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dj_paige

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  1. The UB Volleyball team's season ended with a 3–0 loss against South Florida in the first round of the NIVC Tournament. The season saw Buffalo achieve many program firsts, which should not be overlooked despite the loss. Buffalo lost a very close first set 25–23, in which there were 14 ties, and neither team could ever produce a lead bigger than three points. Buffalo took an 11–9 lead on an ace from senior defensive specialist Julianna Lopez, but the lead wouldn't last, and Buffalo played mostly from behind the rest of the set. The second set began similarly, with Buffalo opening an early 2 point lead at 8–6, but eventually South Florida took the lead, and the Bulls would not lead again. South Florida broke the set open, when at 13–13 they ran off 5 straight points and were never threatened, winning 25–19. In the third set, the teams were tied 9–9 and then South Florida went on an 11–2 streak. Buffalo never got their offense going during the match, only once scoring three points in a row. The Bulls hit over 0.200 in each of the first two sets, but each time South Florida attacked more effectively. In the third set, Buffalo hit negative, and finished the match at 0.147, while USF finished at 0.329. At many times during the match, Buffalo could not seem to make good passes, which led to ineffective attacks. There were only a few situations during the match where Buffalo got off a strong attack, where the attacker could run up to the ball and have her momentum add to the power of her swing. It also seemed like most of the match USF was attacking in system. Only senior outside hitter Katrin Trebichavská was able to reach double digits kills with 11. The next best attacker was fifth year middle blocker Courtney Okwara with 7 kills. A partial list of program firsts for the Bulls in 2023: Co-MAC-East Champions #2 overall seed into the MAC Tournament two straight years in the MAC Tournament semi-finals two straight years in the NIVC Tournament 13 MAC wins Five players selected for All-MAC honors RPI as high as 66 First ever win over an SEC team (Buffalo defeated Missouri on September 8 ) First ever sweep of a Power-5 Conference team (Missouri) Other Stuff UB Women's Basketball attended the match against South Florida (which was held at St. John's), on their way to a game against Stony Brook the next day. Missouri would eventually qualify for the NCAA Tournament as a #8 seed. They advanced to the second round. In Buffalo's win over Missouri, the Tigers never scored 20 points in any set. Colgate, whom Buffalo defeated in an exhibition match, also advanced to the NCAA tournament, losing in the first round. MAC Champion Western Michigan swept Auburn in the first round of the NCAA tournament (Auburn didn't score 20 points in any set), in which MAC Player of the Year Logan Case had 45 assists and MAC Defensive Player of the Year Andalyn Simkins had 26 digs and 6 aces, all huge numbers for a three set match. WMU lost to #2 Louisville in the second round.
  2. FloSports will stream the match. I assume you all know the drill, $29.99 for one month, if UB wins the first match, you can watch the second match as well on the subscription!
  3. The UB Volleyball team has earned an automatic berth into the women's NIVC post-season tournament. In the first round, Buffalo will face South Florida, a Bulls vs Bulls matchup! The first round match is Friday, December 1 at 4 pm, at St. John's University in Queens, NY. When I get the streaming details, I will post them. RPI: Buffalo 95, South Florida 99 Massey Rankings: Buffalo 109, South Florida 119 The other two teams in the regional bracket are St. John's and Howard. If Buffalo faces St. John's in the second round, it would be a re-match of an early season match when Buffalo defeated St. John's 3-1.
  4. Chryssi Gouzelou is sitting out the year because of shin splints, and so she is one of the team managers this year. I wouldn't be surprised if Ella Take does red-shirt this year. Did you read the bio on the ubbulls.com for Ella Take? If the bio isn't omitting something, how does she even make a D1 roster? I don't know why Katie Burton wasn't on the bench against St. Bonaventure. In the previous game against Stonehill, Burton subbed in and then was going to replace the wrong player, the coaches yelled no no no, and so then the right sub was made. After she played a few minutes and came out, she received a lecture from assistant coach Brooks. Now, I didn't think the coaches were out of line there, and it didn't seem like Brooks was yelling or screaming at Burton, but you never know, a little thing like this sometimes is enough to push a player over the edge.
