When a team is hosting a home game, it brings a certain advantage to the table when that extra push is required to grab a much-needed win. Sadly, the Bulls could not grab wins on their home stand, as they lost both of their games on Friday and Saturday.
Last Friday, the Bulls (2-22, 1-7 Mid-American Conference) hosted the Western Michigan Broncos (15-6, 6-1 MAC) in a match with a coveted conference win at stake. In the end, the Broncos were too much for the Bulls, as Western Michigan swept Buffalo in three games (30-15, 30-12, 30-17), extending their winning streak to six matches. The win helped solidify Western Michigan's first place lead in the MAC West Division by two matches.
"I think we were disappointed by the outcome," said head coach Jim Lodes. "Obviously we were working really hard and we would like to get the reward of a win, so I think we were a little disappointed with the match."
In game one, the Bulls scored the first two points before the Broncos took control with an eight-point run. For the remainder of the game, Western Michigan kept a comfortable lead, but the Bulls were resilient, staying within single digits, 22-14. The Broncos would then score eight of the game's final nine points to win the game by a score of 30-15.
The Broncos showed how well they could play defense in the second game of the match by holding the Bulls to a -.139-attack percentage. Western Michigan initially had a run bringing the score to 11-3, before the Bulls would call timeout to hamper the Broncos' momentum. Western Michigan, however, continued their stellar play, as they would eventually take game two with an 8-0 run, 30-12.
Katie Eberling of the Broncos had three aces, which helped her team achieve a 10-2 run in the third game. When the score reached 18-9, Western Michigan put together a 7-0 run thanks to three more aces from Eberling. They would win the game 30-17, five points coming from blocks that helped end the match.
The match was a record breaker for Eberling, who had seven service aces; no Western Michigan player had ever had more than six service aces in any match. Junior Claudia Neba and freshman Kristin Bignell led the Bulls with six kills each, while senior Lizaiha Garcia led with 17 digs.
On Saturday evening, the Bulls faced the Northern Illinois Huskies (11-11, 5-3 MAC) in a match that again had conference implications on the line. The Bulls took too long to put a run together in game three as the Huskies won the match with a sweep (30-16, 30-21, 30-26).
"One of the things I liked about tonight's match is that in game three, we came back and played pretty well, leading 25-20 at one point," Lodes said. "I liked that we didn't quit and that we worked very hard. Obviously, I think we need to finish the game and try to get to a fourth game in order to see what happens."
Northern Illinois took an early 8-2 lead in the first game thanks to three kills from Irene Johnson and two kills from Meagan Schoenrock, as well as a few errors on behalf of the Bulls. The momentum never shifted as the Huskies would ride the lead to a 30-16 victory.
The Huskies again started with an early lead in game two thanks to a pair of kills from Johnson and Cassie Yates, bringing the score to 7-2. The Bulls would come back to tie the game 15-15 thanks to a key kill from Bignell. The tie was short-lived due to a 4- Huskie run, thanks to three kills from Schoenrock and a Yates kill, which would propel the Huskies to a 30-21 win.
Like the previous two games, game three saw the Huskies hold a small lead until the Bulls had a 7-0 run, giving the Bulls their first lead, 20-15. The Huskies narrowed the lead to 25-22 after two errors from the Bulls, as well as key kills that pulled Northern Illinois within one point, 25-24. The lead didn't last long as the Huskies put together three consecutive blocks to take a 28-25 lead. Northern Illinois used those blocks as fuel to propel themselves to a match-winning 30-26 victory.
"In both games, our middles in Kelsey Lueders and Kristin Bignell helped our offense, as well as our setter Lindsey Schlegel," Lodes said. "Lizaiha Garcia, our libero, was a star as well."
The Bulls' record, with only one MAC victory, as well as one non-conference win, bothers Lodes, but he still has faith in his girls.
"They work hard enough in practices," Lodes said. "They do the things we need to do; we just need them to stay consistent. We can do all the things we need to do right, but we do it part time. We need to find a way to stay at a higher level, which would be awesome for the team."
As the end of the 2007 regular season nears, the Bulls embark on their final road trip, playing five matches before finishing the season at Alumni Arena with a three game home stand. The Bulls will face the Eastern Michigan Eagles this Friday in Ypsilanti, MI, at 7:00 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
