UB Volleyball Splits two Five-Set Matches at Ohio

[dj_paige]

Fifth year outside hitter Cali Assaley

The UB Volleyball team split two five set matches at Ohio this weekend. They won the first (on Friday night) 3–2 (15–12 in the fifth set) and then dropped the second match (on Saturday) 3–2 (21–19 in the fifth set). The good news is that Buffalo showed they could play even with one of the top teams in the MAC. The bad news is that their record is now 3–6 in the MAC, still in 9th place in the MAC, and far away from the record needed to advance to the MAC Tournament.

In the first match, Buffalo got a stellar performance from fifth year outside hitter Cali Assaley, who finished with 19 kills and just 2 attack errors, for a 0.472 hitting percentage. Assaley also had 2 aces and 11 digs. In the fifth set, Assaley picked up 6 kills, including 4 kills in a 6–2 run by the Bulls which took them from an 8–7 deficit to a 13–10 lead. Credit also goes to sophomore setter Mandy Leigh, who realized who the hot hand was and kept setting the ball to Assaley. With Buffalo leading 14–12, and Assaley now in the back row, Leigh decided to send the ball to junior right side Emma Gielas. The Ohio defense was slow to get to Gielas, and the one blocker who was there took away the cross-court shot from Gielas (which is the shot Gielas uses most often), but the shot down the line was open, and Gielas's attack down the line landed in, giving Buffalo the win.

Sophomore outside hitter Katrin Trebichavská had 11 kills, while senior middle blocker Abby Leigh, senior middle blocker Courtney Okwara and Gielas each had 10 kills. Gielas, who did not start, entered the match in the middle of the second set. Mandy Leigh had 55 assists. Abby Leigh and Okwara had 3 blocks each. Sophomore libero Maria Futey had 19 digs, Trebichavská had 13 digs and Mandy Leigh had 12 digs. Abby Leigh had 9 digs, which is a lot for a middle blocker.

In the second match, Buffalo trailed in the fifth set 14–11 and fought off three match point opportunities for Ohio. Two Ohio errors and a kill by Gielas tied the set at 14. After an Ohio point, back-to-back kills by Gielas gave Buffalo their first match point opportunity at 16–15. Two points from Ohio put them back in front and a kill by Gielas (again) after an extremely long rally tied the set at 17. Gielas would pick up one more kill to give Buffalo a 19–18 lead, but then two Ohio kills and a block finished the match in Ohio's favor. In all, Gielas had 5 kills in the set, the first one coming to tie the set at 14. Ohio had 6 match points, while Buffalo had 3.

The fifth set opened as the Courtney Okwara show, as she picked up four blocks in the first 11 points. Buffalo coach Scott Smith changed the rotation so Okwara would spend more time on the court, having Abby Leigh serve first (Smith has done this before).

Gielas finished with 16 kills and just one attack error. Abby Leigh had 14 kills and just one attack error. Trebichavská had 13 kills and just 3 attack errors. Okwara led the team with 7 blocks while Abby Leigh and Gielas had 4. Trebichavská and Futey had 22 digs (career high for Futey), and Assaley had 19 digs. Mandy Leigh had 48 assists.

Notes:

• In both matches, Buffalo had a higher hitting percentage than Ohio.
• Trebichavská appeared to take something off of her high velocity serves and attacks in the second match, resulting in much greater accuracy on both. In the first match, Trebichavská had 18 errors, compared to just 6 errors in the second match.
• Maria Futey continues to play well at libero. Since she took over the libero position she is averaging 3.97 digs per set, which would put her 7th in the MAC in that category if we used only those games played at the libero position. (Futey played other positions and so her full season average is lower).
• Ohio appeared to win the fifth set at 15–11 when they let an overdig by Futey drop and the referees ruled the ball landed out. Smith challenged, the call was overturned, the ball landed on the line, and the set continued. (Note: so it should go down as a kill for Futey, but the box score lists it as an attack error by Ohio)
• Buffalo returns home on Thursday, October 20 and Friday, October 21 for two matches against Kent State, both at 6pm (ESPN+).

Edited October 16, 2022 by dj_paige