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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/05/2023 in all areas

  1. Trying not to be negative, but can Buffalo Rapids general posts be moved to General Discussions. It seems out of place for a Buffalo Bulls forum.
    2 points
  2. 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
    2 points
  3. 1. Rank: BETTER than 250 2. MAC wins: BETTER than 8 3. PPG for: WORSE than 72 ppg 4. PPG against: BETTER than 75 ppg 5. PPG Top 3: BETTER than 43 ppg 6. PPG Fr: WORSE than 10 ppg 7. 2PT FG%: WORSE than 51% 8. 3PT FG%: WORSE than 35% 9. FT%: BETTER than 71% 10. Turnovers: WORSE than 13 I don't know how much offensive production we're going to get, hoping defense keeps us in games this year.
    1 point
  4. Some of the 2018, 2019, 2020 UB Bulls with Lance after the Kansas/Oklahoma game. Oh to be back when UB football was at its best. No toxicity, no ego, etc. Lance is one of the best! He truly cares about the players, their education and families. Amazing coach, wish UB could have held onto him a little longer.
    1 point
  5. Going to steal Bluebird's format, thanks. 1. Rank: WORSE than 250 2. MAC wins: WORSE than 8 3. PPG for: WORSE than 72 ppg 4. PPG against: BETTER than 75 ppg 5. PPG Top 3: WORSE than 43 ppg 6. PPG Fr: BETTER than 10 ppg 7. 2PT FG%: WORSE than 51% 8. 3PT FG%: WORSE than 35% 9. FT%: BETTER than 71% 10. Turnovers: WORSE than 13
    1 point
  6. 1. Rank: BETTER than 250 (maybe wishful thinking, as realistically looking at the schedule I can only see UB with 10-12 wins. Obviously hoping for a few more than that) 2. MAC wins: WORSE than 8 (can’t see winning any games vs top 4, so would have to go 8-2 vs all others to get to 8 wins. I think 5-7 wins is more realistic, which hopefully is good enough to get at least the 8 seed) 3. PPG for: WORSE than 72 ppg 4. PPG against: BETTER than 75 ppg 5. PPG Top 3: BETTER than 43 ppg 6. PPG Fr: BETTER than 10 ppg 7. 2PT FG%: WORSE than 51% 8. 3PT FG%: WORSE than 35% 9. FT%: BETTER than 71% 10. Turnovers: WORSE than 13 (lack of ball handlers and experienced PGs seems to be a common critique of this roster, so it stands to reason that TOs could be an issue)
    1 point
  7. 1 - I hope that it will be better, but our non-league schedule seems very lean, so I'm not sure that it will be, unless our league record is better than I anticipate. They could realistically win 5 games in November and I'm not sure it'd move the needle of the ranking too much based on the schedule strength (I think). December is surely much more daunting. For now, I'll say worse. 2 - Worse (Only those top 2 matter in my eyes, but I'll try my best on the rest). 3 - Worse 4 - Worse 5 - Better (for our top 3 scorers, not necessarily the 3 named players) 6 - Better (I hope) (Complete guesswork now...) 7 - Worse 8 - Better 9 - Better 10 - Worse I hope to be very, very wrong on #1 & 2, especially #2. I really don't want to be in the 9-12 seed come March. We'll see what happens from the men and women starting on Monday. It sure would be nice to come away with 2 wins and have a nice crowd. I'm not sure I'd bet on either, but I will surely be there in 2 days supporting the squads. Go Bulls.
    1 point
  8. 1. Worse 2. Worse 3. Worse 4. Worse 5. Better 6. Worse 7. Worse 8. better 9. Better 10. Worse
    1 point
  9. 1. Rank - Better 2. Mac Wins - Better 3. Ppg for - Worse 4. Ppg against - better 5. Ppg top 3 - Worse 6. Ppg Fr - Better 7. 2pt % - Better 8. 3pt % - Better 9. FT% - Worse 10. Turnovers - Better
    1 point
  10. Can I make a suggestion? Maybe I'm overthinking it, but instead of "lower" or "higher" - how about "better" or "worse" ...that way there's no confusion about what is considered higher or lower (rank vs statistic).
    1 point
  11. 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.
    1 point
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