0-9
Canisius
2-10
Bulls Downed In Four At Canisius
9/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo, The State University of New York volleyball team fell in four sets at Canisius on Tuesday night.
Despite outblocking their opponents, Canisius bested the Bulls in the majority of the other categories including hitting percentage.
It was a tough opening set for the Bulls, who had to keep working their way back from deficits, but ultimately fell 25-16, recording just four kills as a squad in the first set.
In the second, UB staked itself out to an early lead, going on a 6-0 run, but the Griffs fought back to tie the set at 7-7. While the Bulls may have bended in the second set, they didn't break and went on to tie the match up at one set a piece. With the Bulls leading just 17-15, UB rattled of three straight points to extend its lead to 20-15. Canisius came back to pull within 22-20, but UB scored the final three points, including a huge solo block from freshman Megan Wernette.
The third set remained a competitive affair through out with neither team ever leading by more than three points. In fact there was a stretch in the set that consisted of 19 consecutive side outs between the two teams. The Bulls and the Griffs were last tied up 23-23 when Canisius scored the final two points to win the set and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
With the third set going the Griffs way, Canisius rode the momentum of their home crowd in the fourth and took the set 25-12, winning the match, 3-1.
UB was led in kills by senior Megan Lipski, but she also had 12 errors on the evening. Sophomore Cassie Shado finished with 10 kills and no errors on 19 swings, hitting .526 for the match. Freshman Valisha Watkins added eight kills and senior Akeila Lain had seven. Senior Marissa Prinzbach had 37 assists to lead it for UB.
Starting for the first time, freshman Megan Wernette finished with four kills and three blocks.
Defensively, Lipski finished with 13 digs, while Prinzbach added nine digs as did sophomore Niki Bozinoski. UB had 10 total team blocks, led by six from Shado.
The Bulls will remain on the road, but in the state of New York this weekend when they head to the Syracuse Invitational. The Bulls will first face Navy at 7:00 pm on Saturday evening.
