As the volleyball season slowly nears the end of a season that the team would like to forget, one can only begin to wonder what is going on with the lady Bulls? Over the weekend the Bulls lost their sixth and seventh straight games to Mid-American Conference opponents. The team has lost 19 of their last 20 games.
On Friday evening, the Bulls (2-24, 1-9 MAC) visited the Eastern Michigan Eagles (15-10, 5-5 MAC) in a must-win match for the Bulls, but lost by a very slim margin as the Eagles swept the Bulls 3-0 (30-25, 30-26, 30-28). The win snapped a three-game skid by the Eagles, and increased the Bulls skid to six games.
For the Eagles, Abby Reenders and Katie Bates each had seven kills for the night. Reenders also helped lead Eastern Michigan to victory with 14 digs and three solo blocks. Setter Katie Suleweski also helped her squad by finishing with 36 assists, four kills, and 11 digs.
For the Bulls, freshman Richelle Bigelow pitched in with a team-high 10 kills on the evening. Bigelow, who had been injured, finally returned to the court after missing the last 13 matches. Bigelow recorded the 10 kills with just a single error on 35 attack attempts, a match-high. In addition, Bigelow added three digs as well as three service aces.
"I think she was a little bit rusty, but worked hard and added energy. She just has to obviously stay healthy and shake the rust off and get a little more consistent," said head coach Jim Lodes about Bigelow.
Junior Claudia Neba totaled nine kills and a match-high 14 digs, which happened to be a career-high for her. She also added three total blocks, as well as two services aces. Freshman Kristin Bignell added four block assists, as well as five kills in the middle. Freshman Lindsey Schlegel helped the UB offense with 32 assists on the evening, as well as adding nine digs, a service ace, and two block assists. Senior Lizaiha Garcia had 13 digs on the evening, while sophomore Ellen Robertson added two service aces, as well as eight digs.
"It was probably one of our better matches in a while, we played pretty well," Lodes said. "I think we played more consistent then we have, we had a chance to win, I liked the way they played overall.
On Saturday evening, the Bulls kept themselves busy in Michigan by visiting the Central Michigan Chippewas (15-8, 5-5 MAC) in yet another MAC match. Sadly, the Bulls couldn't keep the contest as close as the previous evening. The Bulls were swept again 3-0 (30-13, 30-15, 30-22). The match was the Chippewas' third-straight victory, and the seventh-straight loss for the Bulls.
Whitney Evers, Kate Fissel and Courney Kersten led the Chippewas. The girls each added much-needed services aces, totaling seven, three, and two, respectively. Central Michigan ranks second in the nation with 2.79 service aces per game.
In addition, Fissel added 17 kills while also hitting .400 on the night. Kersten added 19 assists in two games, while Stephanie Buddie added 15 in the final game. Sarah Warner also helped her team by recording 10 kills with no errors. Another key player was Alexis Lonneman, who added a match-high 13 digs.
For the Bulls, Bigelow led the way a second straight match as she added 10 kills on the evening. Sophomore Kelsey Lueders was also an asset, adding six kills and two errors on 17 attacks. Garcia led the Bulls with eight digs, while Schlegel added a match-high 21 assists, as well as seven digs and a service ace.
At the end of the match, the statistics showed that the Bulls were dominated in nearly every category. The Chippewas finished the match with more kills (40-25), assists (37-23), blocks (8.0-1.0), service aces (15-3), digs (39-29), and a better hitting percentage (.386-.059).
"...We believe in what we're doing we're working hard," Lodes said about the disappointing season. "They're just going to keep working hard and get better. They're young and they just have to continue to do these things at a higher level, and they're getting better at that."
As the end of the season is in the horizon, the Bulls have six more MAC games prior to the MAC tournament. Their five-match road trip will reach its third-stop on Friday as they travel to Kent State for a match with conference implications on the line. The game will begin at 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
