to figure out what is the best product to put out come conference play,” Yaeger said. “We’re trying to find answers and figure it out as a team.”

In set three, after a slow start, Binghamton bounced back to dominate, 25-16. With the score tied at four, the Bearcats went on a 6-0 run, capped by a service ace from junior setter Lottie Scully to make it 10-4. BU would hold the lead the rest of the way to stay in the match.

“We served well,” Yaeger said. “If we can do a better job at getting the ball in when we serve, we are a very good team.”

Despite a closer set four, the Bearcats kept the ball rolling in as they squeezed out a 25-21 win. After a close set all the way through, Binghamton pulled away with a 3-0 run to go up 17-13. Despite the Wildcats staying in it, a kill from freshman right side hitter Viktoria Dimitrova secured the set victory for BU to knot things at two sets apiece.

“I thought we [serve] received very well, and I thought we served really well, besides the miscues in sets one and two,” Yaeger said.

Looking to complete the reverse sweep, BU got in front early, winning the first two points of the fifth and final set. With the Wildcats up 8-7, they used a 6-1 run to go up 14-8. Binghamton was unable to recover, falling 15-10, despite two kills from Ilieva and Dimitrova with the match on the line, as Villanova escaped with the victory.

Ilieva led the way with 17 kills while Dimitrova added an impressive 14 of her own. Notably, Binghamton had six aces in the match while out-blocking the Wildcats 13-6.

“[Dimitrova] played an awesome game,” Yaeger said. “It’s so exciting to see her have such a great match when she’s just a freshman for us. [Ilieva] was unstoppable last night in my opinion … When we needed [Ilieva] to put the ball away, she put the ball away for us.”

Binghamton will look to get back in the win column as it takes on Central Connecticut State to kick off the Fairfield Invitational. First serve is set for 3 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6 at Mahoney Arena in Fairfield, Connecticut.

“It was a very disappointing weekend for us,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “I was very disappointed in how we played because I know we can play better. I watch them play every single day at practice, and it looks good, and they’re so talented, and they’re so smart and they’re so physical, and a lot of them come with a lot of experience.”

In its season opening match against Merrimack (0-3), the Bearcats (1-2) came out firing on all cylinders, keeping their momentum to cruise to a 3-0 sweep — 25-16, 25-14 and 25-23. Contributions from a mix of newcomers and experienced Bearcats contributed to the winning effort. As a team, BU maintained a strong defensive presence, holding Merrimack to a 0.081 hitting percentage while having a 0.329 hitting percentage of its own.

“We have a lot of returners, but we do have a lot of new faces and new talent on this squad,” Yaeger said. “So that’s what these first four weeks are all about — just figuring out what’s the best product that we’re going to put out on the floor come conference play.”

The second match of the tournament was a different story as Binghamton was swept by Toledo (3-0) in three sets — 25-18, 25-12 and 25-22. BU was held to just a 0.158 hitting percentage while Toledo managed to hit 0.353. The Bearcats struggled to get in front throughout the match, playing from behind all the way through.

“We’ve got to figure out a way to put it all together,” Yaeger said. “We have a lot of really, really talented players this year, and it’s just ‘how quick are we going to figure it out and put it together?’”

In its final match of the weekend, the Bearcats struggled once again, suffering another 3-0 sweep against Bucknell (2-1) — 25-21, 25-16 and 25-14. The first set would prove to be the most competitive of the three as Binghamton got within one at 20-19. However, the Bison pulled away with a 5-2 run to take the set. BU’s own mistakes ended up costing them throughout the match, with 18 attack errors and 10 service errors.

“We can’t win matches if we can’t put the ball on the floor,” Yaeger said. “Between our hitting errors, which was 18, and our serving errors, which was 10, that’s 28 points that we gave the other team.”

In her first tournament as a Bearcat, junior libero Emily Cronkhite earned all-tournament honors. Cronkhite tallied 27 digs over the three games. With a significant amount of newcomers, the focus for the Bearcats this preseason will be to figure out lineups and combinations. With strong hitters, the team will rotate between running a 5-1 or 6-2 offense.

“[Cronkhite was the] ​​most consistent player on the floor for us all weekend,” Yaeger said. “Her service, even her ball control overall, is very, very good. Getting her up to the speed of our conference and the speed to be able to play defense is going to be the one thing that she needs to keep working on.”

