WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

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ATHENS, OH - The University at Buffalo volleyball team dropped a 30-16, 30-27, 30-16 decision to the defending Mid-American Conference champion Ohio Bobcats tonight in Athens, OH. The Bobcats (12-2 overall, 2-0 MAC), who are currently receiving votes in the CSTV/AVCA Coaches Top 25 poll, extended the nation's longest active home court winning streak to 31 matches with the three-game victory. Buffalo evens its record at 7-7 overall and falls to 0-2 in the MAC.

Amy Brown

The Bobcats used an 11-0 run to jump out to an early 13-2 lead in game one and finally ended it at 30-16 on a service ace by Stephanie Blackburn. Ohio hit .306 in game one compared to Buffalo's .027 hitting percentage. The Bulls hung with the Bobcats in a back-and-forth game two which featured 16 ties, the last one coming at 26-26. OU's Holly Schetzsle broke that tie with back-to-back kills followed by an ace by Savanah Parra that gave the Bobcats a 29-26 lead. Buffalo junior Jenna Mapé (Calgary, Alberta/Father Lacombe) kept the game going with a kill, but Ohio's Melissa Griffin answered with a kill of her own on the following play to give the Bobcats the 30-27 win. Game three was tied at 8-8 before the Bobcats embarked on a 6-1 run to take a 14-9 lead en route to the 30-16 win to end the match.

Senior Amy Brown (Pittsburgh, PA/Mt. Lebanon) recorded a career-high 19 digs along with 27 assists and two kills to lead the Bulls. Senior Katie Weekley (Dayton, OH/Chaminade-Julienne) was the only player to reach double digits in kills with 10. Junior Nikki Morzenti (Safety Harbor, FL/Clearwater) finished with six kills and five digs to see her streak of consecutive double-doubles come to an end at five matches. Sophomore Lizaiha Garcia (Dayton, OH/Beavercreek) had 18 digs.

Stephanie Blackburn and Griffin each recorded 14 kills to lead the Bobcats, while Blackburn also had three service aces and 16 digs for a double-double. Schetzsle finished with 13 kills, and Michaele Blackburn had a match-high 23 digs. Parra had 46 assists, three kills, three service aces and nine digs.

The Bulls continue the MAC schedule with two road matches next week, at Akron on Thursday, September 29 at 7 pm and at Ball State on Saturday, October 1 at 8 pm.