Bulls Put Scare Into The MAC; Down Second Straight Division Leader

Thursday, October 31

Akron, OH

7 pm

University at Buffalo

9-14,5-6MAC

Akron

15-7,8-3MAC

Buffalo

Akron

Bulls Put Scare Into The MAC; Down Second Straight Division Leader

10/31/2019 10:24:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

AKRON, OH – The University at Buffalo volleyball team had plenty of tricks up their sleeve on Thursday night and in the end they were treated to a 3-2 road victory at Akron, their second straight road victory over a division leader. The Bulls improve to 9-14 on the season and 5-6 in MAC play.

For those that witnessed the first match between these two teams, it was no surprise that another classic was brewing inside of Rhodes Arena. However, this time it was the Bulls who were victorious, taking the contest 30-28, 22-25, 25-22, 24-26, 15-9. Buffalo narrowly outhit Akron, .204 to .169.

The Bulls had to fight back from an early deficit in the first set as they trailed 8-5, but they weren't spooked by the slow start using a 5-1 run to take the 10-9 lead. A kill from junior Lexi Nordmann extended the Buffalo advantage to 15-12, before the Zips regained the lead 20-17. UB fought off the first set point as Akron led 24-23, but it was then the Zips who fought off three set points, tying it up at 28-28. A kill from freshman Abby Leigh followed by a block from Leigh and senior Rachel Sanks clinched the opening set for the Bulls, 30-28.

Akron answered back with a win in the second set, but in the third it was the Bulls who carved out another victory. The Zips held on to a 13-11 edge when UB scored three straight as a block from Nordmann and sophomore Monika Simkova put Buffalo ahead 14-13. A kill by senior Polina Prokudina extended the lead to 17-14 and an ace from sophomore Paige Beck put Buffalo ahead 22-17. The Bulls continued to lead 24-19 before Akron fought off three set points to pull within two. A block from Leigh and Simkova clinched the set however, giving Buffalo the 2-1 lead.

Buffalo had a match point in the fourth set, but Akron fought it off and scored the final three points to send the match into a fifth set. It was the 11^th fifth set match of the year for Buffalo.

UB quickly shook off the cobwebs and dominated the final set. Akron led 3-2 early when the Bulls scored three straight to take the 5-3 lead. Leading 6-5, Buffalo ran off four straight points, which left the Zips seeing ghosts. A kill by Sanks put UB ahead 10-5.

A block from Leigh and Simkova extended the Buffalo advantage to 13-7 and a kill by Prokudina clinched the set and the match.

For the second straight match, Prokudina and Sanks both had 20-kill nights, led by 23 from Prokudina, who hit .242 on the night. Sanks added 20 kills, while Leigh had eight and Nordmann and Simkova each finished with seven.

Senior setter Scout McLerran had 57 assists on the night to go along with three kills.

UB put forth a huge defense effort that included 81 digs and 12.0 total blocks. Beck finished with a team-high 21 digs, while senior Hannah Watson added 12. Simkova and freshman Jenna Sonnenberg each added 10 digs.

Leigh and Nordmann each had six blocks in the match, while Simkova added five and Sanks and McLerran each finished with three.

Buffalo will close out its four-match road trip on Saturday night when it heads to Muncie, IN for a 7pm match at Ball State.