VESTAL, N.Y. - The Binghamton University Volleyball team begins its 2023 season this Friday, Aug. 25, at home with the second annual Bearcat Classic inside the Events Center. Picked to finish second in an America East Coaches' Preseason Poll, the 2022 regular-season conference champions look to make a title run once again this fall.
"Our expectation for the season is to win, win the regular season, host the conference tournament and go to NCAAs, " said second-year Head Coach Allie Yaeger. "We got cut short last year and have unfinished business this fall."
Last season, BU finished the year 17-9 (8-2 AE) and secured its first regular season title in program history with a 3-0 sweep at Bryant University, Nov. 13. Binghamton hoste
d the America East tournament in the West Gym before ultimately falling to the University New Hampshire 3-0 in the semifinals.
Binghamton led the America East with five all-conference selections and topped the league in hitting percentage at .246 and blocks per set at 2.60. Yaeger and Associate Head Coach CJ Werneke also took home the Coaching Staff of the Year honor in their first year.
The team returns eight Bearcat veterans in graduate student Anna Sprys, seniors Tsvetelina Ilieva, Stefana Stan and Stephanie Gatto. Junior Sydney Aguirre along with sophomores Lottie Scully, Madison Konopka and Kasey Tietjen all remain on the 2023 roster. Eight additional new players will take the court for Binghamton this season.
VOLLEY VETERANS
Tsvetelina Ilieva returns as the most decorated player on the 2023 roster. Named an AVCA All-American, the first ever Binghamton Volleyball player to receive the nomination, Ilieva became the second Bearcat in 21 years to be named America East Player of the Year. The Bulgarian started in all 26 matches, tallying six double-doubles and finishing third in the conference in points (410), kills (351) and kills per set (3.73). She had five matches with 20 or more kills, including a season-high 24 against UMBC, Oct. 30, snapping the Retrievers' 23-match win streak against America East opponents.
Anna Sprys enters her fifth season of BU Volleyball this fall. The graduate student also started in all 26 matches and topped the conference with 122 blocks and 1.30 blocks per set, leading her to an America East second-team selection. Sprys led the team with a 0.306 hitting percentage, for fifth overall in the conference, and finished third with 178 kills. She was named to the America East Honor Roll.
Lottie Scully remains the team's number one setter this year. The North Carolina native appeared in 24 matches, becoming Binghamton's first all-conference setter since 2017. Scully finished third in the America East with 788 assists, good for best amongst all Bearcats. In conference matches, she led all setters with 10.42 assists per set. Last season, Scully had 15 matches with 30 or more assists, including a season high of 64. She was also named to the 2022 All-Rookie Team.
Madison Konopka returns as the team's primary libero for the 2023 season. The sophomore played in all 26 matches last fall, leading the team with 357 digs and 34 service aces.She finished third amongst all Bearcats 81 assists and an average of 3.8 digs per set. Konopka recorded 20 or more digs in five different matches, earning her a place on the America East Commissioner's and Athletic Director's Honor Roll.
Sydney Aguirre also played in all 26 matches in 2022, making 12 starts while totalling 17 service aces and 201 digs. She recorded season-high five kills vs. St. John's in the first round of NIVC tournament on Dec. 2 and was also named to the America East Commissioner's and Athletic Director's Honor Roll.
Stephanie Gatto comes back in 2023 after starting in 23 matches last year, finishing second on the team with 93 blocks and totaling 35 kills. The Lake Grove, N.Y. native was named to the America East Commissioner's and Athletic Director's Honor Roll. Kasey Tietjen returns for her second season as a Bearcat after playing in four games last fall, totalling 14 kills and being named to the conference honor roll.
BRAND NEW BEARCATS
Yaeger and Werneke increased depth in every position this offseason, adding seven new freshmen and one graduate transfer to the 2023 roster.
"This preseason was really meant to learn a lot about who we are as a team and what we need to do to move forward, where do we stand, what adjustments do we have to make," said Yaeger. "With eight newcomers and eight returners, it's a lot of line-up trial and error and a learning experience for every player."
