The volleyball team hasn't exactly been perfect the past couple of weeks. The team has committed far more errors than its opponents the last eight matches, and as a result, Buffalo has gone 2-6 during the span.
Last weekend was more of the same.
Buffalo (9-11, 2-4 Mid-American Conference) hosted Kent State (8-13, 1-5 MAC) and Ohio (14-6, 6-0 MAC) at Alumni Arena on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively. The Bulls couldn't overcome their mistakes and lost to Kent State, 3-2, and Ohio, 3-1.
The Bulls easily took the first set against Kent State, 25-22. Buffalo struggled afterwards, however, and the team made a season-high 38 errors. The Bulls were also hampered by their 15 service errors.
After dropping the second set, 26-24, Buffalo dominated the Golden Flashes in the third set, and led by as many as nine. The Bulls were up 22-14, but Kent State went on an 8-1 run to change the momentum.
Kent State scored its next five points directly off of Buffalo's errors. Kent State hitter Maigan Larsen scored on a service ace to take the set 28-26.
Freshman hitter Liz Scott, who led Buffalo with 18 kills, believed that the team's lax mindset led to its third-set collapse.
"We got too confident," Scott said. "It was a mistake that no athlete should make, but we made it."
Kent State capitalized off of the momentum and jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start the next set, but the Bulls came storming back after a quick timeout and eventually tied the set at 11. The teams fought closely, but the Bulls won 26-24 to force a fifth set.
The final set ended with an all too familiar outcome for Buffalo. The Bulls had a 9-7 advantage when Kent State scored three straight points to take the lead for good. The Golden Flashes took the set 15-12 to end their six-game losing streak.
Head coach Todd Kress was critical of the Bulls' missed opportunities.
"You've got to go out and jump on them early…and finish it off at the end," Kress said. "I don't think that our approach was [like] that in any of the sets tonight. It's disappointing and frustrating."
The match marks Buffalo's first five-set loss this season after winning four.
Buffalo was its own worst enemy against Ohio as well. The Bulls committed 31 errors, 14 coming from serves. Ohio, on the other hand, had 21.
"We played really hard through the first three sets," said sophomore libero Kelly Svoboda. "We had a lot of technical errors that really killed us, like missed serves. We need to be more consistent and learn to fight throughout the entire match because that is what's going to help us move forward as a program."
Buffalo did succeed in breaking Ohio's 23-set winning streak against the conference. The Bulls started out strong in the first set, hitting .191 to the Bobcats' .146.
Buffalo was ahead 19-15, but once again let its lead slip as the Bobcats found a way to tie it up at 24. This time, however, the Bulls found a way to finish, and took the set 27-25 thanks to kills from senior blocker Abby Niekamp and sophomore blocker Carissa McKenna.
The Bobcats returned to their championship form right after, and took the next sets, 25-21, 25-22, and 25-12.
Kress thought his team improved its performance against Ohio, despite losing by a larger margin. He is more concerned about Buffalo's consistency.
"We need to start taking bigger steps forward," Kress said. "We take two steps forward and right now we're taking three steps back, so we just need to sustain our fight. There are only eight teams that get to be part of the [MAC] tournament and we're trying like heck to be part of that."
Scott led Buffalo with 18 kills against the Bobcats.
The Bulls are at home again next weekend to face Western Michigan (7-6, 3-2 MAC) Friday at 7 p.m. and Northern Illinois (2-9, 1-4 MAC) Saturday at 6 p.m.
Email: sports@ubspectrum.com
