Box Score DURHAM, N.H. - The Binghamton volleyball team battled New Hampshire throughout five sets, but fell to the defending America East champions, Friday night from Lundholm Gymnasium. The Bearcats (3-15, 1-1 AE) were unable to hold off the Wildcats (9-10, 2-0 AE) as the two teams played their second five-set match in their last two meetings.
Sisters Allison and
Kristin Hovie led the Bearcats with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Freshman
Alexis LaGoy added 10 kills for Binghamton, who was limited to a .157 hitting clip. Senior setter
Amanda Dettmann handed out 44 assists while adding 16 digs. Sophomore libero
Bailey Walker set a Binghamton single-match record with 35 digs, surpassing the mark set by Brianna Strong (34) in 2009.
Binghamton took a thrilling opening set 26-24 thanks to an opportunistic offense and an inefficient New Hampshire attack. The Bearcats withstood 16 kills by the Wildcats limiting UNH to a .115 hitting percentage after 11 attack errors by the reigning America East champions. LaGoy and Anderson combined for seven kills in the set leading Binghamton to a .205 hitting clip. The Bearcats fell behind 20-12 late in the frame, but ignited for an 8-0 run to even the set at 20. After three straight UNH points and a Bearcat timeout, Binghamton received back-to-back kills from Anderson to take set-point. A termination by Dettmann sealed the 1-0 advantage for the Bearcats.
New Hampshire controlled most of the second set in route to a 25-18 victory, leveling the match at one game apiece. Binghamton was limited to a .055 hitting clip after committing eight attack errors. The Wildcats pushed out to a sizeable advantage for the second set in a row opening up a 19-12 lead. Three kills by
Kristin Hovie helped the Bearcats pull within three, 21-18, but UNH was too efficient connecting on 14 kills and just two attack errors.
In an evenly played third set, the Bearcats prevailed to take a pivotal 2-1 lead in the match. An
Allison Hovie kill handed Binghamton a 9-5 lead, but a 5-1 UNH run gave the Wildcats a 13-12 advantage. The two teams battled back-and-forth before kills by Anderson and
Allison Hovie gave the Bearcats some breathing room, 19-16, forcing an UNH timeout. Following kills from the Hovie sisters, Binghamton forced a second Wildcat timeout, eventually taking the set 25-20.
Binghamton dropped the fourth set 25-21, seeing its 2-1 lead evaporate with the match being extended to a fifth set. New Hampshire controlled the fifth set from the beginning jumping out to a 4-0 lead. The Bearcats used both timeouts midway through the set, but it wasn't enough as New Hampshire took the fifth frame 15-7 and the match 3-2.
The Bearcats travel to the Boston-area for a meeting with UMass Lowell on Sunday, Oct. 5 at 1 p.m.
