Volleyball wins 4th in a row, with 5 set win over Central Michigan

[dj_paige]

Sophomore setter Mandy Leigh
Photo credit: ubbulls.com

Picking up their 4th straight win, the UB Volleyball team defeated Central Michigan in 5 sets on Saturday. It was a huge victory for the Bulls, defeating a team above them in the standings, as they push to make the top 6 by the end of the season — only the top 6 teams make the MAC Tournament. The Bulls are now above 0.500 at 7–6 in the MAC after a 1–3 start, and are tied with Northern Illinois for 6th place in the MAC. (Buffalo split two matches with Northern Illinois, I don't know what the tie breakers are).

The Bulls took the 2nd and 4th sets, while the Chippewas won sets 1 and 3. The fifth set wound up unexpectedly dramatic, as the Bulls earned their first match point opportunity at 14–8, their 14th point coming on a trademark no-look behind-the-head setter dump by sophomore setter Mandy Leigh. No one expected drama at this point, but drama we would get.

The Chippewas then ran off 7 straight points to get their own match point at 15–14. In the streak, the Chippewas had four blocks, each time a Buffalo player tried to blast the ball through a double-block with no success. This in fact was a problem for the Bulls the entire match, as often the attackers would try to blast the ball through a double-block, only to see the ball land on the Buffalo side. The Chippewas had 21 blocks during the match.

At 15–14, the Chippewas got a good bump set from the libero, but CMU right side Mallory Hernandez faced a double-block by Buffalo, tried to go around the block and hit the ball just wide.

So at 15–15, Buffalo's sophomore defensive specialist Julianna Lopez stepped to the service line. Lopez hadn't played in over a month due to an injury and even when she returned to uniform, there wasn't a spot in the rotation for her. Against CMU, with fifth year outside hitter Cali Assaley not playing well in the back row, Lopez was subbed in during the 4th set to serve and play back row defense. Her deep serve at 15–15 in the fifth set led to a CMU attack that was easily handled by the Bulls. The set went to junior right side Stacia Gollogy, and with just one blocker in front of her, Gollogly attacked off the blocker's high hands, the ball deflecting past the defense for a point. Gollogly had not started the match, entered the match in the second set replacing junior right side Emma Gielas, did not pick up a kill in the second set, but ended up with 12 kills for the match.

With the Bulls now having another match point opportunity at 16–15, Lopez went to the "yo-yo" serve, previous serve deep and then this serve short. The CMU libero had to dive forward to get to the ball and her pass went over the net, directly to senior middle blocker Olivia DeBortoli, who slammed the ball down on the CMU side with two hands, end of match, Buffalo victory.

Notes:

• Mandy Leigh had 52 assists, one of them her 2,000th assist while with the Bulls. She had 103 assists for the weekend.
• Assaley led the team with 17 kills, while sophomore outside hitter Katrin Trebichavská had 14, Gollogly had 12 and senior middle blocker Abby Leigh had 11 (with just one error). Mandy Leigh had 8 kills and zero errors.
• Lopez finished with 9 digs in less than 2 sets of playing time. Trebichavská had a career high 28 digs, while sophomore libero Maria Futey had 21.
• DeBortoli led the team in blocks with 5, Abby Leigh had 3.
• Buffalo coach Scott Smith made three lineup changes during the match, all of which paid off in the fifth set. Senior middle blocker Courtney Okwara started, but DeBortoli was put into the lineup for Okwara in the 2nd set. Lopez played back row for Assaley starting in the 4th set, and Gollogly replaced Gielas in the 2nd set.
• This season is very reminiscent of Smith's first season as head coach, when the Bulls started the MAC season with a 1–5 record, and then went on a rampage through the best teams in the MAC, to finish 8–8 and make the MAC tournament.
• Buffalo plays at Miami next weekend, Friday, November 4 and 6pm and Saturday, November 5 at 5pm, both matches on ESPN3. Miami has the worst record in the MAC at 1–12.
• Highlight reel:

Edited October 30, 2022 by dj_paige