BALTIMORE – The Binghamton volleyball team's 2025 season ended Friday as the No. 4 seed Bearcats (12-14, 6-4 America East) were defeated by No. 1 UMBC (12-11, 7-3 America East) 3-2 at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
 
Viktoria Dimitrova led Binghamton with 17 kills, while Merima Smajlovic recorded her 15th double double of the season by finishing the match with 21 digs and 15 kills. Regan Kadel posted a match-high 49 assists and Emily Cronkhite put up 23 digs, the most on the Bearcats. But the Bearcats ultimately fell 17-25, 25-16, 25-22, 22-25, and 10-15.
 
The first set featured the Bearcats remaining within striking distance of the Retrievers, as UMBC held a 15-12 lead at the media timeout. Out of the timeout, the Retrievers gained momentum by going on a 10-5 run, scoring the last five points in the set to take the opening frame.
 
Binghamton responded with an even larger run in the second set. Trailing 5-4, the Bearcats found their rhythm by taking 16 of the next 20 points to bring their lead up to 20-9. During that run, Binghamton scored nine unanswered points with Kadel serving, as Maya Coblentz-Brown put up two kills throughout that stretch. UMBC fought back to bring the set to 24-16 advantage for the Bearcats, but Binghamton closed out the frame with another kill by Coblentz-Brown to tie the match at 1 apiece.
 
Looking to lead the match for the first time, the Bearcats broke away from a 12-12 tie in the third set to take a 15-13 lead at the media timeout. Binghamton then forced UMBC to call a timeout of its own after the Bearcats took the next two points out of the break to extend their lead to 17-13. The Retrievers battled back to tie the match at 22. With the match lead hanging in the balance, the Bearcats closed out the set with back-to-back kills from Smajlovic and Pierdonati and then a block from both Coblentz-Brown and Pierdonati to move ahead 2-1.
 
With a trip to the finals in sight, the Bearcats held an 18-14 lead in the fourth set, just needing seven more points to advance. But the top-seeded Retrievers countered with a 7-0 run to jump ahead 21-18. Binghamton looked to take back the set, as two kills by Dimitrova and a block by Coblentz-Brown and Hannah Olmstead eventually got Binghamton within two points at 24-22. But UMBC secured the 25th point, however, to force a winner-take-all fifth set.
 
Both teams went back-and-forth in the first half of the fifth set, with Binghamton eventually holding a 9-7 advantage. After the Retrievers scored three consecutive points to move ahead 10-9, Dimitrova got another kill to tie the set at 10. It was the final point the Bearcats scored for the season, as the Retrievers closed the match out on a 5-0 run to advance to the finals.
 
The loss puts an end to a season where, despite having a roster where 11 of its 18 players were newcomers, Binghamton managed to reach the America East Volleyball Championship for the fourth year in a row. It was the first time the Bearcats reached the conference tournament in four consecutive seasons since 2014-17. Both Dimitrova and Smajlovic also received First Team All-Conference honors from the America East. Since Binghamton had three players earn First Team All-Conference honors in 2024 (Misa Dlouha, Tsvetelina Ilieva and Lottie Scully), it was the first time the Bearcats had multiple players make the First Team in back-to-back seasons since 2005 (2) and 2006 (3).
 
Hinman, Howard & Katell, LLP is the presenting sponsor of Bearcats Volleyball.