Winning ways continue

With a 3-0-weekend road trip, the volleyball team extended its winning-streak to nine matches and took home the Holy Cross Invitational championship.

The Bulls (9-2) added to its winning streak with hard fought wins against Rhode Island (2-4) on Friday and easy victories over Holy Cross (1-6) and Army (7-2) on Saturday.

Friday's match, which went to five games, tested the ladies fortitude as the team dropped games two and three, before coming back to win the final two games (30-24,28-30,20-30,30-28,15-10). The Bulls solid ability to serve and block at a high level was what allowed them to triumph, according to Coach Lodes.

"Game one I thought we played very well," Lodes said. "It looked like we were in control of the match and proceeded to fall apart in the tail-end of game two and most of game three. We found a way to battle back, which was impressive of our players, to win game four and we played very, very well in game five."

Sophomore Alyssa Fitchette provided solid defense and was a wall, making nine of the Bulls' 16 blocks on the day.

Senior Nikki Morzenti was vital to the Bulls' victory, as she led the team with 17 kills and 14 digs.

"She took a lot of swings for us," Lodes said. "We prefer not to have her have an overwhelming team lead in attempts and she found a way to still get 17 kills."

On Saturday, the Bulls continued its winning ways as the team defeated both Holy Cross (30-16, 30-27, 30-21) and Army (30-20, 30-27, 30-28).

"Against Holy Cross we played very well and we blocked very well," Lodes said. "Our attack was a lot more diversified and it was nice to see other players step up."

Freshman Kelsey Lueders proved herself to be a fine new asset to Buffalo's roster. She led the team in blocks against Holy Cross with seven, and in kills against Army with 12.

"Kelsey has been playing well all year," Lodes said. "She did a great job blocking and attacking,"

Junior Lizaiha Garcia and Senior Jenna Map?(c) also added to the Bulls' strength in the victories. The tandem provided much of the Bulls defensive power. Garcia totaled nine digs against Holy Cross and 11 against Army while Map?(c) provided a team-high 14 digs against Army.

"Lizaiha controls our defense as her position dictates," Lodes said. "She is the mainstay there and she does a great job. Her energy and consistency allows for her to do a lot of different things and she has had a great season so far."

Lodes is already past the weekend's triumphs and he attempts to keep the team focused on its next opponent.

"We have to keep playing consistently, doing what we do, taking control of our side," Lodes said. "We need to establish ourselves better as a defensive team. We still need to make sure that we do offensively more like this past Saturday and have a lot of people contribute to the offense."

However, Lodes noted one existing problem.

"The more you win the more people gun for you," Lodes said. "It's a nice problem to have because I don't think traditionally Buffalo has the opponent gunning for them. I think sometimes the opponents have looked past us. It's a nice problem to have and we are dealing with it."

The Bulls head home and look to extend its winning-streak Tuesday night against Canisius. The cross-town rival match begins at 7 p.m. and is one of a handful of matches to be broadcasted on WLVL 1340 AM.