  5. The UB Volleyball team was swept in the MAC Semi-Finals by Bowling Green. The Bulls had lost to the Falcons twice the previous weekend in the regular season; and Buffalo had also been swept by Bowling Green in last year's MAC Semi-Finals. The Bulls were the #2 seed this year, while Bowling Green was the #6 seed, but that didn't seem to matter. The MAC Semi-Final this year was eerily similar to the two regular season matches between these two teams a weekend ago, when the Falcon's first team All-MAC right side, Lauryn Hovey, simply was unstoppable. She had 26 kills in 4 sets against Buffalo in the first game a weekend ago, and 20 kills in three sets in the second game against Buffalo a weekend ago. In the MAC Quarter-final, Hovey score 28 kills in five sets against Ball State, and then against Buffalo in the MAC Semi-final, Hovey had 20 more kills and hit 0.571. It seemed as if the Bulls were ready for Hovey in the MAC Semi-finals. Buffalo was able to put well-formed double blocks in front of Hovey almost every time she attacked, but it simply didn't make a difference. Hovey went around the block, or over the block, or through the block, committing just 4 errors and scoring the aforementioned 20 kills. The Falcons were able to hit 0.434 as a team. It seemed as if they were passing in system 90% of the time, and that helped Hovey and all the other attackers. Buffalo struggled to take Bowling Green out of their offense. In the first set, Buffalo never led and lost 25–17. Buffalo passed poorly and hit 0.107 while the Falcons hit 0.550. Buffalo would pass and attack better in the next two sets, hitting over 0.300 in each, but the Falcons had a higher hitting percentage in each set. One of Buffalo's few leads of the night, and one of the only times Buffalo's serving took Bowling Green out of their offense, was in the second set when with BG leading 7–6 a kill from freshman outside hitter Manoela Forlin pulled the Bulls within one point; and then strong serving by junior setter Mandy Leigh pushed the Bulls to a 9–7 lead. After Leigh served an ace, another tough serve by Leigh was passed poorly by the Falcons, and that resulted in one of Hovey's few errors of the night. Another tough serve led to a block by senior right side Emma Gielas and fifth year middle blocker Courtney Okwara, which finished the run, and Bowling Green called time out. Buffalo would stay ahead at 13–11 but then Bowling Green pulled away and won the set 25–21. Despite Buffalo hitting 0.355 in the third set, they never led and lost 25–21. Senior outside hitter Katrin Trebichavská had 13 kills to lead the team, while Forlin had 10. Mandy Leigh had 33 assists. Fifth year middle blocker Abby Leigh had a team high 3 blocks. Buffalo's record is still a program best since joining Division I at 23–8, and 13–6 in the MAC. Buffalo appears to be in line for an automatic bid to the upcoming NIVC tournament, which they played in last year as well. Here are part of the selection rules for the NIVC tournament: "A team that is offered an automatic berth by the NIVC shall be the team that is a.) the highest-finishing team in its conference’s regular-season standings, and b.) is then not selected for the NCAA Tournament. The team’s overall record is not a criteria. For the automatic qualifying berth, the NIVC believes that a team’s conference record is a more fair comparison among teams within their own conference, and that the conference record should pre-empt overall records among teams from the same conference. The automatic qualifying team is rewarded with the AQ spot for its in-conference play." If I am understanding that properly, Western Michigan is the regular season conference champion, and if they get selected to the NCAA tournament (which seems very likely), then Buffalo is the highest finishing team in the regular season standings that is not selected to the NCAA tournament. The NIVC selection show will be on Sunday, November 26. Other Stuff Buffalo placed five players on All-MAC teams, the most ever for this program. First-team All-MAC: Abby Leigh, Mandy Leigh, Courtney Okwara, Katrin Trebichavská. All-MAC freshman team: Manoela Forlin.
  6. Five Bulls selected to All-MAC teams First team All-MAC: Abby Leigh, Courtney Okwara, Mandy Leigh, Katrin Trebichavska ALL-MAC Freshman team: Manoela Forlin
  7. Yes I see that this morning. I didn't realize Ball STate losing would throw the three-way tie with 13-5 records to Buffalo. Kind of an odd thing, we start the day in fourth place, one of the two teams ahead of us loses, and we wind up in 2nd place.
  8. The UB Volleyball team finished their historic regular season by sweeping Akron, their 23rd win of the season, the most wins for Buffalo since they joined Division I. Their 13 MAC wins is by far the most wins in the MAC. The Bulls finish 4th in the MAC and will play Saturday at 4pm in Kalamazoo (ESPN+). CORRECTION: Because Ball State lost, Buffalo finishes in a 3-way tie for second place, and they hold the tiebreakers, so the Bulls get the #2 seed and a first round bye. They play Sunday at 6:30pm. Buffalo broke open a close 1st set when at 10–10, the Bulls ran off four straight points, two coming on kills from senior outside hitter Katrin Trebichavská, only to see Akron fight back to tie the set at 18. But from there Buffalo took control winning 7 of the next 10 points, finishing with a kill from senior right side Emma Gielas. Buffalo pulled away from a 10–10 tie in the second set, with a strong serving run by senior defensive specialist Julianna Lopez to take a 15-11 lead. J-Lo had an ace in that run, and the Bulls never surrendered the lead, winning 25–17. Buffalo's strong serving and blocking held Akron to a –0.036 hitting percentage. Gielas and freshman middle blocker Tehya Shaw had two double-blocks in that set, one of them at set point. Akron took a 16–12 lead in the third set, but then Buffalo went on a 7–1 run to take a 19–17 lead. Gielas and sophomore outside hitter Lauren Otten each had two kills in that run. Akron would take the next three points, before Buffalo took control of the set. After a kill by Gielas, junior libero Maria Futey stepped to the service line, and picked up 3 aces in the next four points (the one serve that wasn't an ace was nearly an ace), which put Buffalo at match point. After an Akron kill, Trebichavská ended the match with a kill down the line. Gielas, who didn't start, had a very strong match, with 7 kills and one error, hitting 0.429. She added 4 blocks. Trebichavská led the team with 10 kills (the 17th consecutive match in which she has had double-digit kills) plus 4 aces. Fifth year middle blocker Abby Leigh had 8 kills and zero errors, for a 0.727 hitting percentage. Junior setter Mandy Leigh had 30 assists. Futey led the team with 12 digs. Senior right side Emma Gielas (9) and fifth year middle blocker Abby Leigh (5) blocking Other Stuff Play of the Match™ — at 15–12 in the second set, a tough serve by Akron's Faith Johnson nearly hit the floor, but Buffalo's grad defensive specialist Maurine Calande barely got under the ball, and made a perfect pass, nearly at the speed of light, to Mandy Leigh, who had no trouble getting the ball to Abby Leigh for a slide kill. Buffalo's best previous finish in the MAC was the number 4 seed in the MAC Tournament. This was in 2018 when the Bulls went 10–6 in the MAC, but lost in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament. Buffalo played without fifth year middle blocker Courtney Okwara, who is currently first in the MAC in hitting percentage and first in the MAC by a wide margin. Okwara, is the only UB player since joining Division I to hit over 0.400 for a full season, when in 2022 she hit 0.420. This year she is hitting 0.450. (In 2016, Cassie Shado hit exactly 0.400). Buffalo also played without senior defensive specialist Hayley Montoya.
