1-9
Navy
2-9
Bulls Sweep Navy For First Win Of 2015
9/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
SYRACUSE, NY – The University at Buffalo, The State University of New York volleyball team picked up its first win of the season, sweeping the U.S. Naval Academy, 3-0. The win was the first in the career of head coach Blair Brown Lipsitz.
The Bulls took the match, 25-18, 25-17, 25-21, as UB outhit Navy, .318 to .136. After blowing two-set leads twice over the last four matches, the Bulls were not going to let that happen on Saturday night.
The Bulls began the evening on a 7-2 run in the first set, capped off on back-to-back kills from senior Megan Lipski. Navy came back to pull within 16-15, but the Bulls answered with five straight points, getting some solid serving from freshman Abby Beecher during the run. A kill from Lipski clinched the set.
In the second set, UB took a 7-7 tie and went on to score six straight points, which included a pair of solo blocks from sophomore Cassie Shado. A kill by freshman Megan Wernette opened up a 23-16 lead in the set and Lipski again clinched the set as UB took it 25-18.
Navy got out to the early lead in the third set, taking a 15-10 advantage. Navy continued to lead 16-12 when the Bulls went on a 5-1 run to tie it up at 17-17. With the set tied at 18-18, UB scored two straight points, including one on a kill from freshman Valisha Watkins. A Navy service error on match point, clinched the victory for the Bulls.
"We remained consistent on our side of the net and we limited our errors tonight," said Lipsitz. "I am proud of the team and hopefully we can build on this win tomorrow and next week in conference play."
Lipski finished with 16 kills and just four errors on 35 total swings. Watkins and Wernette, both freshmen, added eight kills and just one error for UB. Senior Marissa Prinzbach had 28 assists and eight digs.
Defensively, Niki Bozinoski finished with nine digs, while Tessa Ooyama added seven and Lipski had five. UB had eight total blocks, led by four from Shado and three from Wernette.
The Bulls will remain in Syracuse tomorrow for a pair of matches as they will face New Hampshire at 12:30 pm and then the host Orange at 6:30 pm.
