DURHAM, N.H. – With its spot in the America East Volleyball Championship already secured, the Binghamton volleyball swept New Hampshire 3-0 Friday night at Lundholm Gymnasium to close out its regular season.
The Bearcats (12-13, 6-4 America East) defeated the Wildcats (9-14, 3-7 America East) 25-18, 25-16 and 25-20 to complete the regular season sweep of the defending America East tournament champions.
Merima Smajlovic led Binghamton with 19 kills, while
Regan Kadel recorded a match-high 39 assists. She has posted at least 39 assists in five of her last six matches since becoming the Bearcats' primary setter, including in each of her last four.
"Tonight, we played with confidence," said Binghamton Head Volleyball Coach
Allie Yaeger. "You could see it in our passing. Everyone played aggressively from our passers to our hitters. Merima coming through big time offensively for us was huge. Our hitters continue to make smart choices and our defense continues to let nothing drop. Our out-of-system play was on pint as well. This match was exactly what we needed heading into the conference tournament."
With the first set beginning with both teams jumping out to a 4-4 tie, Binghamton used a 5-0 run to build its lead up to 9-4. UNH fought back to bring it to 16-14, but the Bearcats maintained the advantage. Leading 19-16, the Bearcats closed the opening frame on a 6-2 run to win the set.
Viktoria Dimitrova recorded seven of her 13 kills during the first set, while Smajlovic added six. Binghamton hit .395 as a team during that set, its best hitting percentage for any set during the match.
Both teams traded the lead early in the second set before New Hampshire eventually moved ahead 14-12. Binghamton then went on its largest run of the night, outscoring UNH 13-2 to take the set. During that stretch, Smajlovic posted back-to-back service aces along with two kills.
The third set featured stretches of offense from both teams. After the Wildcats went up 8-5 in the early part of the third set, the Bearcats responded with five unanswered points to take a 10-8 lead. New Hampshire countered with five-straight points of its own to retake the lead 13-10. In response, Binghamton put up four points in a row to go ahead 14-13. As both teams faced a 16-16 tie, the Bearcats scored five of the next nine points to grab a 21-20 lead. The Wildcats looked to win the set to extend the match, but the Bearcats prevented that by closing out the contest on a 4-0 run to complete the sweep.
Binghamton now prepares to enter the America East Volleyball Championship for the fourth season in a row. Competing as the No. 4 seed, the Bearcats will face No. 1 UMBC in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 21 at 4 p.m., at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Md. The winning team goes up against the winner of No. 2 Bryant and No. 3 UAlbany in the finals on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 4 p.m., with an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament awarded to the champion.
Hinman, Howard & Katell, LLP is the presenting sponsor of Bearcats Volleyball.