Binghamton will hit the road to take on Villanova on Wednesday, Sept. 4. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Jake Nevin Field House in Villanova, Pennsylvania.

After suffering a 3-0 sweep at the hands of UNH in the 2022 semifinals of the America East (AE) tournament just a year ago, the No. 3 seeded Binghamton volleyball team flipped the script this weekend at the AE tournament, defeating No. 2 UNH in a five-set reverse sweep. After dropping the first two sets by a slight margin, BU completed the reverse sweep by winning the next three sets to advance to the championship game. On Saturday night, in the title match, the Bearcats ultimately fell to No. 1 UMBC in a 3-0 sweep, finishing as the AE tournament runner-ups.

“[The match against UNH] was one of my favorite matches that I have ever coached in my entire coaching career,” head coach Allie Yaeger said. “The revenge that we were able to get on that team from last year at this time, just the whole focus and determination from this team was unreal … you could see it in every single point that they played.”

The Bearcats (15-13, 6-4 AE) grabbed an 11-5 lead over UNH (18-9, 7-3 AE) to open up the first set. However, the Wildcats kept the set close, managing to cut the BU lead to one at several points in the set. Things continued to go back and forth until Binghamton took a 23-21 lead, as UNH responded with four unanswered points to pull out a 25-23 victory in set one. The second set would yet again be tight all the way. Late in the frame, after a kill from senior outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva put BU up 22-21, the Wildcats went on a 4-0 run to win the set 25-22 to go up two sets to none.

“We were getting out dug, out served [and] out serve received in the first two sets,” Yaeger said. “We were losing, but we were still hitting like .300. So it wasn’t an offensive thing for us or a blocking thing.”

With their backs on the wall and their season on the line, Binghamton grabbed the momentum back in set three. Sophomore libero Madison Konopka propelled BU’s effort in the set with three consecutive aces to give BU a 12-8 lead. The Bearcats went on to close out the set with a 7-1 run, securing a 25-17 victory in set three to keep their season alive.

Similar to the first and second sets, the fourth set came down the wire. After going down early, Binghamton stayed within striking distance. With UNH leading 23-22, a kill from graduate student middle blocker Anna Sprys spearheaded a 3-0 run that won the set for BU. With the match tied at 2-2, both teams prepared for a fifth set with the winner advancing to the final.

“The players did such a good job taking control of those huddles after we were down two sets to none,” Yaeger said. “The emotional support from the bench and the kids who weren’t in the game did a really good job at motivating the players that were in the game.”

BU kept the momentum going into the final set. After some back-and-forth play to begin the set, a 4-0 run helped Binghamton to go up 9-4. It was all Bearcats from this point on as they completed the reverse sweep comeback with a 15-9 victory in set five to advance to the AE finals.

“It was fun,” Yaeger said. “It was an emotional roller coaster.”

In the championship game against UMBC (17-7, 8-2 AE), Binghamton got off to a slow start in set one with UMBC jumping out to a 7-2 lead. Despite a 6-0 from the Bearcats to cut the Retriever lead to two at 16-14, this was the closest BU would get, dropping the set 25-19.

BU came out with a 3-1 lead at the beginning of the second set. This was quickly met with a UMBC response, as the tournament hosts strung together a set of runs to go up 14-7 later in the frame. Although kills from Ilieva and Sprys got the Bearcats within three, they were unable to overtake the Retrievers, going on to lose the set 25-16.

“It was hard, and I knew it was going to be hard,” Yaeger said. “I was worried that we weren’t going to have enough gas in the tank, and it showed … we looked tired, we weren’t jumping as high, we weren’t hitting as hard.”

After the Bearcats won the first three points of the first set, the Retrievers came right back with four points of their own. Later in the frame, UMBC chained together a sequence of runs to take a 21-12 lead. UMBC held the lead the rest of the way to win the set 25-18 and the AE championship title.

“UMBC played amazing,” Yaeger said. “They played flawless. Their serve, their serve-receive game — they hit well. They did everything that they needed to do against us to take us in three.”

