Bulls Lose in First Round of the NIVC Tournament

[dj_paige]

Image Credit: ubbulls.com

Playing in their first ever post-season match, Buffalo was swept by Boston College on Friday afternoon, ending their season with a with a 19–14 record. It was a season of many firsts for the Bulls, and with only one regular starter not expected to return next year, the Bulls seem like they could achieve even more success in the next season.

Buffalo simply got outplayed by Boston College in almost all phases of the game.

On offense, the Bulls hit 0.228 (not a bad number), but Boston College hit 0.366. For Buffalo, the problem on offense was that they got a total of five kills from their three outside hitters, and none of those outside hitters had a positive hitting percentage. The other front row players all hit 0.300 or above, led by senior middle blocker Courtney Okwara with 10 kills (and a 0.563 hitting percentage), junior right side Emma Gielas with 10 kills (0.320) and senior middle blocker Abby Leigh with 7 kills (0.400). Sophomore setter Mandy Leigh had 5 kills and hit 0.500. On defense, Buffalo recorded 29 digs, compared to 42 by Boston College. And then there was that 0.366 hitting percentage by BC. Serving was a major problem for the Bulls, who picked up just one ace compared to 7 for Boston College.

In the first set, Buffalo stayed close to BC at 15–15, but then the Eagles outscored Buffalo 10–3 to take the set, as Buffalo made a lot of errors in that stretch. In the second set, the Bulls never led, fell behind early, and couldn't close the score, losing 25–17. Buffalo gave BC a much tougher time in the third set, eventually losing 27–25, after Buffalo achieved a set point opportunity taking a 25–24 lead on a kill from Gielas, but Buffalo would not score again.

Notes:

• Among the many accomplishments for this team were the 10 regular season MAC wins, tying the previous record; advancing the MAC semi-finals for the first time ever; 19 wins is the most by any UB team since joining the MAC, and second most since joining Division I. Three players (Abby Leigh, Mandy Leigh and Okwara) were named All-MAC, Buffalo has never had three players in a single season with All-MAC honors.
• There were plenty of individual accomplishments as well. Sophomore outside hitter Katrin Trebichavská finished 9th in the NCAA and 1st in the MAC with 64 aces and 0.55 aces per set, both numbers by far the best of any Bulls player in the rally scoring era. Mandy Leigh finished 3rd in the MAC in assists per set at 10.48. Okwara led the MAC in hitting percentage at 0.420. Abby Leigh finished 3rd in the MAC in hitting percentage (0.367) and 5th in the MAC in blocks per set (1.10) and was the MAC leader in solo blocks.
• Incoming freshmen in 2023: 5-11 setter Liv Gravatt, Maryville, TN; Chloe Brown, 5-9 libero/defensive specialist, Shaker Heights, OH; 6-3 outside hitter Manoela Forlín, Brazil. Also 6-0 middle blocker Tehya Shaw will be available after red-shirting during 2022 because of a surgery.
• Boston College assistant coach Marissa Prinzbach was the regular setter for UB in 2014 and 2015.
• Kudos to the ACCN announcer (whose name I didn't catch), who seems to have memorized the UB Media Guide and provided facts about UB into the broadcast rather effortlessly, as if he had been following the team all year long.

Edited December 3, 2022 by dj_paige

[dj_paige]

Incoming freshman setter Liv Gravatt named Player of the Year by the Maryville (TN) Daily Times https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm2R6yePBj5/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Also, from https://www.thedailytimes.com/sports/maryville-volleyball-places-two-on-tswa-all-state-team/article_5abb65ae-8886-11ed-902c-a3e03144671e.html:

"Maryville senior setter Liv Gravatt ... w[as] named to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association's Class AAA All-State volleyball team Saturday."

"Gravatt was one of the best setters in the state, logging a career-high 1,157 assists (9.2 assists per set) to help Maryville reach the Class AAA state tournament for the third consecutive season. The Buffalo signee also recorded 220 digs, 99 aces, 93 kills and was named The Daily Times' Volleyball Player of the Year."