NEWARK, N.J. - The Binghamton volleyball team completed a comeback to defeat NJIT in five sets Friday evening to kick off America East play. Despite falling in the second and third sets, the Bearcats battled back to take the 25-19, 20-25, 20-25, 25-18, 15-13 win.

"This was a nice comeback win to begin conference play,"head coach Glenn Kiriyama said.  "We were too inconsistent at times, but had strong performances from some of our players."

BU was led by Stefana Stan, who tallied 20 kills on the evening, with a .277 hitting percentage. Anna Sprys added 12 kills of her own, to go along with seven blocks. Elis Gadelha had nine kills without recording a single error, and Emily Rail had five aces. Kiara Adams contributed 48 assists.

The Bearcats were able to dominate the first set, sparked by a 6-0 run midway through the frame. The Highlanders took the second and third sets, despite both being close.

The fourth set was similar to the first, as Binghamton dominated from start to finish to force a final set. With momentum on their side, the Bearcats were able to ride it in the fifth set to take an early lead. Despite several comeback bids by the hosts, BU was able to pull away and take the win on an NJIT attack error.

As a team, Binghamton had 24 blocks. Alongside Sprys' seven, Adams, Gadelha and Stan each had four. Rail added 14 digs.

The Bearcats return home to take on Albany Sunday afternoon. First serve is set for 2 p.m.