Binghamton’s season ends with an array of individual AE accolades. Ilieva was named the AE player of the year for the second consecutive year and was the only Bearcat to earn first-team all-conference honors. Freshman middle blocker Misa Dlouha won AE Rookie of the Year and collected a spot on the all-rookie team. Lastly, freshman outside hitter Ella Schabort and sophomore setter Lottie Scully took home second-team all-conference honors with Schabort also joining Dlouha on the all-rookie team.

“We had a lot of freshmen get awards this year,” Yaeger said. “I think the future is so bright, and their ceilings are so high.”

With the 2023 season now concluded, BU will look ahead to next year. Yaeger expressed that the team has a bright future and is continuing to progress toward the ultimate goal of making the NCAA tournament. With a relatively young team, the Bearcats will look to use this season’s experience to remain competitive in the AE conference next year.

“A championship experience,” Yaeger said. “There’s nothing like it. This was a step in the right direction for this program. Last year, we made the tournament [and] lost in the first round. This year, we made the tournament, [and] won in the first round. Next year, our ultimate goal is to make the tournament, win the first round and to bring home the championship.”

After defeating Manhattan 3-1 in its final nonconference matchup on Wednesday, the Binghamton women’s volleyball team dropped their regular-season finale to UNH in a 3-0 sweep on Sunday afternoon. Despite defeating the Wildcats earlier in the season at home, the Bearcats were unable to take a set as they were swept for just the second time in America East (AE) conference play.

“Today was not our day,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “It’s always tough playing on the road at UNH. They play very well in their gym. Our offense struggled to click today and UNH seemed to be one step ahead of us at all times.”

Binghamton (14-12, 6-4 AE) and Wildcats (18-8, 7-3 AE) went back and forth to open the match, with BU maintaining a slight advantage thanks to multiple kills from senior outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva and freshman outside hitter Ella Schabort. UNH would soon tie things up before gradually taking an 18-15 lead, forcing a BU timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Wildcats continued their momentum with back-to-back kills to increase its lead to five. The Bearcats kept the set close to the end, with a kill from freshman middle blocker Misa Dlouha that made the score 23-20 which led to a UNH timeout. This momentum change was short-lived, however, as the Wildcats took the first set 25-22.

“[In] set one, we made too many errors,” Yaeger said. “We just were not efficient enough to gain control, with 10 hitting and two serving errors.”

An early back and forth continued with the second set, with the score tied at 6-6 tie early on. Things continued to go back and forth until kills from Ilieva and Schabort gave the Bearcats a slight advantage. Lead exchanges would continue to the midpoint of the set, before UNH took the lead at 18-16, forcing a BU timeout. After the timeout, the Wildcats kept up the momentum, taking a 21-16 lead into a second BU timeout. Binghamton brought the set within four, but the Wildcats held on to win set two 25-20.

“I thought sets one and two were very similar,” Yaeger said. “They were both close and then UNH would pull away. They had a lot of momentum going and did a good job playing with confidence. Our serve-receive started to fall apart and we couldn’t get anything going.”

UNH jumped out to 7-0 lead in the third set before a kill from Ilieva stopped the bleeding and got the Bearcats on the board. By the midpoint, the Wildcats maintained the lead, up 12-4, but a 5-0 run by the Bearcats brought them within three. UNH would continue to grow its lead, however, leading 17-10 later in the frame. BU continued to try and claw back into the match, forcing the Wildcats to take a timeout up 22-17, but the visitors closed things out with a 25-19, earning a 3-0 sweep over Binghamton.

“Again, we just had a hard time finding the momentum,” Yaeger said. “It’s hard too when the refs have calls like that as well. We put good pressure on them when we served the ball. We just couldn’t take advantage of the easy stuff that UNH sent back over.”

Ilieva and Schabort led the Bearcats with 12 kills a piece, while sophomore setter and right-side hitter Lottie Scully set up the offense up with 29 assists for the match. BU was held to a .120 hitting percentage, compared to UNH’s .270 hitting percentage as a team, en route to the 3-0 sweep in the season finale.

“With the regular season said and done, we still have an opportunity to win this whole thing,” Yaeger said. “Whichever team has the best weekend will win and that could be any of us. Anyone can beat anyone on any given day. We will go back to work tomorrow and will be prepared for Friday.”

