Volleyball Sweeps Miami to move back to second place in the MAC

[dj_paige]

The historic season for UB Volleyball continued last night at Alumni Arena, as the Bulls defeated Miami (OH) 3–0 (25–19, 25–13, 25–19). It was their 11th MAC win, breaking the previous high of 10 wins in the MAC regular season. The win moved Buffalo back into second place in the MAC, and if they can maintain that position, they will receive a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament. Buffalo is now 21–5 for the season and 11–3 in the MAC.

The Bulls overwhelmed the Miami defense, picking up 47 kills and just 6 errors, a hitting percentage of 0.451, their season high. In the first set, Buffalo hit an even 0.500, scoring 21 kills. They opened a 15–6 lead and never were threatened. In the second set, Buffalo hit 0.462 while holding to Miami to a zero hitting percentage. After taking an 8–3 lead, Buffalo cruised to a huge win.

Miami took their first and only lead of the match, scoring the first point of the third set, and again Buffalo's sizzling offense took over and opened a big lead. The Bulls cooled off (if you can consider a 0.387 hitting percentage "cool") but still won easily. In the second and third sets, the Bulls recorded just one hitting error each.

In the third set, Buffalo coach Scott Smith went deep into his bench, and players who haven't seen much playing time this season got to play regularly. Senior serving specialist Emilie Davis, appearing in just her second MAC contest this season, served at 6–5 in the third set, and almost (but not quite) came up with the Play of the Match™. Her tough serve was poorly played by the Redhawks, and it looked like the ball would land for an ace, and Davis and the Bulls began to celebrate, only to see Miami make a great recovery and send the ball over. Senior defensive specialist Hayley Montoya also appeared, just her second MAC appearance of the year.

Senior serving specialist Emilie Davis (L) and senior defensive specialist Hayley Montoya (R)

Senior outside hitter Katrin Trebichavská led the team with 14 kills and a 0.522 hitting percentage (her career high). Freshman outside hitter Manoela Forlin had 8 kills with just 1 error for a 0.412 hitting percentage. Fifth year middle blocker Courtney Okwara had 6 kills and hit 0.357, and led the team with 3 blocks. Senior right side Emma Gielas had 6 kills and just one error, plus two blocks. Fifth year middle blocker Abby Leigh had 6 kills and just one error.

On a night when the offense got all the attention, junior libero Maria Futey was extremely effective on defense picking up 12 digs. So let's give the actual Play of the Match™ to Futey, on serve receive, at 7-4 in the first set. A serve by Miami came directly to Futey about shoulder high. This is a very difficult ball to play, it's too high to bump and it's difficult to pass with her hands about shoulder high. It looked like Futey hesitated a second, but got her hands up, and made a perfect pass to junior setter Mandy Leigh, who then had no problem making the set to Forlin for the kill.

Futey and senior defensive specialist Julianna Lopez each had 2 aces. Mandy Leigh had 41 assists, a pretty big number for a three set match, but certainly she was one of the major reasons why the team attacked so well.

Other Stuff

Okwara entered the match leading the NCAA in hitting percentage. The ESPN announcers also pointed out that Okwara leads the MAC in hitting percentage.

Buffalo now has the same record as Ball State at 11–3, but because Buffalo owns the tie-breaker, the Bulls are in second place, with four matches left in the season.

Buffalo faces Miami again on November 4 (that's today as I write this) at 4pm at Alumni Arena. It will be senior night for the Bulls, who have nine players who will make their last appearance at Alumni Arena.

Gielas hadn't played much recently. Her six kills and two blocks came in less than two sets. She ended the match with a right-side kill against one Miami blocker. Video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzNKuhLskuk/

Freshman middle blocker Tehya Shaw had 1 kill on one attack, and sophomore outside hitter Lauren Otten had 2 kills on 2 attacks. Shaw is hitting 0.333 this season in limited playing time, while Otten is hitting 0.417 for the season in limited playing time.