For Immediate Release: August 30, 2008
Contact: Matt Muzza (sports@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-2956

Binghamton volleyball sweeps Akron 3-0
Team is 2-0 at Northern Arizona Invitational

Box Score

FLAGSTAFF, ARIZ. -- Sophomore hitter Anna Lejina (Riga, Latvia) posted 18 kills to lead Binghamton (2-0) past Akron (0-2), 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-21) on Saturday afternoon at the Hilton Garden Inn/Northern Arizona University Invitational.

Lejina hit at a blistering .500 clip (18-3-30) and was one of three Bearcats to tally double-digit kills.

Senior hitter Brianna Strong (Elkhart Ind) added 11 kills and six digs while sophomore hitter Michelle McDonough (Orland Hills, Ill.) contributed 10 kills of her own to go along with seven digs.

"Our offense really clicked well," head coach Glenn Kiriyama said. "Our hitters did well and hit for a high percentage and it was a really strong team effort all the way around."

Sophomore setter Lindsey Mueller (West Bend, Wis.) tallied 41 assists in the match, going over the 40-assist plateau for the 12th time in her career. Mueller also had seven digs.

The Bearcats trailed the Zips 20-18 in the third set before Kiriyama called a key time out. Binghamton stormed back on to the court to a tune of a 7-1 run aided by three McDonough kills to close out the match.

Binghamton also used a crucial 12-3 run in the first set to fight back from a 10-7 deficit to take control of the frame and set the tone for the match.

Binghamton will play their final match of the Northern Arizona Invitational against the host Lumberjacks on Saturday night at 10 p.m.

Notes...Lejina had six kills in each of the three sets...one day after the team set the school's single match record for hitting percentage of .393 they turned in the second highest match output in Division I history against Akron with a .355 percentage