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Lehigh
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Bulls Drops Season-Opener To Lehigh, 3-0
8/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo volleyball team dropped its opening match to the 2014 season, falling to Lehigh, 3-0, Friday night in the UB Invite at Alumni Arena. The match was the first at UB for new head coach Reed Sunahara.
Lehigh took the contest, 25-19, 25-22, 25-19, as it outhit UB, .136 to .090. The Bulls had a lot of new faces on the floor in addition to the head coach, starting a number of freshmen and players who have seen limited time.
Amongst those players was senior Sable Staller, who saw her first action on the court since 2011 and she finished with six kills and just one error on 15 total swings. The offense was being run by sophomore Megan Lin, who picked up her first career start. Lin finished with career highs in kills (3), assists (24), digs (8), service aces (2) and blocks (2).
Lin did have some familiar faces to set though as juniors Tahleia Bishop and Akeila Lain each finished with a team-high seven kills. Fellow junior Megan Lipski finished with five kills and 13 digs, while Amber Hatchett had four kills.
Defensively, the Bulls got a strong match from freshman Niki Bozinoski, who recorded 22 digs in her first collegiate match as the team's libero. Bishop added 12 digs to finish as one of three players in double figures in digs.
Lehigh was led by Stephanie Slater, who had 10 kills and Jade Van Streepen who added seven. Amy Matula finished with 24 assists and Mariah Brantley added 26 digs.
In earlier action today at the UB Invite, Ole Miss went 2-0 with three-set victories over Canisius and Siena. The Saints won their match this morning against Lehigh, 3-0.
There will be four more matches tomorrow at Alumni Arena beginning with Canisius and Lehigh at 10:00 am. The Bulls will host Siena at 12:00 pm and Canisius at 7:00 pm. Ole Miss and Lehigh will play at 5:00 pm.
