VESTAL, N.Y. – Having won eight of its last nine matches, the Binghamton volleyball team (8-4) begins America East Conference play Sunday by going on the road to face New Hampshire (9-4) at 1 p.m., at Lundholm Gymnasium.
LAST TIME ON THE COURT
Binghamton carried its momentum into the Dartmouth Invitational last weekend, winning two out of its three matches. The Bearcats opened the invite by defeating Dartmouth in four sets on Sept. 18. After falling to Boston College in straight sets, Binghamton wrapped up its weekend by taking down Quinnipiac in five sets.
Viktoria Dimitrova and
Maya Coblentz-Brown were ultimately named to the invitational's all-tournament team.
Dimitrova also went on to be named the America East's Player of the Week last Tuesday, receiving the honor for the second week in a row. The junior outside hitter from Bulgaria put up 51 kills across 12 sets, averaging 4.25 per set. She first put up 19 kills against Dartmouth, before tying her career high of 22 kills against Quinnipiac. Dimitrova is tied for the lead in the America East in kills per set at 3.54.
DEFENSE IS THE NAME OF THE GAME
Binghamton has thrived at defending the net so far this season. The Bearcats rank eighth in the country in total blocks for a team at 128.0 and 18th in blocks per set at 2.78.
Hannah Olmstead, meanwhile, is 20th in the country in blocks per set at 1.47. At the Dartmouth Invitational, she averaged 1.58 blocks per set. She recorded eight total blocks against Dartmouth and seven against Quinnipiac.
Celeste Ocampo continues to help Binghamton on defense. The sophomore libero ranks 25th in the country in digs per set at 4.63. She has recorded at least 11 digs in 10 out of 11 matches this season. In two matches played at the Dartmouth Invitational, Ocampo finished with 18 digs against Dartmouth and 11 versus Boston College.
ACES EVERYWHERE
Junior outside hitter
Briana Binagi picked up 10 service aces in three matches played at the Dartmouth Invitational. That includes a career-high five against Boston College. During that match, Binagi had a stretch where she recorded four service aces over the course of five points being scored by Binghamton. Binagi leads the America East in service aces per set at 0.47.
MORE ON NEW HAMPSHIRE
New Hampshire leads the all-time series against Binghamton 29-23. However, the Bearcats won both matches between the two programs in 2025. Binghamton first prevailed in five sets at the Events Center on Oct. 17, before sweeping the Wildcats in New Hampshire to close out the regular season on Nov. 14. Dating back to 2022, Binghamton has won seven of its last 10 matches against New Hampshire, including its last three.
After winning both of its matches at Clemson's Tiger Classic, defeating Furman 3-1 and Clemson 3-0, New Hampshire fell in straight sets at Dartmouth last Wednesday.
For their performance at the Tiger Classic, Hady Pickard was named the America East's Defensive Player of the Week, while Jessica Shattles was chosen as the league's Setter of the Week. Pickard averaged 5.29 digs and 1.57 assists per set at the Tiger Classic, picking up 21 digs against Clemson and 16 against Furman. Shattles, meanwhile, averaged 10.71 assists and 3.57 digs per set throughout those two matches. In New Hampshire's victory against Clemson, she had 30 assists and 15 digs.
Emma Converse was also named the America East's Player of the Week for each of the first two weeks of the season on both Sept. 1 and 8. The junior outside hitter joined UNH after playing her first two collegiate seasons at Buffalo. Entering this weekend, she ranks second in the America East in points per set (3.99) and third in both kills per set (3.43) and service aces per set (0.39).
Hinman, Howard & Katell, LLP is the presenting sponsor of Bearcats Volleyball.
