VESTAL, N.Y. - Juniors Stefana Stan and Tsvetelina Ilieva had 10 kills apiece and Binghamton volleyball (16-7, 7-2 America East) racked up 12 aces en route to a 3-0 sweep of visiting Albany (7-18, 2-6 AE) Sunday afternoon at West Gym. Binghamton won 25-18, 25-15, 25-18. The victory, combined with UMBC's home loss to UNH, allowed the Bearcats to take over sole possession of first place in the America East standings heading into the final weekend of the regular season.

On Senior Day, four-year standout Victoria Erwat was celebrated but before that, BU made quick work of a Great Danes team that has historically been a thorn in the side for the Bearcats. Albany entered the match having won 14 of the last 16 head-to-head but on Sunday, it was all Binghamton.

In the opening set, the Bearcats used a 10-4 run to pull away from an 8-8 tie. Stan, Ilieva and freshman hitter Giulia Bonifacio each had four kills and BU hit .367. In the second set, BU stretched a 9-7 lead with a 12-3 run that featured multiple kills from the same trio. In the closing set, Albany led 6-3 before another decisive BU run turned the tide. It was a 12-4 surge that put the Bearcats on top. And then up 20-18, BU closed the match with a 5-0 run that featured a kill by Stan, two aces by sophomore defensive specialist Sydney Aguirre and a kill from freshman setter Lottie Scully.  

Stan hit .476 and Ilieva just missed another double-double with nine digs to go with her 10 kills. Senior middle Anna Sprys led the team with six blocks. Lottie wound up with 26 assists. Aguirre and freshman libero Madison Konopka had three aces apiece. 

"I'm very happy with this performance," head coach Allie Yaeger said. "We were ready for this Albany team ... we wanted another 'go' at them. What sticks out to me today was our serve and serve receive game. We served very aggressively and took them out of system. We know they can put the ball away but we didn't allow them to play the offense the way they normally can. And then our distribution across the board was really good."
 
The Bearcats finish up the regular season with a road match at Bryant next Sunday before the four-team conference tournament begins on Nov. 18-20.