The women's volleyball team has a hole to dig itself out of after losing its first two Mid-American Conference games against Kent State and Ohio at home over the weekend.
The Golden Flashes of Kent State (8-6, 1-1 MAC) and the Bulls (11-7, 0-2 MAC) looked evenly matched in the first game. The Bulls put up a fight, but lost the first game 30-27. The match went downhill from there, as the Bulls looked unable to overcome the heartbreak of losing the early loss. The Golden Flashes won the next two games by larger margins, taking them 30-22 and 30-19.
Despite the loss, junior Lizaiha Garcia set a Bulls record for digs in a three-game match. Garcia recorded 32 digs on the night, nine better than Chassey Stubler's total for the previous record, set in 1998.
Katie Veatch had 43 assists for the Golden Flashes, while senior Brandie Clark had 33 for the Bulls.
For the Bulls, senior Jenna Map?(c), sophomore Claudia Neba and freshman Kelsey Lueders shared the team lead with 8 kills each.
"We were quite disappointed," Clark said. "We felt that we were a stronger team and we didn't play well as team."
Bulls head coach Jim Lodes shared Clark's sentiments that the team did not play up to its capabilities.
"Kent State came in and did a great job," Lodes said. "They executed their game plan and outworked us. Our energy was sub-par."
There are still a lot of games left to be played and the Bulls hope to make a nice recovery.
"It was disappointing to lose our first MAC (match), but if we start with a loss, that's fine," Clark said. "What matters is at the end."
Buffalo played its second MAC contest the following night against the Ohio Bobcats. The Bobcats came into the match ranked 20th in the nation. The Bulls started off slow, but they didn't go down as easily as the night before.
"You've got a team that's No. 20 in the country that is expected to come in hear and take control, so you've got nothing to lose," Lodes said. "You've just got to play hard."
Ohio (10-3, 2-0 MAC) took the first game quite easily, with a 30-18 win. In the second game, the Bulls got an early lead at 4-3. However, the Bobcats gained momentum as the serve of Stephanie Blackburn helped Ohio take the lead 9-4. The Bobcats went on to win the game 30-12.
"In games one and game two, we didn't do anything to help ourselves," Lodes said. "They did whatever they wanted. They did a great job. Even if we did get them out of their system, we didn't capitalize on it."
Lodes let his team know what he expected in the next game.
"We need to capitalize on these opportunities and we need to have a higher energy level. We need to expect more out of ourselves."
The Bulls entered the third game with energy and the crowd of 286 people also got into the match. The Bulls looked in control throughout the game and led by as many as nine. They went on to win game three, 30-24.
"We were definitely more intense in that third game," Clark said. "We were determined not to let them beat us."
Clark enjoyed the noise that came for the stands.
"The crowd is amazing," Clark said. "It definitely helps you get fired up. It gives you that little bit of extra oomph to get to that ball."
In the fourth game, Ohio was able to rebound and defeated the Bulls 30-15 to take the match.
"To turnaround and have them dominate you in game four, to not put up a better fight, is frustrating," Lodes said.
Map?(c) and senior Nikki Morzenti led the Bulls with 12 kills each against the Bobcats. Ohio had nine service aces compared to four for the Bulls. The Bobcats also led in total digs 72-57.
"We've got to find a way to keep them from hitting that well," Lodes said. "Either serve better, dig a couple of balls, or something, but we've got to do more."
The Bulls look to improve next weekend as they host two more MAC opponents. They face Akron at 7 p.m. on Friday and Ball State at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Alumni Arena.
