BOCA RATON, Fla.- The Binghamton volleyball team dropped two matches to begin the 2015 season on Friday. In action at the Florida Atlantic Invitational, the Bearcats fell in a dramatic five-game match to Bethune-Cookman after taking a 3-0 loss against Georgia Southern earlier in the day.
 
BU grabbed a 2-0 match lead against Bethune-Cookman, but could not hold off a Wildcat rally in a contest that went the distance. BCU won by scores of 29-31, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20, and 15-13. In the first set, the teams were even at 10 when the Bearcats went on a 3-0 spurt to take control. Megan Burgess tallied a kill and then teamed up with Bianca Anderson for a block. A Wildcat error made it 13-10. After a BCU run, Binghamton responded with another 3-0 rally, capped by a Bailey Walker ace. Walker's second kill of the game gave BU a 20-18 edge. The teams traded points back and forth as Sarah Ngo found Anderson and then Gabby Alicea for kills to continue the frame. With BCU up, 29-28, Ngo led the Bearcats to victory, hitting Erin Shultz, Anderson, and Shultz again for points to close out the opener.
 
Burgess, BU's lone senior, got Binghamton started right in the second set, posting consecutive kills for an early 5-1 lead. Ngo followed by continuing her stellar afternoon with an assist to Kristella Morina, then a block assist with Morina, and a kill to put her team up, 9-5. BCU eventually rallied, taking a 21-20 edge, but kills by Morina and Anderson gave the Bearcats control again. Shultz scored to put the Wildcats on the brink and then a BCU error made it 2-0 in favor of Binghamton. In the frame, BU hit .244 with 18 kills.
 
The next two games saw similarly competitive action as the match went to a decisive fifth set. Burgess scored to open the frame, but Bethune-Cookman answered with three straight points. Ngo assisted on an Anderson kill and after a Wildcat point, Burgess registered another point. BU then fell behind, 9-6, forcing Coach Glenn Kiriyama to call timeout. The Bearcats responded with four straight points, as Shultz scored and combined with Anderson for a block and then Ngo served an ace for a 10-9 edge. BCU came back with three points in a row, but Ngo hit Burgess for another kill to keep Binghamton in it. Shultz posted a point and then Morina and Alicea combined for a block to make it 14-13 BCU. The Wildcats pulled out the ensuing point, though, taking the thrilling contest.
 
Shultz led with 20.5 points, while Burgess recorded 16.5 in the match. Ngo notched 55 assists, 27 digs, and three aces-all career high numbers. The assist total is the most by a Bearcat since Amanda Dettmann dished out 55 at Stony Brook on November 3, 2013. Walker compiled 35 digs, matching her personal best. Alicea added 13.5 points and 11 digs and Anderson had nine kills and 3.5 blocks.   
 
In the opener against Georgia Southern, the Bearcats fell by scores of 25-20, 25-11, and 25-20. In the first game, BU racked up 14 kills, as Schultz and Alicea combined for five.
 
Burgess posted three kills in the second frame, but the Eagles took control of the match. Binghamton battled in the third set, but Georgia Southern came away with the win in the end. GSU went ahead, 6-1, early, but BU rallied to make it 11-9 on kills by Kaelan Haag and Alicea. Ngo assisted on points by Burgess and Morina to keep the Bearcats with two before the Eagles went on a run to take a 21-13 advantage. A Walker ace and a Shultz kill kept the set alive, but it wasn't enough.
 
Burgess paced the Bearcats with 8.5 points, while Walker compiled 17 digs and an ace. Ngo dished out 21 assists and totaled seven digs.
 
Binghamton returns to action at FAU on Saturday. It plays the host Owls at 11 a.m. and then concludes competition against Stetson at 3:30 p.m.