CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The America East volleyball season gets started with three matches this weekend, beginning with UMBC taking on Binghamton Friday night at 7 p.m. Check out the following previews and links to live stats and video for each of the matches:
Upcoming Matches
Friday, September 21
UMBC at Binghamton, 7 p.m. – Live Stats | Live Video
• UMBC enters its America East opener with wins in four of its last five matches and sweeping last week’s conference honors.
• Freshman Sherelle Walker has been a standout for the Retrievers, earning conference Player and Rookie of the Week accolades last week and leads the team at 2.95 kills per set.
• Binghamton finished just one game behind UMBC last season for the fourth and final spot in the America East Championship. It was the first time the Bearcats had missed the America East Championship since 2003, their second year in the conference.
• Binghamton returned second-team all-conference selections Xiomara Ortiz and Alex Roland from last year’s squad.
Saturday, September 22
Providence at New Hampshire, 2 p.m. – Live Stats | Live Video
• Providence owns a 15-4-1 advantage in the all-time series against the Wildcats. The two teams have split the four meetings since the Friars joined the conference in 2010.
• The Friars are led by Mackenzie Ziegler, who has 153 kills while Jordan Wiesler leads the team with 482 assists.
• New Hampshire finished second in the regular-season last year with an 8-4 record in America East play.
• Taylor Dunklau leads the conference in assists per set at 9.91, while Jessie Schnepp sits atop the conference with 4.97 digs per set.
Sunday, September 23
Hartford at Albany, 2 p.m. – Live
Video
• Albany begins defense of its America East title by hosting Hartford to open conference play.
• The Great Danes have won 43 of their last 46 regular-season matches against America East opponents. One of those losses came at Hartford during the 2010 season.
• Hartford finished sixth in the America East last year and is coming off back-to-back wins over Dartmouth and Bryant in their last two matches.
• Nethersole Sareeta has led the Hawks’ offense, leading the conference with a .273 hitting percentage while ranking second in kills at 3.81 per set.