Despite the loss, the Bearcats clinched the No. 3 seed in the AE tournament and will look to flip the script against No. 2 UNH on Friday, Nov. 17. With top-seeded UMBC hosting the tournament, first serve is set for 8 p.m. at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.

Coming off two losses last weekend against Bryant and UMBC, respectively, the Binghamton volleyball team bounced back to defeat Manhattan College 3-1 on Thursday night in its final nonconference matchup. After winning a close opening set, the Bearcats dropped the second set. However, BU pulled through in the third and fourth sets to secure the victory.

“It was nice to get the win,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “At the end, we fought a lot tonight to pull off the first set win and to take the lead in the third set and then to pretty much dominate in the fourth set.”

After Manhattan [(9-20, 6-10 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC)] got on the board in the first set, two kills from senior outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva gave Binghamton [(14-11, 6-3 America East (AE)] a 2-1 lead. Both teams continued to go back and forth with the score tied at 8-8. Later in the frame, BU strung together two 4-0 runs to take a 17-12 lead, forcing Manhattan to burn its first timeout of the match. Coming out of the timeout, Manhattan was able to regain some momentum, cutting the BU lead to just two as the set came down to the wire. Despite this, the Bearcats retained their lead as an Ilieva kill secured a 25-23 win in the opening set.

“We were able to finish and push toward the end [of the set],” Yaeger said. “It was a close set … our blocking, like it always does, really comes through for us.”

The second set began with the Bearcats and Jaspars exchanging points as the score was tied at 4-4 early on in the set. Then, Manhattan was able to pull away with a 5-0 run that put the home team up 9-4, as BU burned its first timeout of the match. After some back-and-forth play, the Jaspars maintained their lead, taking an 18-11 lead. However, Binghamton anchored a late comeback, courtesy of a kill from Ilieva, which tied the score at 24. In overtime, Manhattan took the next two points to earn a 26-24 victory in set two.

“We just had a little more gas in the tank than what [Manhattan] had,” Yaeger said.

Binghamton jumped out to a 7-4 run in set three but, not long after, Manhattan quickly responded, knotting the score at nine. The back-and-forth nature of the match continued as the set stayed relatively close. Later in the frame, another pair of 4-0 runs propelled BU to a 25-18 victory in set three.

“We were able to serve out the sets once we got to 22 [points],” Yaeger said. “Our servers were really good at the end line by putting pressure on Manhattan.”

The Bearcats kept their momentum heading into set four, grabbing an 8-1 lead over the Jaspers to begin the set. BU continued to command the pace in the final set and never looked back, cruising to a dominant 25-14 win in set four to earn a 3-1 victory over Manhattan.

“I have zero complaints about the fourth set,” Yaeger said. “It’s how I think I should’ve played the other three sets … we controlled the whole fourth set which is what [we] always want to do.”

Ilieva spearheaded the Binghamton offense with 25 kills in the winning effort. In addition, sophomore setter Lottie Scully set up her teammates all game, recording 43 assists. As a team, BU had a hitting percentage of .285 while their defense held Manhattan to a hitting percentage of just .125.

“When we needed a kill, we knew we could go to [Ilieva] tonight,” Yaeger said. “[Scully was setting the ball well]. [Scully] was going to who was putting the ball away, which was [Ilieva].”

Binghamton will wrap up AE conference play against UNH on Sunday, Nov. 12. First serve is set for 1 p.m. at Lundholm Gymnasium in Durham, New Hampshire.

“The wear and tear of the season is upon us right now,” Yaeger said. “I can tell that [the team] is tired mentally, emotionally and physically so we need to do [our] best to rest our bodies here in the next couple days leading into next weekend.”

Coming off a loss against Bryant on Friday, the Binghamton volleyball team lost its second straight matchup, 3-1, on senior day, to UMBC on Sunday afternoon. After starting off strong to win the first set, the Bearcats were defeated in the next three sets as they dropped their second game of the weekend.

“We came out really strong,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “That’s something that we talked about for a while, that’s something that we didn’t do against Bryant … we [just] couldn’t keep up with it.”

