Bulls Drop Five-Set Nail Biter To Ohio

Saturday, October 12

Buffalo, NY

6 pm

University at Buffalo

5-13,2-4MAC

Ohio

10-9,1-5MAC

Ohio

Buffalo

Bulls Drop Five-Set Nail Biter To Ohio

10/12/2019 9:05:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo volleyball team went toe-to-toe with one of the MAC's top programs, but the Bulls ultimately fell on the short end of a 3-2 decision to the Ohio Bobcats.

Ohio took the match 14-25, 26-24, 25-21, 21-25, 16-14 despite the Bulls outhitting the Bobcats, .291 to .211. UB was undone by its performance at the service line that included 16 errors, including six in the fifth set.

The Bulls put forth one of their best sets of the season in the first as UB raced out to an 18-7 lead following a block from senior Rachel Sanks and freshman Abby Leigh. Buffalo was in total control of the opening set, never allowing Ohio to make a run as a Sanks kill put a stamp on a 25-14 victory to take the early lead.

The second set was tight throughout as UB tried to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. The Bulls trailed 20-15 in the second, but a 7-2 Buffalo run would tie it up late at 22-22. Buffalo went on to take a 24-23 lead on a kill from junior Lexi Nordmann, but the Bulls were unable to close out the set as Ohio scored the final three points to even things up in the match.

Ohio took a 2-1 lead in the match following a 25-21 victory in the third, but the Bulls stormed back in the fourth. Ohio led 14-12 when the Bulls would pull ahead with three straight points. The two teams each had leads before the set found itself tied up at 20-20. UB answered with two straight, as a block from Nordmann and senior Polina Prokudina put Buffalo up 22-20. A kill by Nordmann clinched the set, sending the match to a fifth.

The Bulls had three early service errors in the fifth, keeping things tied at 4-4. Ohio went on to go ahead by as many as four at 13-9, but the Bulls had an answer. Three straight points pulled UB back within 13-12 following an ace from Prokudina. Ohio went back up 14-12, but Buffalo fought off a pair of match points on kills from Nordmann and Sanks, tying it up at 14-14. Following a Bobcats timeout, the Bulls fell victim to another service error and a UB attack error would clinch the match for Ohio.

Prokudina led the way with 19 kills as 13 of those came over the first two sets. Sophomore Monika Simkova added 15 kills and just three errors as she hit .429, while Leigh and Sanks each had 14 kills. Leigh hit .400 for the night.

Senior Scout McLerran finished with a season-best 62 assists to go along with 15 digs. The Bulls did finish with seven aces, including three from Leigh.

Defensively, sophomore Paige Beck had a match-high 20 digs. In addition to McLerran's 15, senior Hannah Watson finished with 10. As a team, UB finished with 8.0 blocks, including five from Nordmann.

The Bulls will continue their homestand on Friday night when they host Western Michigan at 6pm.