2-11
Butler
9-4
Bulls Sweep Saturday Action At Hoosier Classic
9/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BLOOMINGTON, IN – The University at Buffalo volleyball team kept its record on Saturdays unblemished as the Bulls scored two four-set victories at the Hoosier Classic. This morning UB defeated Butler, 3-1, and then defeated Western Illinois by the same score later in the afternoon. The Bulls are now 9-4 on the season heading into Tuesday's non-conference finale.
UB handed Butler just its fourth loss of the season as it took the match 25-19, 25-20, 21-25, 25-23, outhitting the Bulldogs, .215 to .199. UB was strong offensively in the first two sets as the Bulls hit .357 and .414 in the first and second sets, respectively.
Out to a big lead, Butler was able to take the third set, 25-21, but UB answered back in the fourth. The Bulls got down early, 7-4, but rolled off six straight points, the last two coming on kills from Akeila Lain. Butler regained a 12-10 lead, but then things tightened up as the teams traded the lead back and forth. With the set tied at 21-21, junior Tahleia Bishop recorded back-to-back kills, and despite Butler pulling within one at 24-23, another kill from Bishop clinched the set and the match.
Bishop led the Bulls with 24 kills as she hit .305 for the match. She completed the double-double with 11 digs. Lain added 10 kills for UB, while senior Sable Staller and junior Megan Lipski each finished with eight. Junior setter Marissa Prinzbach finished with 45 assists, while adding 10 digs and three service aces.
Lipski led the defensive effort 13 digs, while freshman Niki Bozinoski added nine. UB had four blocks, including solos from Lipski, Lain, and junior Amber Hatchett.
In the nightcap, UB had to overcome a slow start as it dropped the first set of the evening, but came back to defeat Western Illinois, 22-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-16. UB hit .277 for the match, opposed to just .153 for the Fighting Leathernecks. It was the second time in as many weeks that UB had defeated Western Illinois.
The Bulls actually outhit Western Illinois in the opening set, but WIU managed to record 16 kills, opposed to just 10 for the Bulls. The Bulls were down by as much as 20-14 in the opening set before pulling within one at 23-22.
Trailing heading into the second, the Bulls responded with one of their best sets of the weekend, hitting .485 in the second, recording 18 kills and just two errors. UB opened the second set on a 10-3 run. That helped spearhead an attack that saw the Bulls win each of the final three sets by at least four points, including the final set, which it took easily, 25-16.
Bishop continued her strong day with 20 kills and just three errors as she hit .395, while recording another double-double with 11 digs. Lipski also finished with a double-double with 14 kills and a team-high 12 digs, while Lain had eight and Staller finished with seven. Freshman Cassie Shado had six kills and a team-high five total blocks.
Prinzbach ran the offense with 50 assists, while adding 11 digs. Bozinoski also finished with 11 digs and two service aces. Shado had five blocks, including two solos, while Staller and Lain each added two blocks.
"I thought we did a nice job coming back today after a tough loss last night," said head coach Reed Sunahara. "We weren't always as sharp as we needed to be, but we made some big plays when we had to."
The Bulls finished in a three-way tie for first place at the Hoosier Classic with Butler and Indiana. All three teams defeated Western Illinois over the weekend, but then Indiana defeated UB, UB defeated Butler, and this evening, Butler defeated Indiana.
The Bulls will close out non-conference play on Tuesday night as they return to Alumni Arena for the first time in nearly a month. UB will host Niagara at 7:00 pm.