  9. Ubbulls.com says we are in fourth place, so apparently my understanding of the tie-break procedure is wrong.
  10. My understanding of the tie-breakers for the Tournament seeding: The tie breakers for tournament seeding have nothing to do with record in the East, or record in the West. Head-to-head is the first tie-breaker. Ohio and Buffalo split two matches, so we go to the 2nd tiebreaker. I believe the 2nd tiebreaker is each team's win percentage* against the top team in the MAC. Since no one defeated WMU, both Ohio and Buffalo are equal there. Next is each team's win percentage vs the 2nd best team in the MAC. That would be Ball State, Buffalo defeated them twice, while Ohio has at least one loss (I didn't look it up, but Ball State's only 4 losses are two to UB and two to WMU). This would seem to give the #3 seed to Buffalo and the #4 seed to Ohio. * — I am not 100% sure if percentage is the right word, but I think it is, 0-1 vs WMU is the same percentage as 0-2 vs WMU. If the actual wording says "record" and not "percentage" then I think 0-1 vs WMU is better than 0-2 vs WMU. Of course, all this depends on Ohio and Buffalo both winning or both losing on Wednesday, and it also depends on my ability to remember the tie-breaker procedure properly and that the MAC hasn't changed it.
  11. The UB Volleyball team dropped two matches at Bowling Green this weekend, making their record 12–5 in the MAC and 22–7 overall. Buffalo entered the weekend in second place in the MAC, but after the two losses they are tied for third place with Ohio, with one game remaining in the regular season. In the first match, Buffalo got off to a good start, taking the first set 25–23, as the Bulls looked sharp in most phases of the game, particularly blocking. The Bulls picked up four blocks in the first set, and a number of important block touches to slow down the Falcon's attacks. The Bulls managed to hit 0.353 and held Bowling Green to 0.207 hitting. The Bulls passed well and didn't make a lot of attack errors. The one weakness for the Bulls was serving, where the Bulls picked up five service errors, which allowed Bowling Green to keep the score close. But then the Bulls failed to do anything well in the second set, hitting 0.000 and losing 25–12. In the third set, Buffalo fell behind 15–11, but then ran off five consecutive points with senior defensive specialist Julianna Lopez serving. Buffalo still led 18–17 but Bowling Green scored the next 8 points to take the set. In the fourth set, Buffalo won the first point, but never led again and lost 25–19. Senior outside hitter Katrin Trebichavská led the Bulls with 14 kills. Fifth year middle blocker Courtney Okwara led the team with 5 blocks. Junior libero Maria Futey had 13 digs. Junior setter Mandy Leigh had 29 assists. The Bulls finished with 14 service errors and just 4 aces. Serve receive was poor for Buffalo, and the Falcons picked up 12 aces. In the second match, weak passing by the Bulls were just one reason why Buffalo dropped the first set 25–16. But Buffalo's serving failed to take Bowling Green out of their offense, the failed to pick up even one block, and the Falcons hit 0.538. The Falcons scored the first 7 points, and the set was never close. Lauryn Hovey scored 8 kills for the Falcons in the first set. Buffalo played better in the second set, and took a 23–22 lead, but the Falcons scored the last three points of the set, the last one coming when Buffalo's senior right side Emma Gielas's attack was ruled out of bounds. Buffalo challenged that there was a block touch, but the call was upheld. In the third set, the Bulls led 17–13, but Bowling Green scored the next four points to tie the set. Buffalo still led 20–19, but again the Falcons put the pressure on, scoring the next four points, eventually earning a 25–22 victory. Trebichavská again led the Bulls with 10 kills (the only UB player with double-digit kills in either match). Futey had 12 digs. Freshman middle blocker Tehya Shaw led the team with 4 blocks (her career high), while sophomore outside hitter Lauren Otten had 3 blocks (also a career high). Buffalo will play at Akron on Wednesday, November 16 at 6pm (ESPN+) to finish the regular season. Buffalo swept Akron at Alumni Arena earlier in the season. Other Stuff Buffalo played the second match without Okwara, who was in street clothes. As a result, Shaw got her first career start. Also absent from the Bulls lineup was senior defensive specialist Hayley Montoya. And freshman outside hitter Manoela Forlin didn't play until the third set; possibly due to an injury she had in the first match when she slid into the scorer's table trying to save a ball. These personnel issues forced Buffalo coach Scott Smith to use more of his bench players than he usually does. In addition to Otten and Shaw getting extended playing time, freshman defensive specialist Chloe Brown made only her fourth appearance of the season, and her first appearance in a MAC match. Brown picked up 4 digs and 2 assists, both career highs. The MAC Tournament begins at Western Michigan with first round matches on Saturday, November 18. Seedings will be known after Wednesday's games.
