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University at Buffalo
10-18, 4-12 mac
Kent State
6-22, 3-13MAC
Bulls End Season With Four-Set Victory Over Kent State
11/10/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BUFFALO, NY - It was a bittersweet victory for the University at Buffalo volleyball team tonight as they defeated the visiting Kent State Golden Flashes, 3-1, to end the season. Tonight's match was the final match for UB's two assistant coaches Jenni Horvath and Andreza Santos.
The Bulls took the contest, 25-17, 24-26, 25-22, 25-18 as they outhit Kent State, .235 to .165. The Bulls hit better than .300 in two of the four sets. UB got out to a 21-13 lead in the opening set, using a 12-4 run midway through the set. The Bulls went on to win the set 25-17.
The Bulls were unable to hold a late lead in the second set as they had set point at 24-23, however, the Golden Flashes scored three straight points to take the set. In the third set, UB was able to hold on to a late lead as they got out to an 18-13 advantage. Kent State came back to tie the set up 22-22, but UB scored the final three points of the set, capped off on a kill from junior setter Dani Reinert.
In the fourth set, the Bulls stormed out to a 7-2 lead and never looked back, taking a six-point lead at 20-14, following a block from Akeila Lain and Dani Reinert. The Bulls would go on to lead by as many as seven, their margin of victory in the fourth set. Like so many other points in the contest, the final point was on a block from freshman Tahleia Bishop and junior Carissa McKenna.
"I am so proud of the way this team fought back tonight after a disappointing loss last night," said head coach Todd Kress. "Once we knew we were not going to make the playoffs, we made it a mission to start making ourselves better for 2013 and I hope we can grow from tonight's victory and bring it into the offseason with us."
Junior Dana Musil led the way with 13 kills, while Liz Scott finished with 11 kills. McKenna and freshman Megan Lipski each finished with seven kills. Reinert had another big night offensively as she recorded 48 assists in the win, as well as three kills.
Defensively, junior Kelly Svoboda had 22 digs, her sixth 20-dig performance in the last seven matches. Svoboda also had three of UB's 11 service aces on the night. Musil, who finished with 13 digs, also had three.
As a team, UB finished with 11.0 total blocks, led by seven from Mckenna. Lain, who led the team in blocking all season, finished with five and Reinert, Bishop and Musil each had two.
The Bulls finished the 2012 campaign with a 10-18 record and a 4-12 mark in conference play. It was the fourth straight year that Buffalo has reached double figures in wins, a feat that had not been accomplished since 1996-99.
