Futey gets 1000th dig and Abby Leigh gets 1000th point in UB win over Akron

[dj_paige]

The UB Volleyball team swept Akron tonight, not allowing the Zips more than 20 points in any set. Junior libero Maria Futey recorded her 1,000th career assist during the match, and fifth year middle blocker Abby Leigh recorded her 1,000th career point during the match. The Bulls are now 7–2 in the MAC and in third place; and 17–4 overall.

Junior libero Maria Futey

Fifth year middle blocker Abby Leigh

Buffalo stifled the Zips offense, not allowing the Zips to hit above 0.114 in any set, and the Bulls hit 0.229 or above in each set.

Buffalo never trailed in the first set. They opened a 4–0 lead and although Akron would tie the score at 7, Buffalo went on a 10-3 run en route to a 25–18 win. In that span, senior outside hitter Katrin Trebichavská had 3 kills, senior right side Stacia Gollogly had two kills and freshman outside hitter Manoela Forlin had 2 kills.

The Bulls also never trailed in the second set, winning 25–20. Abby Leigh had 4 kills and a block in the set, and Trebichavská had five kills.

The Bulls fell behind 3–0 in the third set, but after Buffalo trailed 8–7, they went on a 5–0 run and wound up winning 25–15.

Trebichavská finished with 15.5 point on 13 kills, 1 aces and 2 blocks. This was the 6th straight match in which Trebichavská was the leading scorer. Abby Leigh was second with 12 points, on 7 kills (with just 1 error), 3 aces and 3 blocks. Fifth year middle blocker Courtney Okwara, who entered the match leading the NCAA in hitting percentage at 0.474, hit 0.467 for the match with 8 kills and just 1 error. I guess Okwara's hitting percentage will drop a smidge, but still a stellar job by Okwara. Junior setter Mandy Leigh had 35 assists and 9 digs. Futey had 9 digs and grad student outside hitter Maurine Calande led the team with 10 digs.

Other Stuff

Mandy Leigh recorded her 3,000th career assist over the previous weekend, in matches at Toledo. After tonight's match, she has 3,095 assists, and she is on a pace that would put her ahead of Amy Brown (2002–2005) for most career assists. She has 10.11 assists per set, also ahead of Brown.

Play of the Match™ — at 24–16 in the first set, the Bulls front line not only managed to keep the ball alive but turned it into a kill. Akron setter Eliska Vytiskova's attack was barely kept off the floor by Abby Leigh, who had served. The ball went into the net, Forlin then barely kept the ball of the floor after it caromed out of the net, the ball popped up in the air and Mandy Leigh two-handed the ball deep in the Akron left back corner, where the dig was unable to keep the ball in play. Kill for Mandy Leigh, but it's not quite a pineapple, as it was a two-handed shot and the digger did get her hands on the ball.

Unusual call challenged by Buffalo coach Scott Smith, successfully — with Buffalo leading 19–15 in the first set, a pass from Futey appeared to be headed into the scorer's table, and Mandy Leigh chased after it. The referee appeared to blow his whistle before the ball actually went out of play, and just a fraction of a second later Leigh was actually able to make a play on the ball. But the whistle had blown. After a review, the official did determine the ball was not out of play when the whistle blew, and the point should be replayed.

Lauren Otten, Kaboom! Three big kills on just three swings for Lauren Otten, a sophomore outside hitter, who normally doesn't get to play much.

Who was that mysterious UB player wearing #18? There is no #18 on the roster. It looked like Forlin's twin sister. Forlin is listed as #14 on the roster, and she has won that number all year. Could it be there are two of them?

Buffalo will face Ball State twice this weekend at Alumni Arena, on Friday, October 20 at 6pm and the next day at 4pm. Both matches will be on ESPN+. Ball State currently is tied for the lead in the MAC with Western Michigan, both of them with 8–0 records.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by dj_paige

[dj_paige]

The Bulls will face co-MAC leader Ball State in two games this weekend. Then they face another co-MAC leader Western Michigan in one match the following weekend. At the time I write this, both Ball State and Western Michigan are undefeated 8–0. Clearly, the outcome of these three matches will have a huge impact on how the Bulls finish and their seed into the MAC tournament, if they qualify. (Top 6 teams qualify)

The schedule is, in some ways, reminiscent of Scott Smith's first year as head coach in 2019, when the Bulls went on a rampage through the MAC, defeating all of the MAC's top teams (except for a 3–2 loss at Ball State). The Bulls would finish as the #7 seed in the MAC (eight teams qualified that year), and went on to earn their first ever quarter-final victory in the MAC tournament.

Of course, there were some marked differences in 2019. Buffalo started the MAC schedule with a 1-5 record, after going 5–8 in the non-conference schedule. There was really no reason to think at that time that the Bulls had the capability to go on such a rampage. But they did. Smith told me afterwards he knew the team had the talent to do that. It was two lineup changes that Smith made that triggered this rampage, moving Abby Leigh to middle blocker, and ditching the two-setter offense and sticking with Scout McLerran as the only setter.

This year, the Bulls have a 7–2 record in the MAC, after going 10–2 in the non-conference season against a much tougher schedule than 2019. If the Bulls could do it in 2019, then it is certainly possible for them to perform a similar feat in 2023.

Walk down memory lane with me:

https://www.ubbullrun.com/2019/11/10/20957566/kaboom-ub-volleyball-defeats-mac-leader-miami

https://www.ubbullrun.com/2019/11/11/20960337/volleyball-beating-the-top-schools-in-the-mac-what-has-changed

Edited October 20, 2023 by dj_paige

[dj_paige]

Logan Case, senior setter at WMU and high school teammate of UB's Emma Gielas, becomes WMU's all time assist leader. We'll see her next weekend in Kalamazoo.