The UB women's volleyball team defeated the Niagara Purple Eagles 3-2 in a grueling match that spanned two hours and 15 minutes Wednesday night at NU. With the victory, the Bulls captured their third win of the season to improve to 3-9 overall and 0-4 in MAC conference play.
Buffalo's all-time record against the Purple Eagles is now 39-8.
In game one the Bulls led on several occasions by as many as five points. The Purple Eagles, however, fought back to tie the score at 27 apiece. UB sophomore Lindsay Matikosh played big in crunch time, contributing a kill and a block to close out the game for a 32-30 Bulls win.
Midway through the second game, Niagara compiled a comfortable five-point lead to put the score at 23-18. The Purple Eagles had match point, but the Bulls did not give in. UB gained momentum with a kill and a block by sophomore Alexis Bouie, and then claimed the lead with a kill by senior Larissa LaCour and two kills by Matikosh. Niagara's unforced attack error on match point gave Buffalo another 32-30 decision in game two, and a 2-0 lead.
The Eagles were resilient in games three and four. They fought off the Bulls' charge to score a 30-27 win in game three and dominated the fourth game 30-22 to tie the match at two.
In the fifth and deciding game, freshman Katie Henry launched a service ace on the first point to give UB momentum and an early advantage. Matikosh recorded five more kills to lead the Bulls to a convincing 15-9 win.
"It was a team effort," said UB senior Heather Barfuss. "I think Alexis [Bouie] put it best when she said that the team made and played the game simple."
Matikosh posted her fifth double-double of the season. To compliment her team-high 16 digs, she recorded a career-high 26 kills.
LaCour stacked up 62 assists, one shy of tying her career-best of 63 recorded last year against Bucknell. She also had 14 digs.
The Bulls will finally be at home in Alumni Arena this weekend, playing against two Mid-American Conference opponents after playing nine straight road matches over four weeks. UB will host Bowling Green tonight at 7 p.m., and face Miami of Ohio Sunday at 3 p.m.
"I've been looking forward to being home and playing in front of a home crowd," Barfuss said. "I think the team is ready for our game against Bowling Green physically and most importantly mentally. We are especially amped coming off of this win."
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
