The Bison traveled to Binghamton, New York for the Binghamton Invitational this past Friday. After the three-game weekend, the Orange and Blue ended with two wins and a loss. The Bison started with a two-game match-up, Canisius and Mercyhurst, taking home the victory against both competitors.

Starting against Canisius, the Bison defeated the Golden Griffins in just four sets. Sidney Shaffer ’27 ended the game with 18 kills, the most on the team. Along with her, Tijana Kostic ’26 had a double-double with 14 kills and 12 digs. Finally, Kaitlyn Taylor ’27 set her career high with 10 kills. 

The first set, the Golden Griffins led 4-2, but the Orange and Blue quickly surpassed them, making the game a close 11-10. The Bison ended the set with the Griffins only managing 4 more points. In the second set, the Griffins held the lead again, going 16-12. That was until the Orange and Blue had a 4-0 run to tie it up, where they pushed ahead to win the set 25-22.

The Golden Griffins kept a dominant lead throughout the third set, with the Bison coming closest at 24-20. A final kill from the Golden Griffins ended the set. The fourth set ended the match with a 25-15 win for the Orange and Blue.

The Bison swept against Mercyhurst, completing the match in just three sets. Kostic had another strong game, recording 14 kills and a .478 hitting percentage. Shaffer also held strong with 12 kills and a .429 hitting percentage. Caleigh O’Connell ’26 also aided with 37 assists. 

The Orange and Blue came in ready to fight, leading the first set 11-1, which continued on to be a 21-5 advantage. The first set concluded with a kill from Klea Tarja ’29 with a score of 25-10. The second set proved to be more of a battle, even going into overtime. The teams were tied at 7-7 and then again at 22-22. The Bison came back to fight for the set point, but the Lakers didn’t let up. The roles reversed with the Lakers gaining a shot at the win, which the Orange and Blue denied. With two kills from Kostic, the set ended 30-28 for the Bison.

In the final set, the Bison blazed ahead with a 9-3 lead. The Lakers brought the gap to just three points with a score of 15-12, but the Orange and Blue took the win, closing out their games for Friday.

Up against Binghamton, the Bison had a long match, which ultimately ended in a loss. Shaffer once again had a noteworthy game in terms of kills with a total of 17. However, this time she was joined by Bella Rodriguez ’28 with the same amount. With these kills, the pair now holds the game and team record. Kostic once again had a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs. O’Connell showed out with 53 assists.

The first set started with a Bearcats lead of 21-16, which the Bison overtook with a 7-1 run. After being tied again at 24-24, the Orange and Blue managed to push through and end with a 27-25 win. The second set was dominated by the Bearcats, with the Bison only ever getting within four points of their opponents.

The Bison came back in the third set with a massive 20-13 lead.  The Bearcats attempted to fight back, but the set ended in 25-18 to the Orange and Blue. The fourth set was also led by the Bison, even making it 19-16, but the Bearcats forced a fifth set after managing a 9-1 stretch. The final set was fought pretty evenly by both teams, but resulted in the Bearcats being victorious.

The Bison begin their time at home for the season this Friday, Sept. 19, where they take on Lehigh.