Bulls Deny Ohio’s Chance of a Weekend Sweep on Saturday Afternoon

Saturday, September 30

Buffalo, N.Y.

4 p.m.

13-3,3-1MAC

Ohio

8-9,3-2MAC

Ohio

Buffalo

Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UBBulls.com

Bulls Deny Ohio’s Chance of a Weekend Sweep on Saturday Afternoon

9/30/2023 7:43:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo women's volleyball team (13-3, 3-1 MAC) came out victorious over MAC foe Ohio (8-9, 3-2 MAC) in a four-set match on Saturday afternoon.

It was a block party at Alumni Arena as the Bulls finished with a season-high 16 blocks. The last time the Bulls had 16 or more blocks was on September 4, 2021, in a 3-2 win over Troy when they had 17. The Bobcats finished with just five blocks on the day. Abby Leigh led the way with a season-high nine blocks with Courtney Okwara adding five. Mandy Leigh (2), Manoela Forlin (2), and Emma Gielas (1) also joined the party.

UB improved to 9-2 on the season when two Bulls had at least kills as Katrin Trebichavska and Forlin finished with 15 and 11, respectively. On the attack, the Bulls were much improved since last night's loss. UB outhit Ohio, .328 to .223, as it was just their third match of the season where they hit at least .300.

Mandy Leigh helped the offense with 40 assists with Julianna Lopez and Maria Futey coming up huge defensively. Futey finished with 13 digs as Lopez had 10.

The match started off with a thrilling first set. With a total of 15 ties and 10 lead changes, it was the most even set on the day. Both teams hit at a rate of .375 with a combined nine errors. At the media timeout, UB led 15-13, but the Bobcats went on a 3-0 run to take a 16-15 lead. Both teams traded points until the Bulls reached the first possible set point at 24-22. Ohio turned the tables and then took a 25-24 lead. UB denied any chance of an Ohio first set win as they won, 28-26.

The Bobcats were dominant in the second set taking it, 25-18. Ohio led wire to wire as their offense continued to click. They had a hitting percentage of .395 as the Bulls had no answers with their .211 hitting percentage.

With the match tied at one, the Bulls secured their victory with wins in the third and fourth sets. In the third set, the Bobcats hit .029 with 11 attack errors. The Bulls had 11 kills and three errors in the set while hitting .296. The third set was when the block party began as they racked up eight of their blocks. A. Leigh, Trebichavska, and Okwara each had three kills in the set. Five more blocks came in the fourth set as the offense had 14 kills and an attack percentage of .426. M. Leigh and Trebichavska led the Bulls in the set with four kills apiece. The Bobcats were limited to a .000 hitting percentage with eight errors. UB took the sets, 25-15 and 25-14.

"We needed to change your mentality a little bit be a little more aggressive," stated Head Coach Scott Smith. "I think that second set we came out and did exactly that. We were serving really well, and really good blocking took over for the rest of the match."

The Bulls are back in action on Thursday, Oct. 5 as they host Central Michigan at 6 p.m. They will then battle Eastern Michigan on Friday at 6 p.m.