Over the weekend the Volleyball team played their final two games of the season before the Mid-American Conference tournament. The Bulls played at Alumni Arena, riding an 11-game losing streak.
Buffalo was shut out on Friday by Bowling Green, losing the three games 30-18, 30-19, 31-33. After being swept by the Falcons, the Bulls were back on the court Saturday against the Miami (OH) RedHawks. Despite losing this match 3-1, head coach Jim Lodes was proud of his team's effort on Saturday.
"This is the proudest I've been of us this year, this is without a doubt our most complete match," Lodes said. "I know we didn't come away with the win but Miami is a really good team that has typically had our number since I've been the coach here, and we've come out and played three and a half games as well as we've played all year against a good team."
The Bulls came out ready to play in the first game of the match, putting pressure on Miami. Buffalo had a lead of 19-13 but the RedHawks climbed back into the game, forcing a tie at 27 apiece. The last few points were tight but Buffalo managed to get back on track and put the first game away 30-28.
Lodes felt that it was important that Buffalo got off to a good start to give the team confidence. Going into the game the Bulls had lost 13 straight matches, and had not won since Sept. 27.
"I'm positive it helped, because obviously having the kind of year we've been having, every little bit of positive at least gives you that chance for more positive," Lodes said. "And with the kind of year we've been having, that with any little bit of negative it is real easy to just go a head and run with it. Obviously to get that first game was huge to let us say, 'hey we can compete,' and it even showed in games two and three."
The second game did not start off in favor of the Bulls, as Miami quickly jumped out to an 11-5 lead. However, Buffalo erased the deficit, battling back to tie the game at 14.
The Bulls were able to grow a three-point lead at two different points in the match, leading 18-15 and then again at 23-20. However, the Bulls could not hang on to their advantage as the RedHawks tied the game at 24. The teams battled back and forth, forcing Buffalo to call a timeout down 28-26. The time out proved pointless as the Bulls went on to lose 30-27.
The RedHawks jumped out to an early 7-1 lead in game three which forced Buffalo to take an early timeout in an attempt to regroup. With the opportunity to refocus, Buffalo battled back to tie the game at nine.
Both teams battled back and forth for the most of the game until the Redhawks began to pull away forcing the Bulls to take their second time out of the game down 27-23.
The timeout seemed to help Buffalo out again, as they began to chip into Ohio's lead, yet the Bulls fell again 30-26.
The fourth game started off relatively close with the Bulls staked to a 7-6 advantage, but this is where the RedHawks took the game over, taking a 19-9 lead. Buffalo did not put up much resistance in the final game, as the RedHawks won the deciding game 30-16.
In her final home games as Bull, senior Lizaiha Garcia led the team with 17 digs. Fellow senior Sarah Streib contributed six digs. Freshman Lindsey Schlegel played a complete game, totaling 51 assists, nine digs and eight kills.
"I think they did a great job of competing all night," Lodes said. "I'm proud of the way they fought."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