  12. The UB Volleyball team clinched a MAC Tournament berth by defeating Miami 3–0 on an emotional senior night. The Bulls would be the #2 seed in the tournament if the season ended today. The team now has a 22–5 record, and 12–3 in the MAC. The Bulls will say farewell to nine players at the end of the season. This team has accomplished more than any other team since joining Division 1, with an RPI in the top 100 for the first time ever, tying the program record for the most wins, and setting the record for the most MAC wins, with three matches left. The post-match celebration for Senior night also produced a lot of emotion, as each player was recognized for their contributions. Those nine are: Courtney Okwara, Abby Leigh, Emilie Davis, Julianna Lopez, Hayley Montoya, Katrin Trebichavská, Maurine Calande, Emma Gielas and Stacia Gollogly. In the post-match interview with ESPN, Trebichavská announced that she would be returning for another year. The emotion began in the pre-game introductions, when it was announced that Miami coach Carolyn Condit would be retiring at the end of the season. She has coached for 44 years, the last 40 at Miami, and has won over 680 matches. Nine times Condit coached her team to an NCAA playoff berth. Condit received a large round of applause from the fans at Alumni Arena. There was actual volleyball as well. On the previous night, Buffalo did not allow Miami to score 20 points in any set, but on this night it appeared as if Miami was determined not to roll over and play dead. The Redhawks cranked up their offense to scary levels, hitting over 0.700 throughout most of the first set. They did not commit an attack error until 19–17 in the first set, but then three straight kills by the Redhawks gave them a 22–17 lead. After a kill by Abby Leigh to cut the lead to four, Lopez stepped to the line. Lopez has been one of the Bulls best servers all year, as her float serve gives defenders fits. Two strong serves took Miami out of their offense, resulting in kills from Abby Leigh and Trebichavská. Lopez followed this with the Play(s) of the Match™, back-to-back aces and another tough serve which led to an overpass that Abby Leigh turned into a kill. The Bulls led 23–22. One more point by Miami tied the set, and then Abby Leigh picked up another kill and then Abby Leigh and her sister Mandy combined for the Bulls first block of the night to win the set. Both teams had eye-popping numbers in the first set, with Miami finishing at 0.552 and Buffalo at 0.484. The offenses slowed down just slightly in the second set, as both teams hit close to 0.400. However, in the second set the roles were reversed, with Buffalo opening a big lead at 22–16. Miami scored the next five points to cut the lead to one. A kill from Gielas was the Bulls' 23rd point, and two more Miami points tied the set at 23. Another kill from Trebichavská, followed by a kill from Abby Leigh on an overpass after a strong serve by Trebichavská ended the set in Buffalo's favor. The third set was one in which Buffalo never trailed, opening a 14–7 lead on a strong serving run from Calande, and Buffalo was not threatened, winning 25–17. In case you get the feeling that serving was a strong point for the Bulls, you would be right. Buffalo had 8 aces and only three service errors. In fact, it has been a strong point for the Bulls all season, and especially in recent matches. And while the high velocity serves from Trebichavská get all the attention, the serves from Lopez are slower but just as effective. Trebichavská led the team in kills with 15. Trebichavská, a year ago, struggled quite a bit and finished the season hitting 0.109. Her consistency has improved dramatically this season, in which she is hitting 0.195, and usually leads the team in kills and attacks. KT's hitting percentage the last three matches has been over 0.300, and has 14 straight matches with double-digit kills. Abby Leigh had 11 and hit 0.625. Okwara, leading the nation in hitting percentage, had five kills and zero errors. Freshman outside hitter Manoela Forlin had 6 kills. Abby Leigh led the team with 3 blocks. Junior libero Maria Futey had 10 digs. Mandy Leigh had 38 assists. Other Stuff Buffalo plays at Bowling Green this upcoming weekend, Friday, November 10 at 6pm (ESPN+) and Saturday, November 11 at 6pm (ESPN+). Western Michigan will host the MAC Tournament. They remain undefeated with a 15–0 record in the MAC. Attendance at Alumni Arena was 789, the highest of the season. Other photos from Senior Night: Head coach Scott Smith Julianna Lopez serves Blocking by Abby Leigh and Emma Gielas KT serving, Buffalo's front line protects the back of their heads Trebichavská attacking
  13. The historic season for UB Volleyball continued last night at Alumni Arena, as the Bulls defeated Miami (OH) 3–0 (25–19, 25–13, 25–19). It was their 11th MAC win, breaking the previous high of 10 wins in the MAC regular season. The win moved Buffalo back into second place in the MAC, and if they can maintain that position, they will receive a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament. Buffalo is now 21–5 for the season and 11–3 in the MAC. The Bulls overwhelmed the Miami defense, picking up 47 kills and just 6 errors, a hitting percentage of 0.451, their season high. In the first set, Buffalo hit an even 0.500, scoring 21 kills. They opened a 15–6 lead and never were threatened. In the second set, Buffalo hit 0.462 while holding to Miami to a zero hitting percentage. After taking an 8–3 lead, Buffalo cruised to a huge win. Miami took their first and only lead of the match, scoring the first point of the third set, and again Buffalo's sizzling offense took over and opened a big lead. The Bulls cooled off (if you can consider a 0.387 hitting percentage "cool") but still won easily. In the second and third sets, the Bulls recorded just one hitting error each. In the third set, Buffalo coach Scott Smith went deep into his bench, and players who haven't seen much playing time this season got to play regularly. Senior serving specialist Emilie Davis, appearing in just her second MAC contest this season, served at 6–5 in the third set, and almost (but not quite) came up with the Play of the Match™. Her tough serve was poorly played by the Redhawks, and it looked like the ball would land for an ace, and Davis and the Bulls began to celebrate, only to see Miami make a great recovery and send the ball over. Senior defensive specialist Hayley Montoya also appeared, just her second MAC appearance of the year. Senior serving specialist Emilie Davis (L) and senior defensive specialist Hayley Montoya (R) Senior outside hitter Katrin Trebichavská led the team with 14 kills and a 0.522 hitting percentage (her career high). Freshman outside hitter Manoela Forlin had 8 kills