UB Volleyball Faces First MAC Road Contests This Weekend
10/2/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BUFFALO, NY - Having started 2-0 in Mid-American Conference play for the first time in school history, the University at Buffalo volleyball team hits the road this weekend, beginning a three-match road trip. UB will make stops at Ohio and Kent State this weekend, beginning in Athens on Friday night.
The Bulls are now 12-4 on the season and have won five straight matches after sweeping conference foes Bowling Green and Miami (OH) this past weekend. UB continues to be led by junior Tahleia Bishop, who was named the MAC East Co-Offensive Player of the Week this past week. She leads the Mid-American Conference with 257 kills, averaging 4.67 per set. Fellow junior Megan Lipski is currently second on the team with 140 kills. Junior setter Marissa Prinzbach leads the offense with 474 assists, while Lipski has a team-high 17 service aces.
Defensively, freshman Niki Bozinoski has 198 digs, one of three players with over 100 digs. Junior Akeila Lain leads the way in the blocking department after a strong weekend as she now has 56 total blocks, including 11 solos.
As a team, UB leads the MAC in overall wins, opponent hitting percentage, kills and assists. Individually, Bishop leads the conference in kills, while Prinzbach leads the league in assists per set with 11.02.
Ohio also enters the weekend 2-0 in MAC play following wins over Kent State and Central Michigan. The Bobcats are 9-4 on the season and had two players named MAC Players of the Week this past week. Kelly Lamberti leads the Bobcats offensively with 203 kills, while Jamie Kosiorek has 119 kills. Abby Gilleland, who shared Offensive honors with Bishop last week, runs the offense and has 500 assists in 49 sets played.
Defensively, the Bobcats are led by Meredith Ashy, who was named MAC East Defensive Player of the Week. Ashy has 238 digs on the year, while Lamberti is second on the team with 140. Karin Bull paces the blocking attack with 52 total blocks.
UB will move on to face Kent State on Saturday evening, who enters this weekend with an 8-7 record and an 0-2 mark in conference play following losses to Ohio and Eastern Michigan. The Golden Flashes will play Akron on Friday night before facing the Bulls.
The Golden Flashes are led by Tinuke Aderemi-Ibitola, who has 174 kills, while Kelsey Bittinger is second on the team with 133 kills. Brittney Jakscht leads the way with 493 assists and 13 services aces as well for Kent State.
On the defensive end, Challen Geraghty has 235 digs, while Bittinger is second with 157. Liz Reikow leads the team in blocks with 68 total blocks, including 19 solos.
Live video and stats for both games are available online and links can be found at UBBulls.com.
