October 2, 2009

Bulls Down Kent State, 3-1

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo volleyball team moved to 2-1 in the Mid-American Conference with a 3-1 victory over Kent State, Friday evening at Alumni Arena. The win for the Bulls was their 11th of the season as UB has now won nine of its last 11 matches.

 

The Bulls took the match 25-14, 19-25, 25-19, 27-25 as UB hit .317 for the match, opposed to .245 for Kent State. UB dominated the first set, taking an early 5-1 lead and never looking back. The Golden Flashes cut the Buffalo lead to 11-8, but the Bulls responded by going on a 7-1 run and taking an 18-9 advantage in the set. UB went on to win it at 25-14.

 

The Golden Flashes took a highly-contested second set as they overcame a 15-12 deficit to score 13 of the final 17 points. The third set was probably the closest of them all as neither team was able to secure a two-point cushion through the first 25 points of the set, until UB broke through with a two-point lead at 14-12. The Golden Flashes got it back to 16-15 before UB ended the set on a 9-4 run.


The fourth set looked to go Kent State's way early on as the Golden Flashes scored the first three points and led by as much as 10-4 early. However, UB scored four straight points to get within 10-8. The Golden Flashes were up 14-11 when the Bulls went on to score five straight points and take their first lead of the set. At 18-17, the two teams continued to trade points back and forth with UB finally having the opportunity to score match point at 24-23. However, the Golden Flashes fought off two match points and tied the set at 25. From there the Bulls got back-to-back kills from Lindsey Schlegel and Dani Silversfor the 27-25 victory. 

 

"Tonight was a great team win," said head coach Todd Kress. "It took a total team effort to beat a very good Kent State team that I think is going to have a tremendous year. Tonight's match shows the depth in the MAC and why you have to come out and play every night. We are very fortunate to come out on top tonight."


The Bulls were led by 20 kills from Silvers and 10 kills from Marisa Hornbaker. Junior Kristin Bignell had eight kills and just one error on the night. Middle blockers Kelsey Lueders and Abby Niekamp added seven kills apiece. Lueders added two of UB's three service aces on the night. 

 

Schlegel added five kills and 45 assists, while four UB players recorded double-figures in digs, led by 15 from Hornbaker, who completed the double-double. Tori Beckman and Lauren Fensten each had 11 digs, while Heather Pyle added 10 digs.

 

The Bulls remain home tomorrow night as they host Ohio at 7:00 pm at Alumni Arena.