DURHAM, N.H. -- Â Junior outside hitters
Erin Shultz and
Gaby Alicea combined for 35 kills, powering Binghamton (7-14, 4-4 AE) to a 3-1 win over New Hampshire (10-12, 5-3 AE) in an America East volleyball match on Friday night at Lundholm Gym. The scores were 25-20, 25-22, 22-25, 25-17.
With the victory, the Bearcats sweep the season series from the four-time defending conference champions. It also marked their first win at Lundholm Gym since 2012.
Shultz finished with a match-high 19 kills and hit .356 (19-3-45). She also added nine digs and a pair of service aces. Alicea, meanwhile, posted 16 kills to go along with two aces, eight digs and a pair of blocks. Together, the Bearcat duo recorded 40.0 of the team's 63.0 points.
The Bearcats hit .379 in the opening set, which they won 25-20. There were nine ties but Binghamton closed out on a 9-4 run.
Binghamton jumped out to a 15-8 lead in the second set but the Wildcats pulled to within 21-18. From there, the Bearcats got kills from Shultz and senior outside hitter
Lexi LaGoy and took advantage of a pair of Wildcat errors to take a 2-0 lead at the break.
Looking to close out the match, the Bearcats held an 8-7 lead in the third set. From there, however, New Hampshire scored six straight points to take the lead for good.
Down 6-4 in the fourth set, Binghamton took command with a 10-2 run to go up 14-8. Shultz had three of her kills during that stretch.
Senior setter
Sarah Ngo finished with 45 assists and 17 digs. Freshman defensive specialist
Samantha Gioiosa finished with a match-high 19 digs and sophomore defensive specialist
Kim Lavender added 11 digs.
As a team, Binghamton outhit the Wildcats .240 to .148. The Bearcats finished with 52 kills and committed just 17 attack errors.
Binghamton's road trip continues on Saturday with a 5 p.m. match at UMass Lowell.
NOTES: Alicea came into the match leading the America East with 3.57 kills per set (kps) while Shultz ranked eighth with 2.65 kps … as a team, Binghamton ranked second in hitting percentage (.194) and kills per set (12.45) prior to Friday's win.Â
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