
Bulls Drop Tough Five-Set Contest At Northern Illinois
11/12/2021 9:41:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
DEKALB, IL – The University at Buffalo volleyball team gave it all they had on Friday night, but the Bulls came up just short at Northern Illinois as the Bulls fell to the Huskies, 3-2.
NIU took the contest 25-21, 24-26, 25-22, 13-25, 15-11 as the Huskies narrowly outhit Buffalo, .273 to .271. The Bulls got off to a slow start in the opening set as NIU led 20-10, but Buffalo made a late charge and pulled within three late, but dropped it 25-21.
A service ace from Emma Gielas opened up a 15-11 lead in the second set. With the set tied at 24-24, freshman Maria Futey closed it out for the Bulls as she had a kill and a service ace, tying the match up at 1-1.
The Huskies went back ahead with a 25-22 victory in the third, but the Bulls then had their most dominant set in the fourth. Leading 7-6, the Bulls went on a 7-0 run to take the 14-6 lead. A block from Futey and junior Courtney Okwara extended the advantage to 20-11 and a pair of aces from Futey put the Bulls within one point of the set. An attack error from NIU closed out the set, sending the match to five.
In the fifth, the two teams remained tied through much of the first half of the set as the Bulls and Huskies found themselves even at 9-9. However, from there the Huskies scored the next three points, taking a big lead in the race to 15. The Huskies went on to win the fifth, 15-11.
Four Bulls reached double figures in kills led by 17 from Okwara, who hit .556 for the contest. Okwara did a little bit of everything for UB as she added three service aces and a pair of blocks.
Futey tied her career high with 15 kills as she also added three service aces and she had a team-high 13 digs. Gielas and Milla Malik each had 14 kills and they combined for three aces, including two from Gielas.
Freshman Mandy Leigh dished out 51 assists to go along with a kill and 12 digs.
In all, five players had double figures in digs as senior Kyndal Bacon had 12 and junior Jenna Sonnenberg added 11. Malik finished with 10 digs. The Bulls finished with 10.0 blocks, led by seven from Olivia DeBortoli.
The Bulls and Huskies are back in action tomorrow at 7pm ET.
NIU took the contest 25-21, 24-26, 25-22, 13-25, 15-11 as the Huskies narrowly outhit Buffalo, .273 to .271. The Bulls got off to a slow start in the opening set as NIU led 20-10, but Buffalo made a late charge and pulled within three late, but dropped it 25-21.
A service ace from Emma Gielas opened up a 15-11 lead in the second set. With the set tied at 24-24, freshman Maria Futey closed it out for the Bulls as she had a kill and a service ace, tying the match up at 1-1.
The Huskies went back ahead with a 25-22 victory in the third, but the Bulls then had their most dominant set in the fourth. Leading 7-6, the Bulls went on a 7-0 run to take the 14-6 lead. A block from Futey and junior Courtney Okwara extended the advantage to 20-11 and a pair of aces from Futey put the Bulls within one point of the set. An attack error from NIU closed out the set, sending the match to five.
In the fifth, the two teams remained tied through much of the first half of the set as the Bulls and Huskies found themselves even at 9-9. However, from there the Huskies scored the next three points, taking a big lead in the race to 15. The Huskies went on to win the fifth, 15-11.
Four Bulls reached double figures in kills led by 17 from Okwara, who hit .556 for the contest. Okwara did a little bit of everything for UB as she added three service aces and a pair of blocks.
Futey tied her career high with 15 kills as she also added three service aces and she had a team-high 13 digs. Gielas and Milla Malik each had 14 kills and they combined for three aces, including two from Gielas.
Freshman Mandy Leigh dished out 51 assists to go along with a kill and 12 digs.
In all, five players had double figures in digs as senior Kyndal Bacon had 12 and junior Jenna Sonnenberg added 11. Malik finished with 10 digs. The Bulls finished with 10.0 blocks, led by seven from Olivia DeBortoli.
The Bulls and Huskies are back in action tomorrow at 7pm ET.
Team Stats
UB
NIU
Kills
63
65
Errors
18
20
Attempts
166
165
Hitting %
.271
.273
Points
82
80
Assists
58
60
Aces
9
6
Blocks
10
9
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Players Mentioned
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