Bulls Sweep DePaul to Remain Undefeated

[dj_paige]

The UB Volleyball team won their fourth consecutive match, defeating DePaul 3–0 (25–12, 28–26 and 26-24), in the first round of the Buffalo Invite. They will play Montana tomorrow night (September 1, 2023) at 6pm at Alumni Arena, and finish the next day against Binghamton at 3pm at Alumni Arena.

Buffalo ran out to an 18–5 lead in the first set, hitting 0.478 so far in the match, while holding DePaul to a zero hitting percentage. The Bulls won easily. But things changed dramatically in the next two sets, and the two teams were closer than L.A. traffic the rest of the way. Neither team could open a big lead, and there were many lead changes. DePaul changed to a two setter offense, and this seemed to make quite a difference for them. At 25–25 in the second set, a serve by DePaul's Audrey Klemp twinkled the twine and rolled over the net where Buffalo couldn't play it. Buffalo then scored the next three points to take the set, one on a DePaul attack error and two by UB middle blocker Courtney Okwara (one kill and a block on set point).

In the third set, the two teams were dead even at 19, when UB outside hitter Katrin Trebichavská pulled off the Play of the Match™. A tip by DePaul's Klemp looked like it would land inbounds deep in the back right corner, but Trebichavská, running full speed from the middle of the court towards the sideline, managed to get under the ball. While KT usually draws gasps and roars from the crowd for her attacking and serving, this defensive play drew a roar from the crowd. And not only did she get to the ball while running full speed off the court, she put up a perfect pass to Buffalo setter Mandy Leigh, whose set to outside hitter Manoela Forlin resulted in a kill down the line. This brought the crowd to its feet. Video of this play: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwoTaSpMJ92

Trebichavská wasn't done. After senior right side Emma Gielas scored a cross court kill to make the score 22–21 (which led to defensive specialist Hayley Montoya to do a "swimming fish" on the floor in front of the bench), on the next play Gielas had to bump the ball way high in the air cross court and from the back row to the front row, where Trebichavská then ripped off a wicked kill down the line, off the side of the block. It was a very difficult shot, since the ball was coming from behind Trebichavská. A few plays later, a kill off the block by KT gave Buffalo match point at 24–22. DePaul responded with the next two points to tie the set at 24, but then two DePaul errors ended the match, the last point coming when a tough serve by Buffalo middle blocker Abby Leigh forced DePaul into an awkward attack, which was long.

Forlin led the Bulls with 11 kills and one block, while Okwara had 10 kills and 3 blocks. Gielas and Trebichavská each had 9 kills. Trebichavská led the team with 14 digs, while Mandy Leigh had 13, Forlin had 10 and libero Maria Futey had 9. Buffalo only had 5 blocks all match, with Okwara leading the way with 3. Mandy Leigh had 35 assists. Buffalo's hitting percentage of 0.258 was their highest of the season, while they held DePaul to a 0.133 hitting percentage.

Other Stuff

What was that mysterious yellow card at the start of the second set? It was a delay of game penalty for DePaul, who either didn't submit their lineup by the specified time, or were late coming out onto the court.

Outside hitter Maurine Calande was not available to play because of an injury.

They call that shot a "pineapple". Yes, its a sweet and tasty play that Mandy Leigh pulled off to tie the score at 3 in the second set. When she noticed that there was no DePaul defender in their left back position, she pushed the ball with both hands deep into that corner for a kill. She also pulled off one of her special behind-the-head no-look dump to DePaul's left front position when there was no defender there, also in the second set, to give the Bulls a 16-15 lead.

Buffalo coach Scott Smith challenged the referee's call that a Buffalo attack landed out (the challenge was that the block touched the ball) on the fifth play of the match, and the call was reversed. Since you only get two challenges in a match, but you get to keep them if the call is reversed, it was a gutsy call, you could be left with just one challenge for the rest of the match. There are some coaches who won't use a challenge that early in the match, especially since a block touch is usually hard to see on replays. There are other coaches who use the challenge whenever they feel it is warranted as long as they have challenges left

Many of you have been asking: why does defensive specialist Hayley Montoya step on the sideline just before every play? Its a pattern she uses to try to get herself ready the same way for every play. Must be working, she picked up 6 digs.

Can you say "consistent"? Buffalo's hitting percentage in their four games are 0.247, 0.240, 0.250 and 0.258. None of Buffalo's opponents have hit 0.200 this year.

The last time Buffalo won their first 4 matches was 2018, when they went on to record what was the program's best ever record in the MAC at that time.

You can tell tomorrow night's opponent Montana will be tough, as they have a player named Paige on their roster.

Lastly, a quick word about the wider world of NCAA Volleyball and women's athletics in general. Last night, a crowd of 92,003 (yes, that's 92 thousand and three) watched Nebraska volleyball defeat Omaha at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln (a football stadium). This was the highest attendance ever recorded for a women's sporting event anywhere in the world.

 

 

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by dj_paige