with just 1 error for a 0.412 hitting percentage. Fifth year middle blocker Courtney Okwara had 6 kills and hit 0.357, and led the team with 3 blocks. Senior right side Emma Gielas had 6 kills and just one error, plus two blocks. Fifth year middle blocker Abby Leigh had 6 kills and just one error. On a night when the offense got all the attention, junior libero Maria Futey was extremely effective on defense picking up 12 digs. So let's give the actual Play of the Match™ to Futey, on serve receive, at 7-4 in the first set. A serve by Miami came directly to Futey about shoulder high. This is a very difficult ball to play, it's too high to bump and it's difficult to pass with her hands about shoulder high. It looked like Futey hesitated a second, but got her hands up, and made a perfect pass to junior setter Mandy Leigh, who then had no problem making the set to Forlin for the kill. Futey and senior defensive specialist Julianna Lopez each had 2 aces. Mandy Leigh had 41 assists, a pretty big number for a three set match, but certainly she was one of the major reasons why the team attacked so well. Other Stuff Okwara entered the match leading the NCAA in hitting percentage. The ESPN announcers also pointed out that Okwara leads the MAC in hitting percentage. Buffalo now has the same record as Ball State at 11–3, but because Buffalo owns the tie-breaker, the Bulls are in second place, with four matches left in the season. Buffalo faces Miami again on November 4 (that's today as I write this) at 4pm at Alumni Arena. It will be senior night for the Bulls, who have nine players who will make their last appearance at Alumni Arena. Gielas hadn't played much recently. Her six kills and two blocks came in less than two sets. She ended the match with a right-side kill against one Miami blocker. Video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzNKuhLskuk/ Freshman middle blocker Tehya Shaw had 1 kill on one attack, and sophomore outside hitter Lauren Otten had 2 kills on 2 attacks. Shaw is hitting 0.333 this season in limited playing time, while Otten is hitting 0.417 for the season in limited playing time.
  14. The box score appears to have been fixed, I dunno what happened.
  15. The UB Volleyball team defeated Northern Illinois 3–1, making their record 20–5 for the season and 10–3 in the MAC. The Bulls are in third place in the MAC, two games ahead of 4th place Ohio and Toledo; and their 10 MAC wins ties the program record for win in the MAC regular season (not counting playoff wins), with 5 matches left. This is only the second time in Division 1 that the team has reached 20 wins, the last time coming in 1995. In the first set, Buffalo ran out to an 8-4 lead, and eventually extended the lead to 19–11, winning 25–18 in a set in which they never trailed. The Bulls hit 0.375 in the set. Buffalo took the second set by the same score, again never trailing. They broke open a 10-10 tie with a 4–0 run that included two aces by fifth year middle blocker Abby Leigh. Another 4–0 run later pushed the lead to 23–17, as senior outside hitter Katrin Trebichavská's strong serving kept the Huskies out of system, and she finished the run with an ace. Buffalo hit 0.500 in the second set. The Bulls offense cooled off after that, hitting 0.278 in the third set compared to the NIU's 0.361. Nevertheless, Buffalo took a 22–19 lead late, only to see tough serving and blocking by Northern Illinois help them go on a 5–0 run to take the lead. After a Buffalo point, NIU took the set 25–23. The Bulls offense cooled off even further, hitting just 0.171 in the fourth set, but they held NIU to a zero hitting percentage (with only 6 kills), and Buffalo took the set 25–18, leading all the way except on the first point of the set. The Bulls picked up 4 aces in the set. Senior outside hitter Katrin Trebichavská Buffalo was led by Trebichavská who had 19 kills and just 4 errors for a 0.349 attack percentage. Freshman outside hitter Manoela Forlin had 13 kills and hit 0.280. This came one night after the Bulls had lost to Western Michigan, in which Buffalo's outside hitters all hit 0.000 or worse. Fifth year middle blocker Courtney Okwara had 13 kills and hit 0.556. Senior right side Stacia Gollogly had 8 kills and fifth year middle blocker Abby Leigh had 7 kills, zero errors and hit 0.467 (that's not what the box score says for Abby Leigh, we'll come back to that). Overall, Buffalo hit 0.322, their second best hitting percentage this season in MAC matches. Buffalo's serving was strong throughout the match, and helped the Bulls keep NIU's offense out of system. The Bulls had 11 aces and just 9 service errors, while allowing NIU just two aces. Trebichavská, Abby Leigh and junior libero Maria Futey each had 3 aces, while junior setter Mandy Leigh and senior defensive specialist Julianna Lopez each had one ace. Abby Leigh had 3 solo blocks and one block assist, and the Bulls had just 4 total blocks, which means that Leigh was a part of all of Buffalo's blocks. She now has 34 solo blocks for the season, which leads the MAC by a wide margin. Oddly, Leigh picked up her 30th solo block on October 5th, and had just one since then before the NIU match. Futey had 20 digs, the fourth straight game for her with 20 or more digs. Mandy Leigh had 50 assists. Other Stuff Did Lopez really record a kill? That's what the box score says. But I couldn't remember that play. The box score says it happened in the first set, giving Buffalo a 19–11 lead, but that kill belonged to Abby Leigh. I assume the scorekeeper thought the kill was by uniform number 15 (Lopez) instead of uniform number 5 (Leigh). So I have adjusted Leigh's attack numbers. Did Mandy Leigh really take 22 attacks? That's what the box score says, but I simply can't believe that, that's just way too high for a 4 set match, and I'm sure I would have remembered Mandy Leigh taking a huge number of attacks. It's possible she had 12 attacks, which would match her season high (which happened in a 5 set match), but without going through the entire video and counting, I can't say I have evidence. But then did the Bulls really take 149 attacks total, or was that number incorrect too? Okwara leads the MAC in hitting percentage at 0.459, while Abby Leigh (not using my corrected numbers above) is 3rd in the MAC at 0.383. Mandy Leigh is second in the MAC with 10.38 assists per set. Trebichavská lead the MAC in aces (55) and aces per set (0.6). Abby Leigh is 7th in the MAC in aces per set at 0.39. Trebichavska is 6th in the MAC in points per set at 4.27. Western Michigan, now 13–0, has clinched a spot in the MAC tournament. Buffalo next faces Miami (OH) at Alumni Arena on Friday, November 3 at 6pm, and again the next day at 4pm which will be senior night. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.
