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University at Buffalo
14-13, 4-9MAC
Kent State
14-12, 6-7MAC
Bulls Drop Five-Set Heartbreaker To Kent State
11/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BUFFALO, NY – The State University of New York, Buffalo volleyball team went the distance on Friday evening, but dropped its second consecutive five-set match as the Bulls lost to Kent State, 3-2. The Bulls are now 14-13 on the year and 4-9 in conference play.
The match was extremely competitive and close through out the evening as the Golden Flashes took the contest 25-23, 18-25, 25-21, 23-25, 17-15 as Kent State narrowly outhit the Bulls, .214 to .208. Overall, the match included 43 ties and 21 lead changes.
Kent State opened the first set by scoring seven of the first eight points, but the Bulls fought back to tie the set up at 15-15 and even went on to lead 23-21 late in the set before the Golden Flashes closed it out with four straight points. The Bulls also got behind in the second set, 6-2, before going on a big run to take an 18-14 advantage. The Bulls would close out the set on a 7-4 run as they tied the match up 1-1 going into the break. UB hit a match-high .462 during that second set as it had 15 kills and just three errors on 26 swings.
The Golden Flashes regained the lead with a third set victory, overcoming an early 14-11 deficit. Kent State went on a 6-1 run to take a 17-15 lead and the Bulls were able to pull back within one at 22-21 before Kent State scored the final three points.
The Bulls had to overcome adversity in the fourth to keep the match alive as Kent State led for much of the set. With the Bulls trailing 21-20, UB was able to score three straight points, including two on kills from freshman Cassie Shado. Kent State was able to pull back within one at 24-23, but a kill from junior Amber Hatchett gave UB the set and sent the match into five.
Kent State took a quick 7-2 lead in the fifth set, but the change over at 8-3 gave the Bulls some new life. UB went on an 8-2 run as back-to-back kills from Shado put UB ahead 11-10. Kent State then went ahead 13-12 before UB answered back with two straight points giving it a 14-13 advantage. However on match point, the Bulls hit it just long giving Kent State the first of two straight points. The Golden Flashes served it out of bounds on their first match point opportunity and the teams tied it back up at 15-15. From there the Golden Flashes recorded the final two points to win the set and the match.
Hatchett and junior Tahleia Bishop each finished with 15 kills on the evening, while junior Megan Lipski added 11 and Lain finished with nine. Shado also had eight kills. The two setters were extremely balanced as junior Marissa Prinzbach finished with 30 assists and sophomore Megan Lin added 29.
Defensively, the Bulls finished with a season-high 85 digs tonight, including a career-best 33 digs from freshman Niki Bozinoski. Bishop added 15 digs, while Lipski had 13 and Prinzbach added 11. UB also finished with 14.0 total blocks, including seven from Shado and six total blocks from Hatchett.
The Bulls will now host Ohio tomorrow evening at Alumni Arena. Following tomorrow's match, UB will honor its two seniors Liz Scott and Sable Staller.
