With their five-match road trip nears its end, the Bulls are hoping for better days as they lost to Kent State University on Friday and Ohio University on Saturday. The volleyball team has lost 21 of its last 22 matches, as well as nine straight matches to Mid-American Conference (MAC) opponents.
On Friday evening, the Bulls (2-26, 1-11 MAC) battled the Kent State Golden Flashes (18-6, 9-2 MAC) and lost in a tough-fought game; the Golden Flashes swept the Bulls 3-0 (30-21, 30-20, 30-25). The win helped the Golden Flashes' win-streak grow to six matches.
In the match's first game, the Bulls jumped ahead with a quick 4-1 lead before Kent State came back to tie the score at 6-6. The Bulls fought back to a 12-10 advantage before the Flashes tied it at 12-12. Following point exchanges on both sides, Kent State blew up the scoreboard with a 9-2 run to bring the lead to 22-15. Kent State continued its attack on the Bulls, outscoring them 8-6 down the final stretch, giving the Golden Flashes a 30-21 win and a 1-0 lead.
The Bulls started off game two with a bang; sophomore Ellen Robertson's play at the service line sparked a 3-0 lead. Robertson scored two of the three initial points to put the Bulls in the lead. Kent State fought back and created an 8-6 lead before the Bulls scored two points to tie the match at 8-8.
Flash libero Laura Jensen then helped lead her team's attack with five consecutive points at the service line, giving Kent State a 14-8 advantage. Flash setter Jenny Keck boosted the score to 28-17 thanks to back-to-back aces. Keck also scored the final kill to end the game at 30-20, giving the Golden Flashes a two games to none advantage in the match.
In the final game, the Bulls and Golden Flashes battled back and forth, trading points at every possible moment. The game featured three lead changes, as well as 17 ties. With the score tied at 24, Kent State teammates Keck and outside hitter Anne Zakelj brought the score to 27-24 thanks to a pair of aces and a kill.
The Bulls responded back with a point, but it was not enough as Flash outside hitter Anja Knabe-Paulsen scored a pair of points and also served the final point of the match. Outside hitter Lauren Jones notched the needed kill that ended the game at 30-25, giving the match to the Golden Flashes.
For the Golden Flashes, Knabe-Paulsen, Jones, and Zajelj led with 10 kills each. Keck registered 30 assists as well as four aces, with Jensen notching a team-high 22 digs. Knabe-Paulsen also had an ace and nine digs.
Freshman Richelle Bigelow, fresh off returning from injury, led the way for the Bulls with 15 kills, eight digs and one solo block. Sophomore Maria Mezzadri added to the Bulls' effort with seven kills and just one error on the night. Freshman Kristin Bignell added six kills and one error, while freshman Lindsey Schlegel added 29 assists and 14 digs. Senior Lizaiha Garcia led the team with 16 digs, while junior Claudia Neba added 11 digs and six kills for the night.
On Saturday evening, the Bulls traveled down the road to visit the nationally ranked Ohio Bobcats (19-4, 11-1 MAC). The No. 19 Bobcats overpowered the Bulls, cruising to a 3-0 victory (30-21, 30-16, 30-12). The win kept the Bobcats in first place in the MAC East Division, as well as making sure that the Bulls remained in last place.
The Bobcats dominated the Bulls in every way possible; they outhit the Bulls .396 to .000, due to 25 Buffalo errors in the match. Ohio also landed 47 kills to Buffalo's 25.
In the first game, the Bobcats out-hit the Bulls .406 to .059 and never trailed as they landed a 30-21 win. Outside hitter Melissa Szkutnik had five kills and two blocks in the game, while middle blockers Melissa Griffin and Jane Sytsma had four kills each.
In the second game, the Bulls had seven kills and committed 10 attack errors, giving them a -.091 hitting percentage. Ohio continued to dominate, landing 16 kills in the game. With the Bobcats leading 9-6, Ohio went on an 8-1 run to blow the game away, eventually winning 30-16.
In the final game of the match, Ohio hit .500 to win 30-12. Buffalo scored the first point of the game, but their lead was very short-lived as Ohio scored six straight points to take control of the game. The Bulls never came back as six Bobcats recorded kills, removing the life from Buffalo as they won the match.
Griffin and Sytsma led the Bobcats. Both girls had three blocks each in the match, with Sytsma adding 10 kills. Outside hitter Stephanie Blackburn added eight kills and 11 digs, as well as Meghan Simons adding nine kills.
The Bulls were led by Neba, as she had seven kills. Bigelow had six kills and a team-high seven digs. Schlegel also helped the team, as she had 19 assists in the match.
The Bulls have one last regular season game on the road as they travel to Akron on Friday, Nov. 2 to face the Zips. The match will begin at 7:00 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
