Marshall came back from eight points down in the first game and nine points down in the second game en route to a 3-0 sweep of the Bulls (9-14, 3-6 Mid-American Conference) on Friday in Alumni Arena. The Thundering Herd (15-10, 5-4 MAC) were slow to start the match, but came on strong at the end of each game to quiet the Bulls.
Senior Tracey King and junior Isabell Anderer, who each had 13 kills on the night, led Marshall. The Bulls' weaknesses, mainly their play on serves, were exploited by Anderer who had consecutive aces in the second game.
"Service is our weakness," said UB head coach Sally Kus quite plainly.
Kus said that she believes the Bulls' lapses could be corrected by putting them in more game-type situations in practice.
"Putting them in pressure situations, because they're folding when another team scores a few points on them," said Kus when asked what she could do to help right the team.
Kus believed that the Bulls have a "lack of court maturity" at this point, and that must be worked on in practice in order to be able to avoid losing games that Buffalo should win. The final score of game one was 30-27, and the Bulls lost the second game by a score of 30-25.
UB's spirit was broken in the second game, when the Thundering Herd scored nine points in a row to go from being down 20-11 to tie the game.
This was Buffalo's third loss in a row, as well as their third time being swept in a row.
According to Kus, if the Bulls want to make the MAC playoffs, they must win the rest of their games.
"Every game is a must win at this point," said Kus.
Bulls Fight Back to Top Kent State 3-2
Knowing that they need to win the remainder of their games, the Bulls showed the fight they seemed to be lacking thus far.
Trailing 9-5 in the final game of the match, UB went on a 10-1 run and took the game by a score of 15-10 to edge the Kent State Golden Flashes by a score of 3-2 in Alumni Arena on Saturday
Senior Lindsay Matikosh stepped into the leadership role once again, as she had a hand in seven of the final 10 points of the deciding game. Matikosh recorded three kills, three blocks and one setter assist during the run.
Matikosh led the Bulls, along with freshman Nikki Morzenti, with 22 kills in the match. Morzenti's 22 kills were the most of her young career. The duo also helped out in other areas, as Morzenti had 12 digs and Matikosh added five blocks.
A number of other Bulls had strong showings, including Alexis Bouie, Katie Weekley, Amy Brown and Molly Schrantz. Bouie had a match high seven blocks for UB and Weekley added six more. Brown had 53 assists, 15 digs and four blocks while Schrantz had seven kills and 11 digs.
The Bulls are home again at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 29 when they will face off with Akron in Alumni Arena.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