Graduate student Lydia Adam comes to campus from North Carolina State University where she spent two years as a right side hitter with the Wolfpack, appearing in 27 matches and amassing a 0.247 hitting percentage with 109 kills and 23 blocks.
Brenda Reynaga and Ella Maldonado join the Bearcats as liberos and defensive specialists. Reynaga was a member of Metea Valley High School's 2021 IHSA State, Super Sectional and Sectional championship team. An Aurora, Ill. native, Reynaga is a two-time AAU Club All-American and JVA Champion.
Maldonado joins the team as a five-year letterwinner from Merrick, N.Y. The Long Island native earned 2022 First Team All-State, All-Region, All-County and All-Tournament team distinctions. She was also named 2022 Newsday Region Player of the Year and Nassau County Volleyball Coaches Association Season Most Valuable Player. Maldonado recorded more than a thousand digs for Calhoun while serving as team captain for two seasons.
Danit Cohen and Zoe Myint come aboard the 2023 roster as setters. Cohen was a four-year letter winner at Chaminade Prep, tallying more than a thousand assists for the Eagles. The Los Angeles, Calif. native was named D2 State, Angeles and Viewpoint Invitational MVP her senior season. She is a two-time CIF semifinalist and a garnered First Team All-CIF-SS nod in 2022-23.
Myint travels south to campus from Manlius, N.Y. where she was a 2021 Sectional Champion and a four-year member of Fayetteville-Manlius' volleyball team. She was named to the 2022 All-CNY First Team and accomplished two All-League First Team distinctions in 2021 and 2022. Myint was placed on the 2021 AVCA Phenom Watchlist as a junior.
Alyssa Furlong and Ella Schabort are new right-side and outside hitters, respectively, for the Bearcats this season along with Misa Dlouha as a middle blocker. Furlong comes from Louisville, Ky. as a three-year letterwinner out of Sacred Heart Academy. The first-year student was a member of Sacred Heart's 2021 Kentucky State semifinalist team, competing in two Region 7 semifinals and one final for the Valkyries. Furlong was also named to the 2022 District All-Tournament Team.
Schabort comes to Vestal all the way from Perth, Australia where she was a two-time Lake Ginninderra High School Cup gold medal winner. She was a 2022 U18 Australian Junior Volleyball National Champion and named the tournament's Most-Valuable Player. Schabort was selected to compete with the Australian Senior Women's Team for the 2023 Asia Volleyball Confederation Challenge Cup. Also an international student, six-foot tall Dlouha hails from Spojil, Czech Republic where she played volleyball for Gymnasium Jana.
SCHEDULE
For the first time in school history, Binghamton will play six matches in the Events Center. The Bearcats will host their annual four-team Bearcat Classic on August 25-26, inside the arena while three other home conference matches, against UNH, Oct. 6, Bryant, Oct. 8, and UMBC, Nov. 5) will be held there as well, with the remaining home matches contested next door at the familiar West Gym.
After the opening weekend, BU will face a gauntlet of opponents at three high-profile tournaments hosted by Buffalo, Aug. 31-Sept. 2, Lehigh, Sept. 8-9, and UConn, Sept. 15-16. Like the Bearcats, Buffalo is coming off a strong season that ended with a national tournament berth. BIG EAST member DePaul and a 17-win Montana team round out the tournament participants. At Lehigh, BU will see the host Mountain Hawks, reigning NEC champion FDU and reigning MEAC champion Delaware State. The tournament at UConn will thrust BU up against their BIG EAST hosts, Ivy League runner-up Brown and Big Ten member Michigan State.
"The UConn tournament will test us, " Yaeger said. "I always want our fourth weekend to be the most difficult, I want to know where are we, where we stand. Definitely some winnable matches there, if we play well, but we're going to have to play well every single point of that weekend if we want to come out on top."
"I especially want to see how we match up to a Big Ten school, a BIG EAST school, and Brown is really good in the Ivy League as well," she added. "I'm really excited to see where we stand against those big time teams."
After a home contest against Colgate, Sept. 26, the 10-match conference slate begins Sept. 29 at NJIT and features home-and-home tilts against the five other America East programs concluding with a road game at UNH, Nov. 12.
The America East Championship will be held from Nov.17 to Nov. 19 this fall.
