LOUDONVILLE, NY - The Siena Saints began their first home match on fire, going up 2-0 early on. But, Binghamton's Gaby Alicea stole the show with a team-high 23 kills and 18 digs for a double-double to lead Binghamton back and hand the Saints a 3-2 loss in the green and gold's final non-conference matchup before the start of MAAC play.

Alicia's 23 kills all came while hitting .274 for the match. Erin Schultz was the second highest in kills on the team, as she put up 12. However, it was Lexi LaGoy that was the most efficient, collecting 11 kills hitting .588. Binghamton (1-9) was also efficient at the net, as they had 12 blocks.

For the Saints (1-9), sophomore Nicole Deobler put up a season-high 14 kills in the match, also getting 10 digs for her first double-double of the season with four blocks as well. Senior Antonija Ivanovic fell one kill short of a double-double, finishing with nine kills and 14 digs. Sophomore Jessica Eblin had a season-high 40 assists and 11 digs, as Siena's three double-doubles in the match is a season-high for the program.

"That was a really fun match for our home opener," said head coach Vilis Ozols. "There were moments of stellar play for us, particularly in the early sets. I thought the team competed valiantly with several chances to win out and you have to give Binghamton credit for delivering at crunch time."

The first set was the best start to a match this season for Siena. With Eblin serving, the Saints opened up a 9-0 lead early. They would keep their foot on the gas, pushing through to a 25-10 win in the set. It would be the Saints biggest margin of victory so far in 2018.

Siena would have another blistering start to the second set, as they began the set with a 12-6 lead. However, the Bearcats would come alive and come back to take a 14-13 lead. Each team would go point for point. But, Siena would take the set 25-23, capped by a Binghamton service error to put the Saints up 2-0.

The Saints began the third set with the same tune, going up 6-0 after the first six rallies. But Binghamton would use an 8-2 run to tie up the set at 8-8. From there, the Bearcats would take control and take the set 25-21.

The show would come in set four, as an early 17-7 Siena deficit became their greatest comeback so far this season, as an 11-1 run with including three aces from Deobler gave Siena a 19-18 lead with a chance to win the match. Both teams would fight through set point, as extra rallies came into play. An Abby Huffman kill for Siena would make things 28-28 before Binghamton would steal the last two points to take the set, forcing a deciding fifth set.

With the score 9-9 in the fifth set, Binghamton would see LaGoy and Shultz take control and lift the Bearcats to a 15-11 win.

The Saints will return to the court this Saturday, Sept. 15 as they take on Niagara in their first MAAC matchup of the season. It will be a matchup with Ozols previous coaching spot, with first serve going up at 1 p.m.