Volleyball looks for MAC win

Playing on the road is never easy. Playing on the road against four conference opponents in a row is downright brutal.

For the UB volleyball team (7-7 overall, 0-2 in the MAC) this was a stark reality as they faced Kent State (5-8 overall 1-1 in the MAC) and Ohio (12-2 overall 2-0 in the MAC) last weekend and now will travel to Akron (6-8 overall 1-1 in the MAC) for a Thursday night game and then to Ball State (7-5 overall 1-1 in the MAC) on Saturday.

"Obviously playing these first four away are tough, but that means later down the road they are coming to us," said head coach Jim Lodes. "It's kind of a bad way to open. Road games aren't going to be easy, but I don't think this is a good time to make excuses."

After dropping their only two Mid-American Conference match-ups last weekend, the Bulls are looking to claw their way up the conference ladder.

"The MAC is a good volleyball conference," said Lodes. " We are trying to establish ourselves as a legitimate contender. There is the stigma of getting past the 'old Buffalo' we have to do a lot there and say 'why can't we compete and why do we have to be the old Buffalo?' It's a new year everybody's roster has changed and some staff has changed."

Although the Bulls weren't able to pull out a win in their first two MAC tests, they did show glimpses of greatness against a tough Ohio squad.

"Ohio is a legitimate top-40-ish team and they are getting votes in the top 25," Lodes said. "By playing well with them in game two, we hopefully realize that we can play with anybody or close to anybody."

With a better overall record than the Zips and a comparable record to Ball State, Lodes is optimistic that the Bulls will be able to notch their first MAC victory and climb out of the conference's cellar.

"Does last weekend make it easier or not easier to go play Akron or Ball State? I can't answer that yet," Lodes said. "The interesting psychology of sport is that when you win, how do you stay motivated to keep working that hard and when you lose, how do you stay motivated enough to not give up? It's easy to get fat and happy and it's easy to be a quitter."

For the Bulls, the key to winning both in and out of the MAC is consistently playing at their highest level.

"We're probably not as good as the two games when we blew out Kent State or when we played Ohio well, but I also know were not as bad as the games we lost," Lodes said. "We have to find that level in the middle and be consistent with who we are."

A big part of playing strong on a regular basis for the Bulls is sticking to the basics.

Lodes talked about how he is conditioning his team for success by getting down to basics.

"How well do we block, how well do we pursue the ball on defense how well do we serve receive, how well do we serve? When we do those things we are a pretty good team," he said.

Addressing leadership as a team issue, Lodes said he wants to see all his players pick each other up.

"I think that in some weird ways we all have to do a better job in leadership, making sure that if any of us are struggling the other 11 are ready to be the support person," Lodes said. "Amy Brown is a senior and has to do a great job distributing the ball and getting everybody the ball. She needs to give the hot hitter a hand and get the hot hitter the ball alone and isolated."

With a unique Thursday-Saturday road trip Lodes said that the travel could play in the Bulls' favor.

"It might be a little bit better because we don't have to play back-to-back," Lodes said about the trip. "In some other ways it might be better because we leave on Wednesday and we're away even sooner so they don't have any other distractions in there. It will probably give us a chance to regroup a little better. No matter what happens on Thursday win or lose, we'll be able to focus a little better on Saturday."

The Bulls will face the Zips at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Ball State at 8 p.m. on Saturday.