After the second game of Saturday night's volleyball match against the Northern Illinois Huskies, it appeared as if the UB Bulls were going to return from their weekend road trip with nothing to show for it.
But as they have done more often as of late, the Bulls overcame the odds and fought back to beat the Huskies and set a few new program milestones in the process.
After being down two games to none, Buffalo stormed back against Northern Illinois to earn a 24-30, 18-30, 30-25, 30-28, 15-12 win over the Huskies in Dekalb, Ill.
"That second game was the worst game we have played all season," said head coach Sally Kus. "It was bad. That would have been a long 12 hour bus ride back."
Lindsay Matikosh had another strong game for UB as she led the Bulls with 21 kills and 16 digs.
The win improved Buffalo's record to 10-16 overall and 4-8 in the MAC. It was a pretty significant win for the program as this win marked the first time the Bulls have put up double digits in the win column since 1999. The four wins also tied a 1999 record, being the most they have ever had in MAC play.
There were a couple of career performances in the big win for the Bulls. Alexis Bouie tied her career high with nine blocks and Lauren Burd posted a career high seven blocks and five kills. Amy Brown gave the Bulls another strong performance, with 48 assists and nine digs.
"We came out fired up after the second game," said Brown. "Lauren Burd and Kate Weekley were moved around to the right side and we shut Northern Illinois down. It made all the difference in the world moving those two to the right side."
The loss dropped the Huskies to 16-9 overall and 5-7 in the MAC.
Buffalo's next game is a huge one in terms of the quality of the opponent. They will host the Ohio Bobcats on Friday night, in what will be their 2003 home finale. The Bobcats are in first place in the MAC East division with an 11-0 conference record and 19 straight overall.
Bulls Drop Match to Central Michigan
On Friday night, the Central Michigan Chippewas shut out the Bulls by scores of 30-22, 30-17, and 30-20. The Chippewas improved their record to 12-12 and 6-5 in the MAC.
Weekley had 11 kills and two blocks to lead Buffalo, while Matikosh added nine kills and eight digs. Brown finished with 30 assists.
Liz Passen and Emily Lovejoy paced the Chippewas, with 15 and 12 kills respectively.
"Central Michigan is a fine technical team. We played okay but they were in control the whole game," said Kus.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
