Volleyball set to play three matches this weekend

8/23/2018 9:29:00 AM | By: Leigh Martino (lmartino@binghamton.edu)

Bearcats kickoff 2018 at Cleveland State Invitational

VESTAL, N.Y. - The Binghamton volleyball team begins the 2018 season at the Cleveland State Invitational this weekend. The Bearcats will play host Cleveland State at noon on Friday followed by a match against Canisius College at 4:30. The following day Binghamton will face Montana State University at 11 a.m.

A look back at 2017
Coach Glenn Kiriyama heads into his 20th season at the helm for Binghamton. His 2018 squad was picked to finish fourth in the America East preseason poll.

In 2017, the Bearcats finished second in the America East conference advancing to championship weekend for the 12th time in 14 years. Binghamton fell to Stony Brook in the conference finals, 3-0. Gaby Alicea returns for her senior season after a standout junior campaign where she was named America East Player of the Year. Second team all-conference selection Lexi LaGoy as well as all-rookie team member Samantha Gioiosa are also back.

Cleveland State comes back strong
Cleveland State was once again picked to finish first in the Horizon League preseason poll. The Vikings are coming off a wildly successful season in 2017 where they won the regular season and Horizon League tournament as well as made an appearance in the NCAA tournament. Cleveland State finished the season with a 22-8 overall record last year.

2017 Horizon League postseason honorees Sara Skeens and Emily DeGeorge return this season as well at head coach Chuck Voss who was named the league's Coach of the Year.

Canisius in 2017
The Golden Griffs went 10-18 overall and 8-10 in the MAAC conference last season. Sara Wesley returns for her senior season after appearing in all 100 sets for the Griffs last season. She ranked second on the team with 261 kills for a 2.61 kills per set average. Canisius will look to defensive specialist, Sofia Lopez Acosta, to make big plays defensively. Last season she lead the team with 425 digs.

A look at Montana State
Montana State was picked to finish eighth in the Big Sky conference in the preseason poll. Last season they went 10-15 overall and 6-10 in the conference. The wins in 2017 doubled the number from the previous season. MSU returns four starters and standout libero Alyssa Rizzo in 2018. Rizzo recorded 462 digs for a 4.71 digs per set average last season.

Tournament information
There will be live stats for every match of the tournament. No live stream will be available. Links to live stats can be found here.

Next up
Binghamton will travel to Arlington Texas for the UT-Arlington Invite August 31-September 1. The Bearcats will face host UT Arlington as well as Air Force Academy and Loyola University.

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Bearcats kickoff 2018 at Cleveland State Invitational

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