Women’s volleyball (9-5, 2-0 MAC) beat the Miami (OH) RedHawks (2-10, 0-2 MAC) twice this weekend, 3-2 on Friday and 3-0 on Saturday.
The Bulls started out slow on Friday, finding themselves down 14-10 early in the first set.
An ace from freshman defensive specialist Hannah Jacoby and back-to-back kills from sophomore right side Emma Gielas and junior middle blocker Courtney Okwara clinched the opening set for the Bulls.
UB struggled early again in the second set but went on a 10-4 run led by sophomore outside hitter Milla Malik to pull back ahead. Back-to-back kills from Okwara and Malik clinched the set, jumping out to a 2-0 lead.
The RedHawks fought on, dominating both the third and fourth sets, tying the game at 2-2 but UB found themselves again in the game-winning fifth set, hitting an impressive .381 with nine kills and only one error.
UB took the match 26-24, 25-21, 13-25, 21-25, 15-12 and outhit Miami (OH) .167 to .151. Miami (OH) led in kills, blocks and assists despite dropping the match.
Malik and Okwara both had double-digit kills with 20 and 15 respectively. Freshman setter Mandy Leigh led the Bulls with 45 assists and added four blocks and 13 digs.
The following day, UB outplayed Miami (OH) in all facets of the game.
The Bulls took the match, 25-22, 25-21, 25-16 sweeping the RedHawks and out-hitting them .368 to .204.
UB took control with an early 14-9 lead in the opening set, but the RedHawks pulled back within two points. Freshman outside hitter Maria Futey clinched the set and ended the late run with a kill.
UB found itself down early in the second set but an 8-2 run propelled the team in the right direction as Malik clinched the set with a kill. The Bulls dominated the third set, never trailing once and winning the set by nine points, 25-16.
Okwara led all players with 14 kills and hit a very impressive .609 for the contest. Malik was right behind her with 12 kills, hitting .300.
Jacoby and freshman setter Kyndal Bacon both finished with ten digs with Malik not far behind with eight.
This is the third time in program history UB has opened MAC play undefeated, sitting 2-0.
The Bulls will look to continue their winning streak when they travel to Bowling Green, OH to face the Bowling Green Falcons, who are also 2-0 to start the season. The games will be on Friday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 2 at 4 p.m.
The sports desk can be reached at sports@ubspectrum.com
Sophie McNally is an assistant sports editor at The Spectrum. She is a history major studying abroad for a year from Newcastle University in the UK. In her spare time, she can be found blasting The 1975 or Taylor Swift and rowing on a random river at 5 a.m.
