Bulls Played their Cards Right in 3-2 Victory Over Ball State

Friday, October 20

Buffalo, N.Y.

6 p.m.

University at Buffalo

18-4,8-2MAC

Ball State

12-9,9-1MAC

Ball St.

Buffalo

Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UBBulls.com

Bulls Played their Cards Right in 3-2 Victory Over Ball State

10/20/2023 10:27:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Zach Monell

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo women's volleyball team (18-4, 8-2 MAC) defeated the Ball State Cardinals (12-9, 9-1) in a five-set thriller, 25-22, 25-18, 19-25, 25-27, 15-9. This marked just the second victory over Ball State in program history. UB's 8-2 start to MAC play marks a program best start in conference play.

Entering the match, the Cardinals and Bulls were second and third in the MAC standings. With the win, UB is now just one game behind the Cardinals in the standings.

This was the first match on the season where four Bulls had at least 10 kills. Abby Leigh had a stellar performance as she had 16 kills, four aces, five blocks, and 22.5 points. She finished with an attack percentage of .438. Courtney Okwara had an attack percentage of .481, a match high, and 16 kills. Katrin Trebichavska had 13 kills as Manoela Forlin finished with 12.

Trebichavska added 14 digs on the night as she earned her fourth double-double of the season. Mandy Leigh had a season-high 60 assists against the Cardinals.

Maria Futey continued to rack up digs as she had a season-high 26 on the night. The defense had 75 digs with performances behind Maurine Calande (14) and Mandy Leigh (12).

The defense for both UB and Ball State was solid in the first set as the Cardinals hit .065 and the Bulls hit .128. In total, the teams forced 16 attack errors, the most in the match. The Bulls started out strong with a 5-1 lead, but the Cardinals did not back down. Ball State tied the set at 20, but Okwara earned two kills to propel the Bulls to a first set victory.

Unlike the first set, the offense came alive for both teams. The Cardinals hit .355 as the Bulls hit .513. Each team had two errors in the set. The Bulls dominated the set as they had 22 kills on 39 attempts. Forlin, Okwara, and Trebichavska had five kills apiece as the Bulls took the set, 25-18.

The Bulls offense stalled in the third set as Ball State avoided the straight set loss. The Bulls hit .000 in the set, finishing with just 10 kills. The Cardinals offense hit just .194 with 12 kills. The offenses found their groove against great defensive plays as the Bulls hit .273 to Ball State's .260. Trailing for the majority of the set, the Bulls clawed their way back after being down as much as seven. With match point within reach at 25-24, the Cardinals forced a Forlin attack error to tie the set. Ball State closed the set by getting the next two points to force the decisive fifth set.

The Bulls offense was error free in the fifth set, finishing with 10 kills on 21 attempts. Up 5-2, the Bulls forced a Ball State timeout. With the Alumni Arena crowd rocking, all the momentum swung the Bulls' way. Okwara got UB within one of winning the match after a bad reception by the Cardinals, she finished it off with a skip set kill. A. Leigh sealed the deal with an ace.

"We felt well prepared for this match but knew it would be a really tough match-up that would come down to execution in the pressure situations," stated Head Coach Scott Smith. "I thought we had great production from the middles and that was a big factor in the win tonight. We were working hard to get the right match ups throughout the night, and it was pretty evident when we got that right. Getting a win the first night of the series is great for our confidence but we will have to play even cleaner to repeat tomorrow afternoon."

The Bulls and Cardinals will close out their week with a 4 p.m. match.