Bulls face setbacks on the road

It was a weekend of disappointment for the volleyball team.

The Bulls (5-10, 0-2 Mid-American Conference) started conference play on a low note, falling to Kent State (12-2, 2-0 MAC) on Friday and to Ohio (9-4, 2-0 MAC) on Saturday night.

The Bulls dropped all three matches against Kent State, falling 25-17, 25-14, and 25-19. The Golden Flashes outhit the Bulls .423 to .210 as well.

Sophomore Marissa Hornbaker led the Bulls with 12 kills, while only accumulating one error, in a total of 36 attacks. She also had the lone service ace on the night for the Bulls, giving her 13 on the season.

Junior Lauren Fensten added 11 digs on the night while sophomore Lindsey Schlegel added 28 assists during the loss.

Meanwhile, Kent State ended the night with three players with double digit kills; including a match-high 13 kills by Ashley Feutz.

The next night, however, provided a slight glimpse of hope for the Bulls, but the Ohio Bobcats eventually squashed their hopes.

The Bulls fell 3-1 to the Bobcats 28-30, 25-13, 25-13, and 25-11, on Saturday night. The Bulls captured the first set before dropping the last three straight. The Bulls were once again outhit on the night, only hitting .035, while Ohio hit .270.

The Bulls did have one of their best blocking matches of the season however, as they had five players record block assists, including a match high seven from sophomore Kayla Grovier. Senior Claudia Neba added another 5 block assists and 7 digs on the night.

Junior Maria Mezzadri had team-high six kills on Saturday, while four other Bulls chipped in with four kills each. For the second time in two nights, Schlegel led the team with 21 assists in addition to eight digs and two blocks.

Ellen Herman led the Bobcats with 23 kills while Jane Sytsma chipped in with 13 kills. Michelle Jantsch had 44 assists for the Bobcats while Sarah Petrulis had a match-high 16 digs.

The Bulls hope to show improvement this weekend, as they come back to Alumni Arena to continue conference play. Akron (6-7) comes to Buffalo on Friday night, while Ball State (5-11) is scheduled to play on Saturday night. Both games are set to begin at 7 p.m. at Alumni Arena.