BALTIMORE, Md. – Junior hitter Stefana Stan ripped a career-high 26 kills and Binghamton volleyball (14-7, 5-2 America East) amassed a season-high 77 team kills to roar past first-place UMBC (13-6, 6-1 AE) 3-2 Sunday afternoon at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. The Bearcats rallied from down 2-1 down to win 23-25, 26-24, 20-25, 25-20, 15-13.    

The win pulled second-place BU to within one game of the Retrievers and in the process, snapped UMBC's 23-match win streak against America East opponents.  

Stan hit .478 and provided her final blow late in the fifth set after BU saw a 12-6 lead wiped out by the two-time reigning conference champions. With the score even at 13-13, Stan steadied the Bearcats with her final kill. On match point, UMBC hit long to seal BU's win.

"I'm happy for the players to get a huge win like this on the road," head coach Allie Yaeger said. "It was a momentum-driven match ... either you were the team that had it or you didn't. Defense was key for us ... fighting and staying in it in the fourth and fifth sets. Stefana (Stan) played such a huge role and she continues to impress me with her consistency. We definitely struggled in the first three sets but I'm proud of them for never giving up. You could really see us playing as a team in the last two sets. We need matches like this ... challenging and intense."

The Bearcats put up huge offensive numbers in this thriller. Freshman setter Lottie Scully produced a season-high 64 assists. Junior hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva recorded her sixth double-double of the season with a season-high 24 kills and 10 digs. Senior middle blocker Anna Sprys had three of her 12 kills in the deciding set and freshman right-side hitter Giulia Bonifacio contributed a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Bonifacio also added four aces. Freshman libero Madison Konopka led the defense with 20 digs - her fifth match with 20 or more digs.

Just like the first match between the two teams in Vestal three weeks earlier, this one was a high-intensity, see-saw affair. UMBC edged ahead midway through and took the opening set, despite six kills from Ilieva and precision from Stan (5 kills in 7 hits). In the set set, BU closed with a decisive 11-5 run to pull out the 26-24 win. Ilieva and Stan had five more kills apiece and the Bearcats held UMBC to just .194 hitting. The Retrievers took the third set, thanks to a 9-0 mid-match run.

But BU responded in the fourth set with .317 hitting (18 kills). The Bearcats opened with a 5-1 run and maintained at least a three-point margin throughout. In the fifth set, BU again jumped ahead, this time 7-1. Sprys had three of those points on kills and Bonifacio added an ace. Sprys, Stan and Ilieva had kills to push BU's lead to 12-6 before the Retrievers made one final surge. But after back-to-back blocks brough UMBC even at 13, Stan got the crucial attack and the Bearcats hung on.  

Binghamton's head-to-head win snapped an eight-match losing streak to the America East kingpins and brought BU closer to clinching a postseason berth. The Bearcats are three wins clear of fifth place with three matches remaining in the regular season. The top four teams earn a berth to the America East Championship so Binghamton can clinch a spot with just one more win.

The Bearcats host NJIT (7-17, 1-6 AE) Friday at West Gym.