Sidelines

Battle named MAC's best

UB Bulls senior point guard Turner Battle was named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year on Wednesday, the first time any University at Buffalo player has won this award. Battle led the Bulls to their first 20-win season in school history, reaching the semifinals of the ongoing MAC tournament for the first time in school history.

Battle led the team in scoring, averaging 15.4 points per game. He also led the team in assists for the second straight year with 4.5 assists per game. He is ranked in the top 15 in the MAC in six categories, ranking eighth in scoring, third in field goal percentage, fifth in assists, third in assist/turnover ratio, 12th in steals, and 14th in defensive rebounds.

In addition to strong single-season statistics, Battle is the only UB Bull ever to record 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 400 assists in a career.

In addition to being named the MAC Player of the Year, Battle was named to the All-MAC first team for the first time in his career.

Joining him on the first team are Chet Mason and Danny Horace from Miami, Josh Almanson from Bowling Green and Ben Reed from Western Michigan.

MAC Honorable mention for Bortz

Mark Bortz joined Battle in postseason accolades. Bortz was named to the all-MAC Honorable Mention team.

Bortz, who was also named the MAC's best sixth man on Monday, leads the Bulls and is ranked fourth in the conference with 33 blocked shots. Bortz has also racked up 10.4 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game.

Former UNC assistant named new v-ball coach

The University at Buffalo didn't wait long to land a new head volleyball coach. Jim Lodes was named head coach of UB's volleyball program on Wednesday.

Lodes' last job was as the assistant coach at the University of North Carolina. In addition to assistant coach, Lodes was in charge of recruiting for the last three years.

In 2002, his first year with the program, Lodes helped the Tar Heels to a 32-4 season, the ACC regular season championship title and the team made their first appearance in the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament.