Bulls Clipped By RedHawks In Five

Kelsey Lueders hits .450 for the match

Kelsey Lueders

BUFFALO, NY – The UB women’s volleyball team was unable to sustain a 2-1 lead as the visiting Miami RedHawks defeated the Bulls in five, 3-2, Saturday evening at Alumni Arena. The loss was just UB’s second five-set loss of the season and snapped a streak of UB splitting every conference weekend to date. The Bulls are now 15-11 on the season and 5-7 in the MAC.

The RedHawks took a very evenly contested match 22-25, 25-15, 16-25, 25-20, 17-15 as they narrowly outhit UB, .250 to .226. After the Bulls won the first set, Miami played very strong in the second set. The Bulls responded by playing one of their best sets of the season in the third, hitting .382 for the set. However, the RedHawks responded with a fourth set victory and then the two teams fought back and forth in the fifth before Miami took the lead. The Bulls did fight off two match points before Miami claimed the victory.

“I thought we did a nice job bouncing back after last night, but we still have to get better at finishing when we have the lead,” said head coach Todd Kress. “I give Miami a lot of credit for the way they fought and that is why they are amongst the top of the conference.”

Kristin Bignell

Dani Silvers led the way with 14 kills, while junior Marisa Hornbaker added 11 kills. Redshirt junior Kelsey Lueders added 10 kills and just one error as she hit .450 for the match, while adding five total blocks. Junior Kristin Bignell added nine kills and four blocks for the Bulls, while Abby Niekamp added five kills and five blocks.

Junior Lindsey Schlegel had 43 assists, five kills and 10 digs on the night, while freshman Tori Beckman added a match-high 23 digs. Beckman also had a team-high two service aces.

Tori Beckman

Miami was led by 16 kills from Hallie Hanks and 15 kills from Michele Metzler. Andrea Atteberry had a match-high 51 assists, while Maria Leahy led the way with 20 digs.

The Bulls will be back in action next weekend when they hit the road for a pair of MAC contests. UB travels to Ohio on Friday night and Kent State on Saturday. Both matches are set for 7:00 pm.