Despite the struggles the women's tennis team has experienced this season, it's only three victories away from the program’s second-ever MAC Championship. The Bulls will play Ball State (15-5, 4-3 MAC) in the MAC Tournament Quarterfinals in Oxford, Ohio Friday afternoon. Buffalo would play in the semifinal on Saturday if its advances.
Sophomore guard Shannon Evans was granted a release from his UB scholarship Tuesday and is currently speaking with other schools about transferring. UB Athletics will allow Evans to attend any school he chooses, but the All-Mid-American Conference Second Team player has not completely ruled out the possibility of staying with the Bulls.
The last-place baseball team (11-21, 5-10 Mid-American Conference) fell again this weekend, dropping two of three to first-place Central Michigan (27-13, 12-3 MAC) at the Amherst Audubon Center.
Sophomore guard Shannon Evans asked for his release from the UB men’s basketball program Monday and said he intends to transfer.
The UB paintball club has been ranked in the top eight of the National Collegiate Paintball Association (NCPA) Class-AA National Tournament the last five years and has won the tournament twice in that stretch. This past weekend, the team traveled to Lakeland, Florida to compete in the national championship and finished second out of 51 teams.
On Saturday night, the Buffalo Sabres did just that. Buffalo entered the 2015 NHL draft lottery with the best odds of obtaining the No. 1 pick in the draft. For the second season in a row, the Sabres walked away with the second overall pick, losing the lottery and first overall pick Connor McDavid to the Edmonton Oilers.
What happened this past week in sports.
On Saturday, the Bulls held their annual Blue-White spring football game at UB Stadium.
The women’s (6-10, 2-4 Mid-American Conference) and men’s (9-9, 1-2 MAC) tennis teams still have a chance to qualify for the conference tournament, but both will have to win out in order to reach the postseason.
On Thursday men’s basketball head coach Nate Oats named three assistant coaches for the 2015-16 season: former St. Johns assistant coach Jim Whitesell, ex-UConn standout Donyell Marshall and former Midland coach Bryan Hodgson.
Last season, the Bulls finished third in the Mid-American Conference in rushing yards per game with 178.6 and will return all three rushers from last season in seniors Anthony Taylor and Devin Campbell and junior Jordan Johnson. The Bulls will play their annual spring game on Saturday, April 18 in UB Stadium.
UB Athletics introduced Oats as Buffalo’s 13th men’s basketball head coach in Alumni Arena on Monday afternoon. Oats is replacing Hurley, who Oats worked under as an assistant the past two seasons. The hire came less than 48 hours after Hurley let the team know via conference call last Thursday that he would be accepting the head coaching position at Arizona State.
UB Athletics is holding an introductory press conference for new head coach Nate Oats Monday. Answers from Danny White and UB Athletics are coming four days too late though.
Nick Sinay, who is currently a junior centerfielder for the Bulls, has an on-base percentage of .492, leads the Mid-American Conference with 25 stolen bases, is tied for the conference lead with 15 hits by pitches, and is a potential draft pick in June’s MLB Amateur Draft. But at one point, he thought he'd never be able to walk again due to a back injury – let alone play baseball.
On Saturday, UB Athletics removed the interim tag on assistant head coach Nate Oats, making him the new head coach of the men’s basketball team after Bobby Hurley left for Arizona State. I was expecting the Bulls to go on a small coaching search, but I think Buffalo made the right decision in giving Oats the head coach position.
Former assistant coach Nate Oats was named head coach of the men’s basketball team Saturday. Oats replaces former head coach Bobby Hurley, who accepted the head coaching vacancy at Arizona State Thursday.
Blair Brown Lipsitz was named new head coach of the volleyball team Tuesday night. The two-time All-American and four-time national champion will replace Reed Sunahara, who left the team on March 2 to assume the same position at West Virginia. Lipsitz has no prior coaching experience, but a decorated record as a college player.
On Tuesday night, UB Athletics announced the signing of Blair Brown Lipsitz as the new head coach of the volleyball team - succeeding recently departed head coach Reed Sunahara. The move to find a new coach was evident once Sunahara left, but Athletic Director Danny White has kept a constant trend of his hires in the past two years – former college athletes that excelled in their respective sports.
On the first day of the season, anything is possible. All teams have an opportunity to reach the championship and any given player can emerge as the next breakout superstar.
Sports editor Quentin Haynes makes his predictions for the American League.
Solutions by The State News