After the Bearcats (13-11, 6-3 AE) won the first two points of the set, the Retrievers (13-7, 6-2 AE) followed things up with a 3-0 run of its own to take a 3-2 lead. The set continued to go back and forth as both teams managed to block each other several times at the net. Later on the frame, Binghamton began to pull away, stringing together a 3-0 run to make it 14-9. BU continued to stay in control as kills from senior outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva and freshman middle blocker Misa Dlouha gave the Bearcats an 19-11 lead. Binghamton kept the momentum for the rest of the set to earn a decisive 25-17 victory in set one.

“I thought we served well, [and] I thought we blocked really well,” Yaeger said.

Going into set two, UMBC jumped out to an early 5-1 lead. Despite this, the Bearcats were able to cut into the Retriever lead and stayed within striking distance with timely kills and blocks, eventually knotting the score at 10-10. After the Retrievers relinquished their lead for a brief moment, they came right back with a 4-0 run to make it 14-10. However, BU began to tighten up its defense, coming up with several blocks to tie the set at 16-16. UMBC kept just enough momentum to pull out a 25-22 win in set two to even the match at one set apiece.

“We’ve got to continue to get better,” Yaeger said. “You see little things here and there that we need to work on. Right when you think we’re getting going on something then we kind of have an off day on it.”

Once again, in set three, UMBC gained a quick 4-0 advantage before a kill by graduate student right-side hitter Lydia Adam and an ace by sophomore libero Madison Konopka spearheaded a 4-0 Bearcat run to even the score. The momentum shifted back and forth as brief runs from both teams tied the score at 10. Later in the frame, two consecutive kills from Schabort gave BU a 17-14 advantage. The final points of the set were highly contested with each team striving for the win. Neither team took their foot off the gas, as UMBC managed to tie things up at 24, forcing overtime. In overtime, UMBC went on to squeeze out the set 29-27.

“We struggled on defense and just kind of responding to [UMBC],” Yaeger said.

Both teams exchanged points in the opening moments of the fourth set. UMBC eventually gained a 10-5 advantage to force a BU timeout. After going down early, the Bearcats were unable to recover as the Retrievers controlled the rest of the final set, ultimately winning the set 25-16 and the match overall.

“We’ve got to continue to stay disciplined and focused,” Yaeger said. “At times, I felt like we lost a little bit of focus, but it was a good match.”

After the conclusion of the match, a senior day ceremony, which included a tribute video, was held for Adam, graduate student middle blocker Anna Sprys, senior outside hitter Stefana Stan and senior middle blocker Stephanie Gatto.

Yaeger discussed what the seniors meant to her and the enormous impact they have all had on the team throughout the season.

“All you have to do is watch the video and you can see how much impact in so many different ways that they’ve had on this program,” Yaeger said. “Their friendships that they’ve built along the way, that’s always one of the most important things. You can perform on the court, but you create your relationships and your friendships off the court. They’re going to be missed so much.”

The Bearcats will take on Manhattan College in a midweek nonconference matchup on Wednesday, Nov. 8 before its final game of AE play. The first serve is set for 6 p.m. at Draddy Gymnasium in Riverdale, New York.

Coming off a three-set sweep over NJIT last Sunday, the Binghamton volleyball team was defeated by Bryant 3-2 in an America East (AE) matchup that went the distance. After winning a highly contested first set, BU dropped the second and third sets to go down 2-1. However, the Bearcats’ defense secured a set-four win as BU forced a fifth set. Despite leading early on in the fifth set, the Bulldogs gained momentum late and pulled out a five-set victory.

“We struggled from start to finish,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “Bryant completely dominated from the first set all the way to the fifth set. With how much they dominated us, [Bryant] should’ve beat us in three [sets]. We never had control of the match.”

Bryant (18-10, 5-3 AE) came out of the gates hot to take a 4-0 lead. Despite trailing for most of the set, Binghamton (13-10, 6-2 AE) slowly crawled back, stringing together a set of runs to take a 24-23 lead late in the frame. Eventually, a kill from freshman outside hitter Ella Schabort and a Bulldog attack error gave BU the 26-24 victory in set one.

“Our serve receive is everything,” Yaeger said. “We’ve got to be able to pass the ball because we have some of the best hitters in this conference, waiting to put the ball away.”

Similar to the first set, BU went down early in the second set to the Bulldogs and could not recover. Despite a late effort from Binghamton to knot things up in the set, Bryant maintained its lead to take the set 25-22.

“Our serve receive couldn’t be consistent,” Yaeger said. “We didn’t dig enough balls. We missed 15 serves yesterday. You cannot win a match missing 15 serves.”

Heading into the third set with the match tied at one set a piece, both teams went back and forth at the beginning of the set. Midway through the set, a 6-0 run gave the Bulldogs a 15-11 lead. Bryant continued to run away with the set, closing things out with a 10-4 run to defeat BU 25-15 in set three.

“[Bryant] dug everything that we sent over to them,” Yaeger said. “It was just hard for us to get anything going last night.”

Looking to close the match out, Bryant continued its offensive prowess in set four, jumping out to a 6-0 lead. The Bearcats, however, managed to stay in the set and slowly chipped away, despite the Bulldogs’ best effort to put the set out of reach. Timely blocks from graduate student middle blocker Anna Sprys and freshman middle blocker Misa Dlouha allowed BU to tie the score at 23. BU went on to win the set 25-23, forcing a fifth set.

“Our blocking was really good,” Yaeger said. “Especially toward the end of that fourth set it helped us get going … We’re a good blocking team so we rely a lot on our blocks. The defense in the fourth set really helped.”

With the match deadlocked at two sets for each team, the fifth and final set decided the winner. The Bearcats continued to click after its set four wins, taking a 5-1 lead early on in the set. Despite this, the Bulldogs stayed in the set, taking their first lead with the score at 7-6. After some back-and-forth play, Bryant regained the lead ultimately winning the set 15-8 and the match 3-2, respectively.

“We’ve got to be better in our out-of-system [play],” Yaeger said. “But we’ve [also] got to be more consistent being in system.”

Schabort and senior outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva each added 12 kills in the losing effort. However, Ilieva also tallied 12 errors and recorded her lowest hitting percentage in a match this season at .000. Notably on defense, Dlouha had a season-high 13 blocks.

With Ilieva struggling to get things going on offense — a rare occurrence for both her and the Bearcats — Yaeger expressed that it was difficult for the team to adjust.

“[Ilieva] really struggled yesterday,” Yaeger said. “It’s tough because we haven’t had a match in a very long time where she’s struggled like that. Nobody really knew how to react to something like that … it wasn’t a great day for her. She had an off day, and I think this group didn‘t know how to respond to something like that.”

Binghamton faced off against UMBC on Sunday, Nov. 5 at 1 p.m. in its second AE matchup of the weekend.

After its five-game winning streak was snapped against UMBC last week, the Binghamton volleyball team captured two America East (AE) conference victories at home against Albany and NJIT this weekend. On Friday, the Bearcats took on Albany, dropping a closely contested first set, before going on to take the final three sets. BU then competed once again on Sunday, sweeping NJIT in three sets.

“Every game from here on out is so important,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “We have everything to lose. Every time we take the floor we have to be very focused. We’re gonna find teams like Albany that play really hard, they never went away tonight.”

In the first set, the Bearcats (13-9, 6-1 AE) got on the board first before Albany (7-15, 2-6 AE) put together a five-point run to go up 5-1. The Great Danes controlled the pace of the set from there on out. Ultimately, Binghamton tried to close the margin with a few key blocks, but Albany maintained its lead to close out a 25-18 win in set one.

BU went down early to the Great Danes to begin the second set before a kill by graduate student right-side hitter Lydia Adam helped BU take control. The set would go back and forth from there. Later in the frame, a Great Danes attack error followed by a service ace from senior outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva gave BU a 19-18 lead. Binghamton stayed in control from there with a kill from Adam securing a 25-22 set win for the Bearcats.

“Our blocking and defense really picked up,” Yaeger said. “With the run going back and serving by Ilieva, it’s all about momentum. Volleyball is all about momentum. Once we had it in that set, I felt like we ran with it.”

In the third set, BU jumped out to an 8-3 lead, spearheaded by a kill from sophomore setter and right side hitter Lottie Scully alongside a pair of kills from graduate student middle blocker Anna Sprys. The Great Danes fought back to tie the game before a sequence of Albany errors gave the Bearcats the momentum and the 25-22 set win to go up 2-1. In the final set, the Bearcats managed to pull away early on. Later in the set, two kills from Adam gave BU the lead. A final effort from Albany came up short as a closing kill from Sprys gave BU a 25-19 set win and a 3-1 match victory.

