Bulls Exorcise Demons as they Defeat DePaul in Straight Sets

Thursday, August 31

Buffalo, N.Y.

6 p.m.

University at Buffalo

4-0,0-0MAC

DePaul

0-3,0-0Big East

DePaul

Buffalo

Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UBBulls.com

Bulls Exorcise Demons as they Defeat DePaul in Straight Sets

8/31/2023 9:45:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo women's volleyball team (4-0, 0-0 MAC) opened their competition at the UB Invite on Thursday evening against the DePaul Blue Demons (0-3, 0-0 BIG EAST). The Bulls came out victorious against the Blue Demons with a straight set victory, 25-12, 28-26, 26-24. This marks the first win against a BIG EAST program since defeating UConn in 2021. The Bulls are off to their first 4-0 since the 2013 season.

Once again, the UB defense was solid as they forced DePaul to a hitting percentage of just .120 on the evening. Courtney Okwara continued to rack up kills for the Bulls. She finished with an absurd attack percentage of .529 with 10 kills on the evening. Manoela Forlin led the team with 11 kills. Mandy Leigh added 35 assists to her total. Emma Gielas and Katrin Trebichavska had nine kills each, with Abby Leigh and M. Leigh finishing with six and five kills, respectively.

The Bulls were dominant from start to finish in the first set, taking it 25-12. UB outhit the Blue Demons, .351 to .029 in the set. DePaul was limited to just six kills as the Bulls racked up 18. The Bulls forced an early timeout after taking a 7-2 lead, but that didn't stop their momentum. The Bulls continued to go on a 13-2 run to take a 20-5 lead. Gielas closed the set with one of her four kills to open the match.

Despite dropping the first set by 13 points, DePaul tightened things up in the second and third sets. The Blue Demons capitalized off of four UB service errors in the set to slow the Bulls' offense. It was a neck-and-neck set as the largest lead was three when DePaul led 9-6. Tied at 17, Forlin got the Bulls back-to-back kills to give them a 19-17 lead. After a DePaul timeout, the Blue Demons tied the set at 19. The Bulls took a 21-19 lead before reaching a possible set point at 24-22. DePaul did not surrender as they tied the set at 24 and 25. Down 26-25, the Bulls rallied to score the final three points of the set out of their final timeout.

The third set was UB's worst offensive set of the night as they hit .184, but it was their turn to take advantage of DePaul service errors. The Blue Demons had four service errors in the set. It was another tight set as the largest lead was two points. The Bulls struggled on the attack as eight of their 18 errors in the match came in the third. But perseverance pays off as they were not phased. Tied at 19, the Bulls had a tremendous rally to keep the point alive off a diving save from Trebichavska. Forlin finished the point off with a kill to give the Bulls a 20-19 lead. The Bulls started to pull away after Trebichavska got a kill of her own to make it 23-21 and force a DePaul timeout. Tying the set at 24, the Blue Demons didn't hang on as they had a service error and an attack error. The Bulls secured a 26-24 set win to complete the sweep.

"I was really excited with the hot start we had in the first set but knew it would be a battle moving forward," stated Head Coach Scott Smith. "DePaul is a great passing team and very physical, so we really had to keep the pressure on. We were able to maintain a balanced attack all night long and spread the ball around, and in the end that is what gave us the edge."

The Bulls are back in action tomorrow at 6 p.m. against Montana (1-3, 0-0 Big Sky). Day two of the UB Invite will open up with DePaul facing Binghamton at 2 p.m.