For Immediate Release: October 21, 2007
Contact: Anthony G. Naglieri (sports@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-2956

Volleyball sweeps season series from UMBC with 3-0 win
Bearcats move into second place with key road victory

Box Score

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Third-year outside Ashley Allen (Mill Creek, Wash.) hit a career-best .429 with 17 kills to lead visiting Binghamton to a 3-0 sweep of UMBC at RAC Arena on Sunday afternoon. The Bearcats (13-14, 5-2 AE) came out on top by scores of 30-27, 30-25, and 30-21.

With the win, BU sweeps the regular season series from UMBC (19-7, 4-3 AE) and moves into sole possession of second place in the America East Conference - one game behind first-place Stony Brook. On Friday, Binghamton took a 3-1 decision over the then conference-leading Retrievers at the West Gym.

Sunday's performance capped off a stellar weekend for Allen against the Retrievers. The 6-2 junior hitter averaged 4.57 kills per game and hit .287 in the two BU victories. She has now hit in double-digit kills 10 times this season.

"It was a nice all-around team effort," said ninth-year head coach Glenn Kiriyama. "We did everything well, from serving to blocking. We kept the pressure on them at the net and had them playing catch-up throughout most of the afternoon."

BU's play at the net once again proved to be a key factor, as the Bearcats dictated the play, outblocking the Retrievers 16-7. In the two matches, Binghamton held a combined advantage of 30 blocks to 10.

Attack errors also hurt the Retrievers in the match against Binghamton as they committed 30 errors compared to BU's 15. The Retrievers hit just .075 from the floor, while the Bearcats posted a hitting percentage of .215.

Freshman Lindsey Mueller (West Bend West, Wis.) led the Bearcats with 43 assists and 13 digs, while also adding four assisted blocks. Mueller recorded double-doubles in both matches and has now recorded double-doubles in four consecutive matches and 19 times this season. She averaged 12.14 assists per game over those two matches, as well as 3.57 digs per game and 1.29 blocks per game.

Seniors Jacki Kane (Centennial, Colo.) and Kathleen Schauer (Littleton, Colo.) each posted nine kills apiece. Kane added a match-high nine blocks. For the weekend, Kane averaged 2.43 kills per game at a team-high .341 hitting percentage, and 2.57 blocks per game. She continues to lead the America East Conference on the season with 141 total blocks (1.48/gm).

Junior libero Jaclyn Strader (Kettering, Ohio) was very active along the back row for BU, chipping in with a match-high 22 digs in the victory. Strader has recorded double-digits in digs in 25 of 27 matches this season.

The Bearcats host Siena on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Notes:
Binghamton now leads the all-time series 9-3 and has won nine of 10 from the Retrievers...BU has swept the regular season series in three consecutive years...The Bearcats posted team three-game match highs in kills (47) and assists (47) in Sunday's match..The Bearcats have now won seven of nine matches and are a game within .500 on the season for the first time since September 14...UMBC entered the weekend having won 10 of 12 matches. Sunday's home loss at the RAC arena snapped a 10-match home winning streak.