For Immediate Release: November 17, 2007
Contact: Anthony G. Naglieri (sports@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-2956

Volleyball Season Ends in America East Semifinals
The top-seeded Seawolves advance to Sunday's championship final with 3-1 win

Box score

STONY BROOK, N.Y.-- The Binghamton volleyball team saw its 2007 season come to a bittersweet close as they lost to No. 1 seed and regular season conference champions Stony Brook, in four games in the semifinal match of the America East Volleyball Championship Tournament on Long Island
Saturday afternoon.

Led by 2007 America East Player of the Year, Jacki Ahlers and
first-team all-league hitter Morgan Sweany, the host Seawolves came out on top by scores of 23-30, 30-21, 30-24, and 30-27. Ahlers and Sweany shared the match-high with 19 kills apiece, while fellow all-league first teamer Kaitlyn Deutsch added 52 assists and six digs.

The Seawolves advance to the AE Finals where they will face the winner of Saturday's second semifinal match between #2 New Hampshire and #3 Albany.

Senior middle Jacki Kane (Centennial, Colo.) ended her Bearcat career with six kills and four blocks. She finishes the season with a school record 186 blocks. For her four-year career she finishes with 611 career blocks, which ranks second all-time and first in BU's Division-I era. Kane's six kills give her 1,040 for her career, which ranks sixth on BU's all-time kill list.

Another Bearcat saw her career come to a close as senior co-captain Kathleen Schauer (Littleton, Colo.) closed her memorable four-year career with 12 kills, four digs, and a .273 attack percentage. For her efforts, Schauer was named to the All-America East Championship team. She finishes with 933 career kills which ranks ninth on the school's all-time charts.

Despite the losing effort, juniors Ashley Allen (Mill Creek, Was.) and Jaclyn Strader (Kettering, Ohio), as well as freshman Lindsey Mueller (West Bend, Wis.) all delivered spirited efforts for BU. Allen was an instrumental part of the Bearcat attack finishing with 10 kills, seven digs and four blocks. The strong hitting of Stony Brook kept Strader, BU's libero and backrow leader busy throughout the afternoon. She finished with 23 digs and a pair of kills. Mueller finished with 40 assists and nine digs and valiantly fought off an injury that kept her out of portions of game three to finish out the match for the Bearcats.

Binghamton came out on its game in the opener. With the score tied 13-13, BU reeled off 12 of the next 15 points to grab a commanding 25-16 advantage. Led by Schauer's game-high six kills and Strader's nine digs, Binghamton took the first game by a 30-23 margin. The Bearcats frustrated the hosts throughout the first set, holding the Seawolves to a -.029 hitting percentage and forcing 10 attack errors.

In game two, Stony Brook looked more like the team that headed into the weekend on a league-best 11 match winning streak. Ahlers and Sweany combined for 10 kills to lead Stony Brook to a 30-21 win. The Seawolves led most of the way, leading by as many as six points before BU closed to within 22-19. Stony Brook would prove to be too tough, however, as the hosts ran off the next six points en route to a 30-21 win.

The score was tied at 15 apiece in the third set when Stony Brook used a 10-4 run to take the lead for good as the Seawolves took a 2-1 match lead with a 30-24 game three victory.

Game four was the tightest contest of the afternoon. The score stood tied at 26-26 late, before a Stony Brook kill, a BU handling error, and Stony Brook block gave the Seawolves a 29-26 advantage. Kane and Allen would team up on a block to keep the Bearcats alive at 29-27, but a Seawolves kill sealed the deal and gave Stony Brook a 3-1 match victory.

Binghamton has now lost in the conference semifinal in each of the last two seasons. The Bearcats conclude the 2007 season with a 16-18 overall mark.