Sidelines

Catching Honors

Leading goal scorer on the men's soccer team, forward Lee Catchpole, a freshman from England, was recently named to the All-New York Region Third Team by the NSCAA despite being injured for the majority of the season. Catchpole was integral in the Bulls' strong start this year, emerging quickly to lead the team to an unbeaten record through their first seven games. The turnaround was especially surprising because of how poorly the team finished last year (1-12-3).

Catchpole broke his ankle in a game against Oneonta on Sept. 24 of this year, although he finished out the game for the team. After his injury, he took only five weeks to recover from the broken ankle, missing just eight games, returning to competition just in time for the first game of the Mid-American Conference playoffs. Catchpole scored all three of the Bulls' goals in the MAC playoffs. UB finished the season with a loss to Akron in the semifinals of the MAC tournament.

Stellar Student-Athlete

Bulls' swimmer Jennefer Brankovsky was named the women's Mid-American Conference Scholar Athlete of the Week. Brankovsky set new personal bests in nearly every event she swam in at the Canadian Open and the Short Course Nationals, held in Calgary. At the Short Course Nationals, Brankovsky swam to three top ten finishes, as well as a duo of top 25 finishes. She studies exercise science at UB.

Bright Future

UB head women's basketball coach Cheryl Dozier recently announced the signing of four student-athletes during the early signing period. Rayna Brown, Dortae Freeman, Rachelle Matthys and Jamie Schiebner all committed to attend UB.

Brown, hailing from Montclair, N.J., is a point guard and is ranked in the top 50 at her position in New Jersey. She averaged 10.5 points, four assists and five steals per game last season, which was her junior year at Montclair High School.

Freeman comes to UB from Detroit. A student at Cass Technical High School, Freeman, a guard, averaged 15 points, six rebounds and eight assists per game over her career in high school, and will bring versatility to the Bulls, as Dozier believes she can play all three backcourt positions.

Matthys is currently leading her team through an undefeated season as well as a third straight Class B district title. Throughout her high school career at St. Clair High School in Michigan, Matthys averaged 14.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.3 steals per game while shooting 45 percent from the field. She is another guard who can play each backcourt position and will provide great versatility and great depth for the Bulls.

Lastly, the only forward that the Bulls were able to commit, Scheibner comes from Saginaw, Mich. and attends Heritage High School, the same high school that current Buffalo junior Brooke Meunier attended. She averaged 12.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game along with 2.5 steals per game in her senior year.