  16. It was the dream volleyball match for the MAC. #1 Western Michigan (11–0) vs #2 Buffalo (9–2), late in the regular season, with playoff seeding on the line, and with two first team All-MAC setters. For Buffalo fans, it was even more of a dream, as the Bulls had never been #2 in the MAC this late in the season, and with the tantalizing future possibility of a possible #1 seed in the MAC tournament, and then hosting the tournament, both of which would be a first for Buffalo. Things began very promisingly for the Bulls. In the first set, fifth year middle blocker Courtney Okwara (on her birthday) starred, picking up 7 kills and zero errors on 11 attempts, senior outside hitter Katrin Trebichavská had 5 kills, and the Leigh sisters hit a combined 0.714. Buffalo's passing was superb, leading to a 0.333 hitting percentage. The Bulls opened up a 19–12 lead, and then hung on to win the first set 25–23. The Bulls opened the second set taking a 7–2 lead, forcing a WMU time-out. The Broncos would come back to tie the set at 11, and the rest of the set was closer than rush-hour traffic, no one opening a lead of more than one point until a WMU attack error gave the Bulls a 22–20 lead. Buffalo would pick up a set point opportunity on a WMU service error at 24–22, but they couldn't convert, and WMU went on a 5–1 run to take the set. Buffalo's hitting percentage during the second set was just 0.136, as the Bulls had trouble passing. WMU had similar difficulties and they hit only 0.167. From that point on, the Bulls continued to struggle passing. A symptom of the Bulls' poor passing was the Okwara had 10 kills across the first two sets, but only 3 kills in the last two sets. Similarly, Trebichavská had 8 kills across the first two sets, but only 3 kills in the last two sets. WMU seemed to get their offense going at high speed, hitting over 0.400 in the 3rd set and over 0.300 in the fourth set. The Broncos took both the third and fourth sets by a score of 25–18. Fifth year middle blocker Abby Leigh, Okwara and Trebichavská each had 14 points while senior right side Stacia Gollogly had 13.5 points. Buffalo's outside hitters struggled terribly, all four outside hitters that were used hit 0.000 or worse. The rest of the team hit 0.391, led by junior setter Mandy Leigh at 0.444 followed by Abby Leigh at 0.435, Okwara at 0.375 and Gollogly at 0.357. Junior setter Mandy Leigh had 46 assists and 14 digs. Junior libero Maria Futey had 28 digs. Senior defensive specialist Julianna Lopez had 3 aces. Other Stuff Ball State defeated Kent State 3–0 to move ahead of the Bulls into second place in the MAC, with Buffalo now in third place (just one game ahead of Toledo and Ohio). Gollogly faced only one blocker on most attacks, similar to the previous match against Ball State. It was the second straight match that Gollogly had double digits kills, after not reaching double digits previously in this season. Futey's 28 digs is a new career high. Buffalo plays at Northern Illinois on Saturday, November 28 at 5pm (ESPN+).
  17. Updated NCAA statistics, Courtney Okwara still 2nd in the nation and 1st in the MAC in hitting percentage. Abby Leigh top 43rd in the nation in hitting percentage and 3rd in the MAC. Trebichavská 2nd in the nation and 1st in the MAC in aces. UB RPI up to 70; it was up to 66 a few weeks earlier.
  18. I agree with this part, certainly some of the returning players need to have good years, and a few of them had good spurts, but not good games.
  19. Male Dazzlers, not male Cheerleaders. There is a difference (Cheerleaders do acrobatics and pyramids and tumbling, while Dazzlers just dance, not that this is relevant to the person's gender)
  20. I wasn't impressed by the team against Daemen; its kind of hard to even know what to expect from the newcomers, but the returning players, both Smith and Adams, seemed absent for large parts of the game. We know they can play against MAC opponents. Adams picked it up in the 2nd half. Fulcher had a good first half, not much in the second half. The two male Dazzlers were an interesting and unexpected change, but also jarring; the cheerleaders have had a handful of males on the squad over the last 5-10 years.
