Bulls Earn Series Sweep with 3-1 Win Over Northern Illinois

Saturday, November 2

Buffalo, N.Y.

4 p.m.

University at Buffalo

14-13,10-4MAC

Northern Illinois

3-20,1-12MAC

NIU

Buffalo

UB celebrates the sweep of NIU.

Photo by: Paul Hokanson / UB Athletics

Bulls Earn Series Sweep with 3-1 Win Over Northern Illinois

11/2/2024 6:16:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo women's volleyball team (14-13, 10-4 MAC) completed the series sweep of Northern Illinois with a 3-1 win over the Huskies on Saturday afternoon (25-20, 35-30, 17-25, 25-15). On the season, the Bulls are now 10-1 at home.

Buffalo hit .293 on the day to improve to 13-0 this season when they hit at least .201, while holding the Huskies to a .226 hitting percentage.

The Bulls were paced offensively by Abby Leigh and Katrin Trebichavska who combined for 34 of UB's 58 kills. Mandy Leigh recorded a double-double with 47 assists and 14 digs while Maria Futey added 23 digs.

The first set was an offensive showcase as both teams hit over .300. Buffalo got down early in the first set before using a 7-0 run to go up 10-7, but the Huskies would regain the lead and be the first to reach 15 points. NIU pulled within one late in the set, but the Bulls closed on a 5-0 run, capped by a pair of kills by Trebichavska, to take the set 25-20. The Bulls finished the set hitting a blistering .412.

Buffalo raced out to an early 4-1 lead in the second set on an incredible hustle play by Keira Kleidon that set up a Trebichavska kill. The teams traded points throughout the middle part of the set before the Bulls capitalized on a pair of NIU errors to take a 15-12 lead at the media timeout. The visitors then answered with a 6-2 run to take an 18-17 lead and force a UB timeout. NIU extended the run to 9-2 on back-to-back aces to go up 21-17 before Trebichavska got going from the service line with an ace to pull UB within two, and then served up another beauty to tie the game at 21. The teams then traded points to tie it at 25 and set up a wild ending where the Bulls and Huskies combined to fight off six match points, but Buffalo would not be denied as Tehya Shaw and A. Leigh recorded back-to-back kills to lead the Bulls to a 32-30 set victory. There was a total of 17 ties and eight lead changes in the marathon set.

It was a back-and-forth affair, with the teams knotted at nine, early in the third set. The Huskies then capitalized on UB miscues to string together a mini 6-1 run and take a 15-10 lead to force at UB timeout. Kleidon recorded an ace to pull UB within four, but it was all Huskies from there as they took the set 25-17 to extend the match. NIU outhit Buffalo .419 to .200 in the third.

Buffalo jumped out to a lead in the fourth courtesy of a pair of aces to force an early NIU timeout. The Huskies battled to stay close before Trebichavska recorded a kill to spark a 4-1 run to put UB up 13-7 and force NIU to use their final timeout. The Bulls continued to attack, using a 7-2 run to double up the Huskies 22-11 and that would be more than enough to secure the set victory, 25-15.

"It's great getting two victories on the weekend," stated Head Coach Scott Smith. "NIU fought hard but I was very happy with our team's ability to rise the challenge and win the two sets that went extra points. Without the grit they showed in those moments the results very well could have gone much differently. I thought we responded well in the fourth set today and really did a great job resetting our mentality and finishing with a convincing win. Our middles were especially consistent through both nights and Mandy did an excellent job finding them. Maria's defense and serve receive was also a steady constant for us when we were needing it most."

The Bulls are back in action next weekend at Ohio.

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