VESTAL, N.Y. - Junior hitter Tsvetelina Ilieva put down 20 kills without an error and Binghamton volleyball (10-5, 1-1 America East) pushed two-time defending champion UMBC (9-5, 2-0 AE) to a fifth set before falling 3-2 Friday night in front of a boisterous West Gym crowd. The Retrievers won 15-25, 26-24, 14-15, 25-22, 15-12 in an early season first-place battle.

The Bearcats led two sets to one before UMBC rallied to take the fourth set and force the deciding one. In the fifth, the Retrievers snapped a 12-12 tie with back-to-back kills and closed it out with a BU error. 

"They were just a little cleaner at the end," head coach Allie Yaeger said of UMBC's finishing run. "We went into this match knowing we would learn a lot and we were hoping for a close match ... and that's exactly what it was. We didn't come out on top but hopefully we see this team two more times this season. It's still so early. We will take away so much and learn so much from tonight. That's such a good UMBC team ... but we are right there with them. I'm proud of the girls. It was a fun environment with our crowd."

Ilieva produced a memorable night with a team-high 20 kills and no errors for a .417 attack percentage. Ilieva added 12 digs and two aces. Junior hitter Stefana Stan was strong with 13 kills and a .344 attack percentage. Freshman setter Lottie Scully handed out 43 assists and notched a double-double, thanks to 11 digs.   

Binghamton was strong out of the gate, quickly building a 15-7 first-set lead, thanks to an 11-4 early run. Back-to-back kills from Ilieva closed out the 25-15 set. Freshman opposite side hitter Giulia Bonifacio hit four of her 11 kills during the opening set and BU held UMBC to a .103 attack. 

The second set was tight throughout, with neither team leading by more than four points. The Bearcats played from behind for much of the set but tied it at 22-22 on back-to-back kills from Stan and then took a 23-22 lead on a Retrievers attack error. Two points later, BU had set point after another kill from Bonifacio, but UMBC countered with three straight points to grab the 26-24 final. 

In Set 3, BU jumped ahead 5-1, led 12-7 and put the game away with an 11-4 closing run. Ilieva had five kills in the game and the Bearcats didn't commit an attacking error (12 kills, .600) in the lopsided game. 

But UMBC played from ahead the entire fourth set and used an 8-3 mid-set run to seize control and force the final set. 

Binghamton next travels to Newark to face NJIT Sunday afternoon.