  21. Facing Ball State a second time this weekend on Saturday afternoon, the UB Volleyball team again defeated the Cardinals in 5 five sets. These two wins put Buffalo into second place in the MAC standings, and they will have an opportunity next weekend to earn the tiebreaker with first place Western Michigan, if they defeat Western Michigan at Kalamazoo. Buffalo has never been as high as second place in the MAC standings in the second half of the season. The Bulls are now 19–4 and 9–2 in the MAC; they have a chance to demolish the program record of 10 wins (set in 2018 and again last year) during the MAC season (not counting tournament wins) with 7 matches still to be played. Buffalo and Ball State played a marathon first set. The Bulls fell behind early 10–5, but came back to tie the score many times. They never led until 28–27 when senior middle blocker Abby Leigh picked up a kill. By this time, the Cardinals, who normally use a lot of defensive specialists in their back row, had run out of substitutions (the NCAA allows 15 substitutions per set) and now their front row players had to play out of position in the back row, and Ball State's leading scorer Aniya Kennedy wasn't even on the court. But the Bulls couldn't capitalize. Buffalo wound up with 6 set point chances, the last coming on a kill by senior right side Stacia Gollogly to make the score 33–32. But by now Buffalo was also out of substitutions, and Gollogly had to serve for the first time all season. Her serve was long, tying the set again. Gollogly would atone for that error later. An attack error by UB and then a mis-connection between junior setter Mandy Leigh and her sister Abby ended the set 35–33 in Ball State's favor. Buffalo's senior outside hitter Katrin Trebichavská had 9 kills in the first set, but Buffalo essentially gave away this set with five service errors, compared to just 1 for Ball State. The Bulls opened up a big lead in the second set and never trailed, taking the set 25–19, hitting 0.324 and holding Ball State to 0.237. Ball State took control of the third set and won 25–17, hitting a ridiculous 0.667 with zero errors in the set. By this time, Gollogly had 10 kills, a very strong performance, but I don't think anyone expected Gollogly to go absolutely berserk in the next two sets. In the fourth set, Gollogly picked up another 10 kills. Normally, Gollogly rotates into the front court in rotation 1 (when Mandy Leigh serves) and rotates out three rotations later when senior defensive specialist Julianna Lopez comes in to serve and play back row. Gollogly came in with score tied 9–9, already having one kill in the set, and what did she do in those three rotations? Three kills before rotating out. Later, she came in with Buffalo trailing 19–17, and what did she do in those three rotations? Five more kills, four of them consecutive, to give the Bulls a 24–21 lead and after a Ball State point, Gollogly ended the set with her sixth kill of those those three rotations. For those of you keeping score at home, that was 6 kills by Gollogly in a span of 11 plays. What happened? All of Gollogly's kills were cross-court, I don't think there was a single one down the line; many untouched by the defense, almost all against a single block that Ball State was using against her. The Cardinals' middle blockers were so worried about Buffalo's middle blockers, Abby Leigh and fifth year Courtney Okwara (second in the NCAA in hitting percentage at the start of the weekend), that the Cardinals blockers committed to staying with Leigh or Okwara, and by the time they realized the ball was going to Gollogly, it was too late for them to get over and affect the play. Mandy Leigh's job in that case, was to get the ball to Gollogly, which she did nearly flawlessly, and Gollogly had no trouble attacking against the single block. Senior right side Stacia Gollogly In the fifth set, Buffalo broke a 6–6 tie with kills by Okwara and Gollogly. At 9–8, another kill by Gollogly was followed by an ace from Buffalo libero Maria Futey, and then another kill by Gollogly made the score 12–8 in favor of Buffalo. One more kill by Gollogly before she rotated out pushed the Buffalo lead to 13–10. A setter dump from Mandy Leigh gave Buffalo match point, and after two Cardinal points, the Leigh sisters connected on a slide kill from Abby to end the match. Gollogly's 24 kills were a new career high, demolishing her previous career high of 15, set when she was a sophomore. She had only 3 errors against Ball State, for an eye-popping hitting percentage of 0.457. Mandy Leigh, whose career high in assists stood at 59 on Friday morning, set a new career high with 60 in the first match on Friday against Ball State, and then she picked up yet another new career high with 74 assists, helping Buffalo finish with a 0.322 team hitting percentage. Those 74 assists is the most by any player in the NCAA this year. Abby Leigh had 16 kills and 1 error for a 0.484 hitting percentage. Okwara had 11 kills and 4 blocks. Trebichavská had 19 kills, two aces and a solo block, plus 15 digs. Mandy Leigh had 5 kills with no errors, plus 12 digs. Futey led the team with 21 digs and also led the team with 3 aces. Whew! Other Stuff The second place Bulls (how's that sound?) will face MAC leader Western Michigan Friday night in Kalamazoo (6pm, ESPN+), a win would give them the tie-breaker over Western Michigan, but Buffalo would still trail WMU in the loss column. On Saturday, Buffalo stay on the road at Northern Illinois (5pm ESPN+). Prior to this weekend, Buffalo's all time record against Ball State was 1 win and 29 losses, that only win coming in 2010. The Play of the Match™ belongs to Futey. With Buffalo leading 10–9 in the fourth set, an attack by Ball State's Marie Plitt ricocheted sideways off freshman outside hitter Manoela Forlin toward the scorer's table. Futey chased it down and diving into the base of the scorer's table, was able to pop the ball up with one hand. Trebichavská pushed the ball over, and then the following Cardinals attack was blocked by Gollogly. The ESPN post-match interview includes interviews with Buffalo Coach Scott Smith and Gollogly, who seemed a little overwhelmed as she walked toward the interview.
