6-3
Ill.-Chicago
4-6
Bulls Win UIC Tournament Championship With Perfect Saturday
9/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
CHICAGO, IL – The University at Buffalo volleyball team ran its win streak to five on Saturday as the Bulls took a pair of matches to win the UIC Tournament Championship. UB opened the afternoon by defeating the host Flames, 3-1, and then swept Eastern Kentucky, 3-0, in the nightcap. UB is now 7-3 on the season. Junior Tahleia Bishop was named the Most Valuable player, while setter Marissa Prinzbach was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Against UIC, the Bulls won the match 25-22, 25-16, 25-27, 25-12 as UB outhit the Flames, .258 to .062. The Bulls trailed for much of the early part of the first set as they were down 12-9, but UB rattled off six straight points, which began on three straight kills from junior Megan Lipski. UB went on to take a 15-12 lead in the set. UIC would pull back within two a couple of times, but a kill from Bishop ended the set, 25-22.
In the second set, UIC led 7-6 when the Bulls went on an 8-2 run to take a 14-9 lead. UB extended its lead to 20-12 before going on to win the set by nine, 25-16. The Bulls had their chances to go for the sweep as they led 21-17, but UIC ultimately fought off two match points to send the set into the fourth.
The Bulls got out to a quick 11-5 lead in the fourth set and never looked back. Leading 12-9, the Bulls scored eight straight points, three coming on three straight kills from junior Amber Hatchett, who was playing in her hometown of Chicago. UB won the set, 25-12.
Bishop had 20 kills and 17 digs in the match as she hit .280, with just six errors on 50 total swings. Lipski added 15 kills, while Hatchett had eight. Freshman Cassie Shado came off the bench and finished with nine kills and eight total blocks, including three solos.
Freshman Niki Bozinoski added 15 digs, while Prinzbach added 44 assists. Freshman Tessa Ooyama added two service aces.
Shado led a blocking attack that saw the Bulls finish with 16.0 total blocks. Hatchett also finished with eight blocks, including three solos, while Lipski and senior Sable Staller each had three.
In the nightcap, UB swept past Eastern Kentucky, 26-24, 25-22, 25-16, as the Bulls outhit EKU, .299 to .121. UB had to fight a slow start in the first set as EKU took an 8-4 lead. The Bulls continued to trail 11-8 when they went on a 6-0 run to take a 14-11 lead. The set remained close and EKU took a 24-23 lead, but a kill from Bishop fought off the set point and started a run of three straight points for the Bulls to take the set, 26-24.
The Bulls raced out to a 15-8 lead in the second set, but Eastern Kentucky fought back to pull within one late at 22-21. UB continued to lead by one at 23-22 when a kill from Staller and block from Shado and Prinzbach gave the Bulls the set at 25-22.
UB opened the third set on a 7-2 run before EKU pulled back within two at 12-10. The Bulls led by three at 18-15, but went on to score seven of the final eight points to win the set and the match.
Bishop finished with her second straight 20-kill match of the day as she hit .341 with six errors on 41 swings. Hatchett added nine kills and Shado finished with eight. Prinzbach ran the offense with 43 assists.
Defensively, Bozinoski finished with 12 digs, while sophomore Megan Lin added eight. The Bulls had seven more team blocks as Shado and Prinzbach each finished with four.
"We did a good job of executing this weekend," said head coach Reed Sunahara. "I thought we found different ways to score. We kept getting better as the weekend went on."
The Bulls will head to Bloomington, IN next weekend for the Hoosier Classic where they will face Indiana, Butler and Western Illinois.