Following the victory over Albany, the Bearcats earned a 3-0 sweep in another conference matchup against NJIT (9-14, 1-6 AE) on Sunday afternoon.

“I felt like the second half of every single set we played was really good,” Yaeger said. “I’m still just a little disappointed with our starts in every single set. Too many errors, too many missed serves, but I’m happy with how we’ve finished.”

The Bearcats pulled away with double-digit wins in the first two sets against NJIT. In the first, multiple kills from Ilieva, freshman middle blocker Misa Dlouha and freshman outside hitter Ella Schabort gave BU the momentum. In the second set, BU stayed strong with Scully adding two more tip kills at the net. Binghamton’s strong play at the net in the second set helped the Bearcats earn its second double-digit win.

“Our blocking definitely picked up,” Yaeger said. “The net play was really good, our passing was good and our serving was really strong. And [Scully] having four kills today as a setter was really good.”

To close things out, the Bearcats got multiple kills from Adam and Schabort to keep the momentum going after Ilieva’s historic moment. Dominance at the net continued for BU, with two key blocks from Dlouha helping to give the Bearcats the 3-0 sweep.

“We needed the win,” Yaeger said. “We have to play like our lives depend on it if we want to host and want to take first. We gotta continue to get better. It’s obviously a good 2-0 win this weekend, heading into next weekend which is huge.”

Ilieva led the Bearcats with 32 kills throughout the weekend, including her 1,000th career kill on Sunday against NJIT. Adam finished the weekend with 21 kills of her own, and the Bearcats’ defense made its presence known at the net with 55 blocks for the weekend.

“It feels awesome [to reach the 1,000 kill mark],” Ilieva said. “I’ve been thinking about that for a while. My goals for this season were to break the school record for most kills in a season and get a thousand kills. One goal is off the table, now on to the next one.”

Binghamton will continue AE play against Bryant on Friday, Nov. 3. First serve is set for 7 p.m. in the Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, Rhode Island.

After sweeping Albany last week, the Binghamton volleyball team fell to UMBC in three sets on Thursday evening — suffering its first loss of America East (AE) play. The first set was as back and forth as it gets and was narrowly won by UMBC in overtime. From there, the Bearcats were unable to keep pace with UMBC over the next two sets, dropping the match 3-0.

“I was very disappointed,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “I was really excited to play that game. I thought it was gonna really show where we stand right now and how we look, and I just don’t think we played to the best of our ability.”

Binghamton (11-9, 4-1 AE) opened up the match with a three-point run to take an early lead but the Retrievers (10-6, 4-1 AE) responded with a run of their own to take a 5-3 lead. From there, the set went back and forth with both sides vying to take the lead. With the score tied 15-15, a kill by freshman outside hitter Ella Schabort spearheaded a 4-0 run to give BU an 18-15 lead — its largest since the outset.

Later in the frame, a pair of kills from sophomore setter Lottie Scully would help carry Binghamton to match point at 24-21, but the Retrievers bounced back to make it a 24-24 game and force overtime. Both squads would then get opportunities to close the set-out. After Binghamton failed to convert another match point opportunity, UMBC would get to match point at 27-26, but a kill from a graduate student right side hitter Lydia Adam held off the Retrievers. UMBC would end up on top, however, securing the next two points to win the set 29-27.

“We had opportunity after opportunity after opportunity,” Yaeger said. “I think we were up 24 to 21, and we just couldn’t finish, we couldn’t put the ball away. It was like finally we’d have a good pass and then we couldn’t put the ball away or we couldn’t pass so then we would have to give an easy ball over to them. So we just couldn’t put three solid contacts together to be able to finish.”

The back-and-forth play would continue going into the second set. Then, a kill from senior outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva helped power a run that also featured two service aces from Scully, as the Bearcats jumped out to a 7-2 lead. Despite this, UMBC soon mounted a comeback and both sides continued to grapple for the lead. After the Retrievers tied the score at 16-16, Binghamton was held scoreless for the rest of the set. A nine-point Retriever run powered UMBC to a 25-16 set win that left BU down 2-0.

