Bulls Fall Just Short Of Dramatic Comeback

Marisa Hornbaker records a career-high 22 kills

Tori Beckman

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo volleyball team attempted to fight off a two-set deficit on Wednesday night, winning two straight sets, before falling 3-2 to Syracuse at Alumni Arena. The loss drops UB to 6-4 on the season.

Syracuse took the match 25-23, 25-18, 24-26, 15-25, 15-10 as the Orange narrowly out hit Buffalo, .175 to .172. The first set was tightly contested as the Bulls nearly pulled off a comeback in the opening set. The second set also went Syracuse’s way by a 25-18 margin.

The Bulls started to fight back in the third set and scored a 26-24 victory after staving off a Syracuse match point. The Bulls had a much easier time in the fourth set scoring a 25-15 victory. UB got off to a solid start in the fifth set matching Syracuse point for point before the Orange went on a run and never relinquished their lead.

Marisa Hornbaker

“I am pleased with the way we fought back in the match, but we still have a lot of things that we need to work on as we prepare for MAC play,” said head coach Todd Kress. “We committed too many errors tonight and you won’t win too many matches when you do that.”

The Bulls were led by a career-high 22 kills from junior Marisa Hornbaker who also added seven digs and a service ace. Dani Silvers added 18 kills, four digs and four total blocks.

UB recorded 75 team digs, led by a career-high 24 from freshman Tori Beckman. Beckman added seven assists and a career-best three service aces on the night. Senior Lauren Fensten added 18 digs and a service ace. Junior Lindsey Schlegel had a match-high 49 assists, while adding 11 digs and four service aces.

Lindsey Schlegel

The Bulls recorded 14.0 total team blocks, led by eight total blocks from Kristin Bignell, including three solos. Kelsey Lueders added seven total blocks, including one solo.

Syracuse was led by 19 kills from Sarah Morton and 12 kills from Erin Little. Kacie MacTavish added 29 digs, while Laura Homann had 47 assists and four service aces.

The Bulls return to action this weekend when they head to the Cornell Tournament. The Bulls will face St. John’s on Friday afternoon at 4:00 pm and will face Colgate and Cornell on Saturday.