WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

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Garcia Digs Her Way Into The Record Books As Bulls Split Against Big East Foes

Lizaiha Garcia

Garcia, who entered the day 28 digs shy of breaking the record, got off to a great start in the afternoon match as she had 22 digs to help UB defeat South Florida 28-30, 30-23, 25-30, 31-29, 15-8. UB fought back as it was down 29-27 in the fourth game, scoring the final four points of the game and forcing a game five. UB would score the first three points of the game five and six of the first nine. After taking a 10-8 advantage in the game, Buffalo scored the final five points, with four of those coming off Garcia serves.

Marisa Hornbaker

UB finished with three players in double figures in kills as Claudia Neba (Aurora, CO/Smoky Hill/Rutgers) led the way with 12. Freshman Marisa Hornbaker (Colorado Springs, CO/Colorado Springs Christian) had a career-high 11 kills, while freshman Richelle Bigelow (Littleton, CO/Dakota Ridge) recorded her second career double-double with 10 kills and 16 digs. Neba also had a double-double as she had 10 digs in the match. Neba and Bigelow were just two of four players who reached double figures in digs as freshman Lindsey Schlegel (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) had 20 digs and Garcia had 22. Schlegel also had a career-high 42 assists to lead UB. Buffalo has now defeated an opponent from the Big East in each of the last two seasons.

Both teams show excellent blocking abilities as UB narrowly out blocked USF, 14-13. Kelsey Lueders (Liitleton, CO/Chatfield) and Schlegel each had two solo blocks, while Lueders also had five block assists in the match. Freshman middle Kristin Bignell (Drayton, Ontario/Norwell District) added four block assists, while notching nine kills. Neba and Bigelow notched six and two total blocks, respectively.

Lindsey Schlegel

South Florida was led by 17 kills from Marcela Gurgel, who also led the team with 15 digs. Nakia Williams had eight block assists and 10 kills for USF.

In the evening contest, UB fell to a West Virginia team who was coming off a victory over Albany earlier in the day. WVU defeated the Bulls 30-24, 30-21, 30-18 to improve to 4-1 on the season. Hornbaker kept her impressive day going as she had a team-high 10 kills, but the story of the match for UB was Garcia, who broke a 16-year old school record by recording 11 digs against the Mountaineers. In doing so, Garcia surpassed Ann Reed’s school record for career digs and Garcia now stands alone at the top with 1,531 career digs. Garcia’s 11 digs were tops on the team during the match. Sophomore Maria Mezzadri (Livonia, MI/Livonia Stevenson) recorded a career-high nine kills as she started for the first time in her career as well. Mezzadri also recorded the first solo block of her career, helping UB to four total team blocks against the Mountaineers. Also seeing action against WVU was junior Rachel Smith (Churchville, NY/Churchville-Chili), who recorded kills on both of her attack attempts on the evening.

Maria Mezzadri

West Virginia was led by 15 kills from Tammy Wolf and 12 kills from Abby Tevis. Kailee Goold had 35 assists, while Bonnie West led the way with 13 digs.

The Bulls wrap up play in the Western New York Invitational tomorrow as they host fellow SUNY member Albany at 2:00 pm. Fans unable to attend the match can follow along on live stats by clicking here.