Bulls End Streak on the Road

One month later, the team is in the Mid-American Conference cellar and looking for anything to turn its season around.

The Bulls (15-13, 3-9 MAC) split a pair of matches over the weekend. They fell to the last-place team in the MAC, the Bowling Green Falcons (8-18, 2-9 MAC), 3-1 on Friday, but they bounced back to shut out the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks (9-16, 4-8 MAC) 3-0 on Saturday night.

Against the Falcons, Buffalo was overwhelmed by the Bowling Green attack. The Falcons recorded a .278 hitting percentage in the match as opposed to the .194 percentage posted by the Bulls.

Freshman outside hitter Dana Musil totaled 10 kills for the match but also led the team with seven errors. Errors were a problem throughout the match, as the Bulls seemed out of sync.

Leading the Bulls in kills was junior middle blocker Abby Niekamp, who recorded 12 in the match. She also led the team with a .571 hitting percentage and had one of three Bulls service aces.

Down 2-1 in the fourth set, the Bulls responded with a sense of urgency and went up 7-0 early. Buffalo would extend that lead to 10-3 before the Falcons came roaring back to tie the game at 19 apiece.

Bowling Green freshman Paige Penrod closed out the Bulls single-handedly by recording six kills on the final six points for the Falcons to win the match. She finished with 25 kills and had a .354 hitting percentage on 48 attacks.

The loss to the Falcons was the second time this season that the Bulls have lost to the last-place team in the MAC.

Buffalo managed to snap its five-match losing streak on Saturday with its second win of the season against the RedHawks.

Senior outside hitter Marissa Hornbaker led the Bulls in their win with a game-high 13 kills. Buffalo finished with an impressive .240 hitting percentage en route to disposing of Miami, 25-22, 25-23, 25-19.

Freshman outside hitter Christine Fritsche has made strides in the second half of the season. Against the RedHawks, she played a well-rounded game, turning in nine kills, three aces, and 16 digs while hitting .318 for the match.

"It was a good team win and we learned that we can be a very good team when you fight from the first point," said head coach Todd Kress in a press release. "We also learned that trusting and believing in your teammates out on the court goes a long way in being successful."

The Bulls recorded six service aces on the day. The only scare was a 20-14 deficit in the second set, but Hornbaker stepped up to help bring the Bulls back with three kills in the final eight points.

Bulls freshman libero Kelly Svoboda led the team with 16 digs against the Falcons and again on Saturday with 21 against Miami. She also had three service aces on the weekend.

Buffalo will return home this weekend to battle MAC East leader Ohio (15-10, 7-5 MAC) and Kent State (10-17, 3-9 MAC). Friday's match against Ohio is scheduled to start on Friday night at 7 p.m.