“We can have [Ilieva], our all-American on the outside and we can have [freshman middle blocker Misa Dlouha] who’s put the ball away in the middle and [Schabort] out there, but if we can’t get them the ball, it’s useless,” Yaeger said. “So it just came down to our passing game and our passing game wasn’t there.”

UMBC kept its momentum going into set three, taking a 4-0 lead early on. This lead would be held by UMBC the rest of the way. While Binghamton would piece together some notable runs, including getting down to three points behind at 16-13, the squad was unable to piece together a run significant enough to take the lead. The Retrievers maintained their lead to earn a 25-20 set win, sweeping Binghamton in three sets.

Despite the loss, Ilieva maintained her double-digit kills streak and tallied a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs in the outing. Schabort would also tally 11 kills in the match. Both outside hitters, however, were held to hitting percentages of .209 and .114, respectively, by UMBC.

“I’m hoping that … we learn something from [UMBC] and see how they play — and we can be better next time, but we control our own fate right now,” Yaeger said. “We’re tied with them for first, and if we can beat them the next time they’re here and we can go undefeated against everybody else again, we would take that first place. It’s going to be hard, it’s going to be long, but I know we can do it.”

Binghamton will return home on Friday, Oct. 27 to take on Albany for the second time this season. First serve is set for 6:07 p.m. at West Gym in Vestal, New York.

“We struggled a little bit on serve receive but a win’s a win and a sweep is a sweep,” said Binghamton head coach Allie Yaeger. “We served really well, we had 10 service aces and so I thought that really helped contribute [to] putting [Albany] out of system.”

The match began with both Binghamton (11-8, 4-0 AE) and Albany (6-12, 1-3 AE) exchanging points, as the score tied at four early in the set. However, BU began to pull away, going on a 10-1 run to take a 14-5 lead. The Bearcats continued to put pressure on the Great Danes, increasing its advantage to 10, with the score at 17-10. Despite a late effort from Albany, which cut the BU lead to just one, Binghamton managed to hold off the Great Danes. A kill from graduate student right side hitter Lydia Adam secured a 25-23 win for BU in set one.

“When we needed to execute, we were able to execute,” Yaeger said. “We were out of system a lot tonight, but it made us better and made us work on our out-of-system hitting.”

BU got off to a quick start in set two, jumping out to an 8-4 lead over Albany. Despite Albany gaining some momentum and keeping pace, evening the score at 10-10, Binghamton took the momentum right back. With the score at 14-12, the Bearcats went on a 5-0 run to go up 19-12. However, with Binghamton leading 23-16, a late 4-0 run by the Great Danes cut the BU lead to three. After a kill by senior outside hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva, Albany went on another 3-0 run, cutting BU’s lead to just one at 24-23. Yet Binghamton held off the Great Danes for just long enough for to get a kill and put away the set 25-23.

“We were much better in serve receive in the second set,” Yaeger said. “When our backs are against the wall — which happens a lot recently this season — I felt confident. When we get in those situations we’ve been there a million times.”

Binghamton exchanged points with the Great Danes in the early moments of the third set. Not long after, a 5-0 run by the Bearcats propelled them to a 7-4 lead. Later in the frame, Albany was able to obtain a 9-8 advantage over BU. The momentum continued to shift between Binghamton and Albany, with the visiting Bearcats slowly pulling away, leading 18-13. BU was able to keep the momentum for the rest of the set, earning a 25-20 victory and securing the 3-0 sweep over the Great Danes.

“Every single time we step foot on the floor, I feel like we are learning and growing as a team,” Yaeger said. “I like being challenged … it only makes us grow better as a team … we are learning definitely with every single match.”

Ilieva spearheaded the Bearcats’ offense with 16 kills. On defense, graduate student middle blocker Anna Sprys tallied nine blocks. Overall, Binghamton recorded a .280 attack percentage, while Albany was held to a .169 attack percentage.

“We out-blocked [Albany] significantly,” Yaeger said. “I thought [Sprys] defensively played awesome for us … our middles did such a great job tonight.”

Binghamton will continue conference play against the reigning 2022 AE champions in UMBC on Thursday, Oct. 19. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore County, Maryland.