For Immediate Release: November 13, 2005
Contact: Thomas Moore II (sports@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-2956

Binghamton volleyball defeats UMBC 3-1 in final regular season match
Bearcats will face No. 3 Maine in semifinal of AE Championship as the No. 2 seed

Box score

VESTAL, N.Y.-- Binghamton junior outside hitter Katie Brody (Vestal, N.Y.) nailed a match- and season-high 22 kills, leading Binghamton (18-11, 10-2 AE) to a 30-20, 30-26, 26-30, 30-22 win over UMBC (11-18, 4-8 AE) in an America East Conference volleyball match on Sunday afternoon at West Gym. With this win, Binghamton improves to 7-1 at home this season, which is the best home record for the Bearcats since the jump to Division I. The 10-2 conference record this season is by far a significant improvement on last year's 7-7 conference record.

"I thought Brody had a good match," head coach Glenn Kiriyama said. "She was on fire the last game. She was getting a majority of the sets and came through for us."

Junior middle blocker Megan Hoag (Brunswick, Ohio) led Binghamton with 16 digs. She also contributed nine kills while Brody added 12 digs. Freshman outside hitter Brianna Strong (Elkhart, Ind.) posted season-highs of 16 kills and three aces. Strong also tallied 12 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Jacki Kane (Centennial, Colo.) added 10 kills and eight blocks. Junior setter Ashley Meffert (Louisville, Ky.) passed 56 assists and added 13 digs. Sophomore Kathleen Schauer (Littleton, Colo.) produced 10 kills.

For UMBC, Christine Skala had a match-high 19 digs, including her 1,476 career dig to become the Retrievers all-time digs leader. Jessie Folk and Julia Hood each had a team-high 13 kills.

In the third game, with the Bearcats up 11-10, Folk delivered back-to-back aces to help UMBC go ahead of Binghamton. The Bearcats never regained the lead in the third game.

UMBC hung tough and trailed 16-14 in the fourth game. Binghamton used a 8-2 run to pull away from the Retrievers and win the game 30-22.

"I thought we executed well, our blocking kept us in the match," Kiriyama said. "The 10-2 (conference) record is fabulous for this squad. They have worked hard for it all year long and gained confidence in themselves. I am sure we will go to the conference tournament with a lot of confidence in our abilities."

The America East Championship will take place on the campus of Albany. The semifinal matches will begin on November 18. In the first semifinal match will be No. 4 Stony Brook versus No. 1 Albany at 5:30. In the second semifinal of the day the No. 2 seeded Bearcats will face No. 3 Maine at 8 p.m. The Championship match will be will take place on November 19 at 5 p.m.