The UB women's volleyball team came up empty-handed after two road games against conference foes, but is still optimistic about its chances in Mid-American Conference play.
The Bulls (7-7 overall, 0-2 MAC) dropped their conference opener on Friday to the Kent State Golden Flashes (5-8 overall, 1-1 MAC) by the score of 3-1 and then lost 3-0 on Saturday in Athens, Ohio to the Ohio University Bobcats (12-2 overall, 2-0 MAC).
Head coach Jim Lodes felt the main reason for losing to Kent State and Ohio was a lack of consistency.
"We played some of our best games and then we didn't play well the rest of the match. We need to be more disciplined at a high level with more consistency," Lodes said.
UB won the first game against Kent State 30-19 and then dropped the next three games to the Golden Flashes.
In the first game, UB out-hit Kent State .417 to .024 in its 11-point victory. Lodes called it the most complete game his team has played all season.
The second game proved to be quite the opposite, with Kent State hitting at .433 and UB hitting at only .125, allowing the Golden Flashes to tie the score.
The third game was the closet of the four, with Kent State coming back from a six-point deficit to win 30-27. The fourth and final game saw UB get blown out by 16 points. UB hit only .083 while Kent State hit .464.
Overall, Kent State finished with a .228 hitting percentage while UB hit .152. Kent State also had more service aces than the Bulls with 13, while Buffalo only tallied four. UB did earn more blocks, with 10 to Kent's eight.
Junior Nikki Morzenti continued her streak to five matches of double-double success, earning 13 kills and 13 digs. Junior Jenna Map?(c) recorded a double-double of her own with 11 kills and 11 digs and made four blocks on the day.
Junior Lauren Burd had six blocks, good enough for the match-high and pitched in with six kills. Sophomore Lizaiha Garcia once again led the team in digs with 19.
Other individual highs included senior Katie Weekley and junior Brandie Clark converting eight kills apiece and senior Amy Brown with 36 assists, six digs and two blocks.
The following night, UB lost three consecutive games to their MAC opponents the Ohio Bobcats. Ohio won the games by scores of 30-16, 30-27 and 30-16.
Lodes said that Ohio was the best team that UB has faced all year.
"They have a very good squad. Geoff Carlston has a good team, a good atmosphere and great fans," Lodes said.
The Bobcats are the defending MAC champions and are also receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 poll. Ohio also extended the nation's longest home winning streak to 31 matches and managed to keep their home-game winning streak against MAC opponents intact, taking their 25th home victory since just over a year ago on September 25, 2004.
When asked if the team may have faired better if it played Ohio at home, Lodes said the venue was not a factor.
"Obviously, it's awesome to be home but they were playing great," he said. "We just needed confidence and discipline to press through the tight moments."
In a first-game victory, Ohio went on a 11-0 run against UB and out-hit the Bulls .306 to .027. The second game was much more competitive, tied 26-26 before the Ohio managed to finish ahead 30-27. UB hung around with Ohio for the beginning of the final game, tying it 8-8 until Ohio went on a 6-1 run for an eventual 30-16 victory.
Brown set a new career high with 19 digs, and had 27 digs and two kills. Weekley led the team in kills with 10 and Morzenti saw her streak of double-doubles snap as she only recorded six kills and five digs on the day.
Although a team never likes to lose, Lodes did come away with some positives.
"We were tied with Ohio 26-26 at one point. It was just that their numbers were steady and ours weren't," Lodes said. "Once we are more consistent, we will play better against them. I must help them be more consistent. I think they know they can compete in the MAC."
UB continues on the road the next two games, both against MAC opponents. The Bulls play at Akron (6-8 overall, 1-1 MAC) September 29 at 7 p.m. and then at Ball State (7-5 overall, 1-1 MAC) October 1 at 8 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
