Winless in the Mid-American Conference this season, the University at Buffalo volleyball team suffered its eighth straight loss on Thursday night at Alumni Arena, falling 3-1 to the Marshall Thundering Herd.
"They just executed better than we did. We have got to be a better side out team. We need to keep the ball off the floor," said head coach Sally Kus. "Forget the MAC win, we need to start playing the game right."
The Bulls (7-13 overall, 0-7 MAC) took an early lead, defeating the Herd (13-6 overall, 4-1 MAC) 30-27 in game one, thanks in part to the strong play of Nikki Morzenti. The sophomore tallied seven kills in game one alone.
"It's so great to have Nikki back," said UB head coach Sally Kus. " She brings such energy to the court. We need that to be contagious."
The UB lead was short-lived, however, as the Herd stormed back to take the next three games 30-22, 30-24 and 30-22. The Bulls were unable to contend with Marshall's Kelly-Anne Billingy, the reigning MAC East Division Player of the Week.
"We started off really strong, but the next three we just let it go," said UB senior Molly Schrantz. "Our serve and receive was off and it hurt us."
Billingy led the Herd with a match-high 24 kills and Marshall setter Katie Stein had 51 assists and 13 digs in the contest.
Sophomore Brandie Clark had a strong night for the Bulls, recording a career-high 46 assists, four kills and eight digs, while Morzenti paced the Bulls with 19 kills and eight digs. Lizaiha Garcia played a strong defensive game for UB, tallying a match-high 23 digs.
UB's six-match homestand will come to an end tomorrow night as the Bulls take on Central Michigan University in Alumni Arena. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
