AMERICA EAST CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Nov. 17-18, 2017
- Albany, New York
- Tournament Central
No. 1 seed Albany is out in the opening round of the America East Tournament, falling to No. 4 seed Stony Brook via sweep. Stony Brook will play No. 2 seed Binghamton for the league’s automatic berth at 5 p.m. ET Saturday after downing No. 3 seed New Hampshire in straight sets.
Stony Brook’s win marks the first time since 2005 the tournamnet’s No. 4 seed will play in the championship match.
Semifinal Scores
Binghamton def. New Hampshire 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-23)
Stony Brook def. Albany 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-20)
Binghamton 3, New Hampshire 0
Key Stats: Binghamton outhit UNH .252 to .155 and downed 18 more kills (49-31) and three more aces (5-2) in the sweep. New Hampshire won the block 9-4.
Key Players: Outside hitter Gaby Alicea, the 2017 America East Player of the Year, paced Binghamton with 17 kills. Three other players posted eight or more kills: senior middle blocker Kristella Morina (9), junior setter Kaelan Haag (8) and senior middle Lexi LaGoy (8). Morina notched a team-best three blocks, while senior setter Sarah Ngo paced the backcourt with 15 digs. Junior outside Erin Shultz served up three of the team’s five aces.
Sophomore outside Kennedi Smith downed 12 kills to lead the Wildcats. Junior middle Gabri Olhava was next ont he team with six kills and four blocks. Senior middle Molly Wotton also added four stuffs, while sophomore outside Emily Tanski pulled up a team-leading 12 digs.
It Was Over When: Down 21-20 in Set 3, Binghamton rallied with five of the final seven points to finish out the sweep. The Bearcats got two kills from Alicea and one from LaGoy to make it 24-22. A service error two points later closed out the win.
Next Up: The Bearcats advance to the America East championship match vs. Stony Brook, set for 5 p.m. ET Saturday. This marks the first conference championship appearance for the Bearcats since 2012. A win would give Binghamton its first NCAA berth since 2012 and sixth in program history.
Stony Brook 3, Albany 0
Stony Brook Recap / Albany Recap
Key Stats: Hitting errors piled up for Albany as the team committed 21 miscues and managed just a .103 hitting effort in the loss. Stony Brook, meanwhile, managed an efficient .280 clip, including a .345 effort in Set 2. The Seawolves outdid the Great Danes in kills (44-33) and blocks (6-3), while both teams managed five aces.
Key Players: Junior middle McKyla Brooks downed 16 kill, while hitting .353 and notching a team-best five blocks for Stony Brook. Redshirt junior outside hitter Emily Costello followed with 12 kills and nine digs. Senior libero Abby Hickey was tops in the backcourt with 10 digs.
Redshirt spohomore middle Akuabata Okenwa managed 11 kills to lead UAlbany, while sophomore outside Chloe Evering added eight putaways. Junior libero Nicole Otero pulled up a match-high 15 digs.
It Was Over When: Trailing 10-9, the Seawolves scored five in a row to go up 14-10. Albany narrowed the gap to one at 16-15 and 18-17, but could not break through. A Taylor Robinson kill had the Great Danes down two at 22-20, but Stony Brook capped the upset with three straight kills, one each by Cydney Bowman, Costello and Brooks.
Next Up: Stony Brook will make its first America East championship appearance since 2011 at 5 p.m. ET Saturday against Binghamton. The winner will receive the league’s NCAA automatic berth. A win would give Stony Brook its first ever NCAA Division I Tournament berth.
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