2-1
Siena
0-3
Bulls Sweep Saturday Action At UB Invite
8/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo volleyball team picked up its first two victories of the season as they won a pair of 3-0 decisions to Siena and Canisius on Saturday. The victories were the first two in the Buffalo coaching career of Reed Sunahara. The Bulls will close out the weekend tomorrow afternoon against Ole Miss.
"In the first match today we were still trying to find ourselves and we had some struggles, but we overcame it," said head coach Reed Sunahara. "Tonight against Canisius our execution was at a higher level and our offense was better."
Earlier on Saturday, the Bulls defeated Siena, 25-14, 25-20, 25-20 as they outhit the Saints, .220 to .113. The Bulls got out to a quick start in set one, scoring the first five points. The Bulls opened up a 13-5 lead following a kill from junior Amber Hatchett and UB continued to extend its advantage, taking its largest lead at set point as Hatchett put home a kill.
The Bulls began the second set on a 10-4 run, but Siena came back to pull within one. The set was tied up at 17-17 when the Bulls scored three straight points, two of those coming on service aces from freshman Niki Bozinoski. Siena pulled back within two at 22-20 before the Bulls scored the final three points of the set.
Siena took a 16-12 lead in the third set before the Bulls rattled off seven straight points, capped off on a kill from junior Megan Lipski to put the Bulls ahead 19-16. A kill from junior Tahleia Bishop ended the set and the match.
Hatchett led the way with a career-high 15 kills as she hit .400 for the match. Bishop added 10 kills, while senior Sable Staller and junior Akeila Lain each finished with seven kills. Sophomore Megan Lin had a career-best 37 assists, leading the UB offense.
Defensively, Bozinoski had 16 digs, while Lipski added 12. Staller tied her career high with nine digs.
In the nightcap, UB faced its cross-town rival Canisius and it hit a season-high .398 as the Bulls won the match, 25-13, 25-18, 26-24. In the first set, UB went on a 9-3 run to open the match, capped off on another kill from Hatchett. UB had its largest lead of the set at 14 following a service ace from Lin to give the Bulls a 23-9 advantage. The Bulls won the set 25-13.
UB jumped out to another big lead in set number two as they took a quick 12-6 advantage, forcing Canisius to burn the early timeout. UB led 17-12 when the Griffs scored three straight points to pull within two. The Bulls answered with a 6-1 run to take a 23-16 lead and a kill from Bishop ended the set.
The third set remained the closest despite the Bulls hitting .450 in the set. Canisius led 11-7 before a 6-1 run for the Bulls gave them the lead. With the match tied at 16-16, the Bulls scored four straight points, three coming on kills from Bishop. The Bulls led 24-22 and had two match points, but Canisius fought them off to tie it at 24-24. A kill from Hatchett and a Canisius error gave the Bulls the set and the match.
Hatchett added 14 kills, to give her 29 on the day. She had just three errors and hit .367. Lipski and Bishop added 12 kills apiece. Bishop had just one error and hit .458, while Lipski had just two errors and hit .385. Combined the three players had 38 kills and hit .400.
Lain added eight kills and just one error and she led all players offensive with a .538 hitting percentage. Lin broke her career high from earlier in the day with 42 assists, adding three aces and two block assists. As a team, UB had eight service aces, including four from Lipski.
Bozinoski added 14 digs, while Staller broke her career high with 11. Bishop added eight. The Bulls had six total blocks, including five from Lain.
In other matches today Lehigh defeated Canisius in five sets, while Ole Miss defeated Lehigh in three earlier Saturday evening.
Lehigh finishes the weekend 2-2, while Siena ended the weekend 1-2 and Canisius finished 0-3. The Bulls and Rebels will meet tomorrow afternoon at 1:00pm in the final match of the UB Invite. The winner of tomorrow's match will be the UB Invite Champions.