  22. The University of Buffalo Volleyball team defeated Ball State on Friday night at Alumni Arena, 3–2. The Bulls are now 18–4 and 8–2 in the MAC. It was Ball State's first MAC loss and they stand at 9–1 in the conference. Buffalo had not defeated the Cardinals since 2010. Buffalo came back from a 16–12 deficit in the first set to tie the set at 17–17, using a kill and an ace by senior outside hitter Katrin Trebichavská. After a Ball State point, a kill by freshman outside hitter Manoela Forlin and back to back aces by fifth year middle blocker Abby Leigh put the Bulls up by two. But the Cardinals tied the set at 20, only to see Buffalo run of four straight points on a kill by fifth year middle blocker Courtney Okwara, a kill from Forlin after an extremely long rally, an ace from Mandy Leigh and a Ball State error. After two Ball State points, another kill from Okwara ended the set. Trebichavská had five kills in the set, and Buffalo's defense held Ball State to a hitting percentage of 0.065. Buffalo took an early lead in the second set, and led wire-to-wire, eventually winning 25–18. Both team's offenses sizzled, with Buffalo hitting 0.513 and Ball State hitting 0.355. Each team only committed two errors. Trebichavská, Forlin and Okwara each had five kills. The Bulls fell behind 4–0 and 11–3 in the third set eventually losing 25–19, while hitting 0.000. The rare bright spot for UB was when sophomore outside hitter Lauren Otten entered the match and connected on her first two swings. Buffalo again fell behind in the fourth set 15–8, as the team's passing was weak, and this resulted in a lot of shots sent out of bounds. But then the passing tightened up and Buffalo would eventually have a match point late in the set. The comeback began when Otten had consecutive kills. A 5–0 run, in which Buffalo forced three Cardinal errors tied the set at 18, and in which on back-to-back plays senior right side Stacia Gollogly scored (one a solo block and one a kill). Still the Cardinals took a 24–22 lead, but then it was the Leigh sister's time to take over. On three consecutive plays, Abby Leigh scored a kill, each assisted by her sister Mandy, and now Buffalo had match point. But three Cardinal points sent the match to a fifth set. The Bulls wasted no time in taking a lead in the fifth set. They ran out to a 5–2 lead, with two kills from Okwara and two from Forlin. The lead opened to 4 points, but Ball State freshman Aniya Kennedy scored on back to back kills to make the score 10–8. (Kennedy was the top attacker in the match with 22 kills). Mandy Leigh followed with the Play of the Match™. Leigh took an off-target pass and scored on a behind the back no-look dump to Ball State's left front position, where there was no defender. Leigh has done this many times in her career, but we haven't seen this recently. To pull this off late in a tight fifth set showed a huge amount of confidence. Forlin and Abby Leigh blocked Kennedy to make the score 12–8 and after a Ball State point, the Bulls finished with three straight points, ending on an ace by Abby Leigh, her 4th of the match. Video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CypCAI1MYkI/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Abby Leigh led the team with 22.5 points and season high for her, coming on 16 kills (with just 2 errors, hitting 0.438) plus five blocks and 4 aces. It was the third time in her career she has surpassed 20 points. Her career high is 26 points at Lehigh in 2022. Okwara was not far behind in attacking, with 16 kills (and just 3 errors), hitting 0.481. Okwara entered the weekend with a 0.473 hitting percentage, second in the nation by 0.001 behind the leader. Trebichavská has 13 kills and 16 total points, including 2 aces and a solo block (but I thought she had two solo blocks, just saying...). Trebichavská also had 14 digs. Forlin finished with 12 kills. Mandy Leigh set a new career high with 60 assists. Maria Futey had 26 digs, one short of her career high. Grad student outside hitter/defensive specialist Maurine Calande has 14 digs. The Bulls face Ball State again on Saturday, 10/21 at 4pm at Alumni Arena (ESPN+). Other Stuff Otten had kills on her first 4 swings. Adding in her appearance against Akron earlier in the week in which she had 3 kills on 3 swings, that's a 7-for-7 streak for Otten. For the season she is hitting 0.418, a ridiculous number for an outside hitter, and only in one match has her attack percentage dropped below 0.300. The big numbers from Abby Leigh and Futey came one match after they had milestones, as Abby Leigh surpassed 1,000 kills and Futey surpassed 1,000 digs. Since I put photos of Abby Leigh and Futey in the last writeup, it's late, I have to get up early tomorrow, so to save time here are the exact same photos, Abby Leigh first, then Futey. If Buffalo defeats Ball State again tomorrow, both teams would have 9–2 records in the MAC, but the Bulls would hold the tie breaker. Buffalo will have to face another undefeated team next weekend at Western Michigan.
  23. Logan Case, senior setter at WMU and high school teammate of UB's Emma Gielas, becomes WMU's all time assist leader. We'll see her next weekend in Kalamazoo.
  24. The Bulls will face co-MAC leader Ball State in two games this weekend. Then they face another co-MAC leader Western Michigan in one match the following weekend. At the time I write this, both Ball State and Western Michigan are undefeated 8–0. Clearly, the outcome of these three matches will have a huge impact on how the Bulls finish and their seed into the MAC tournament, if they qualify. (Top 6 teams qualify) The schedule is, in some ways, reminiscent of Scott Smith's first year as head coach in 2019, when the Bulls went on a rampage through the MAC, defeating all of the MAC's top teams (except for a 3–2 loss at Ball State). The Bulls would finish as the #7 seed in the MAC (eight teams qualified that year), and went on to earn their first ever quarter-final victory in the MAC tournament. Of course, there were some marked differences in 2019. Buffalo started the MAC schedule with a 1-5 record, after going 5–8 in the non-conference schedule. There was really no reason to think at that time that the Bulls had the capability to go on such a rampage. But they did. Smith told me afterwards he knew the team had the talent to do that. It was two lineup changes that Smith made that triggered this rampage, moving Abby Leigh to middle blocker, and ditching the two-setter offense and sticking with Scout McLerran as the only setter. This year, the Bulls have a 7–2 record in the MAC, after going 10–2 in the non-conference season against a much tougher schedule than 2019. If the Bulls could do it in 2019, then it is certainly possible for them to perform a similar feat in 2023. Walk down memory lane with me: https://www.ubbullrun.com/2019/11/10/20957566/kaboom-ub-volleyball-defeats-mac-leader-miami https://www.ubbullrun.com/2019/11/11/20960337/volleyball-beating-the-top-schools-in-the-mac-what-has-changed
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