UB Bulls volleyball finishes 2-2 in weekend tournament

Last season, the volleyball team did not lose until its 13th game last season. This year, Buffalo dropped its first game but rebounded to finish the weekend 2-2 in UB Invite at Alumni Arena.

The Bulls (2-2) defeated Sienna (1-2) and Canisius (0-3) Saturday after falling to Lehigh (2-2) Friday. Buffalo ended its weekend with a loss to tournament champion Ole Miss (4-0) Sunday. All four of the Bulls’ matches were decided in straight sets in Buffalo’s opening contests under new head coach Reed Sunahara.

“I thought we did a better job playing for each other,” Sunahara said. “If we can do that, better things will happen. I thought our execution was OK, better, but we still have long way to go. We’re still in August. We’re still trying to figure things out. It’s going in the right direction and it’s only a matter of time.”

The Bulls fell in three sets to Lehigh Friday, 25-19, 25-22, 25-19. Junior middle blocker Akeila Lain and junior outside hitter Tahleia Bishop finished the match with seven kills each. Junior setter Megan Lipski was second on the team with 13 digs and recorded five kills.

One of Buffalo’s greatest uncertainties heading into the season was who would replace graduated Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year Kelly Svoboda at the libero position.

Freshman Niki Bozinoski started at libero and finished the weekend with a team-high 64 digs, including 22 against Lehigh.

After the loss to Lehigh, Sunahara was unhappy with the way his team perfomed.

"We had no energy and we lacked leadership.” Sunahara said. “We didn’t play as a team. We played liked individuals and I thought that hurt us.”

The Bulls recovered strongly, defeating both Siena and Canisius in straight sets Saturday.

Junior middle blocker Amber Hatchett finished with a game-high 15 kills against Sienna, while Bishop finished with 10. The Bulls had three players reach double-digit kills against Canisius with Hatchett totaling 14 and Bishop and Lipski both adding 12.

The Bulls were unable to carry their Saturday momentum in Sunday as they lost in straight sets to Ole Miss. Despite taking an 11-4 lead in the first set, the Rebels rallied back to take the first set 28-26.

The Rebels won the next two sets 25-22 and 25-18 to secure the victory and an unbeaten tournament performance.

Bishop finished with a game-high 16 kills to go with eight digs against Ole Miss. Senior outside hitter Sable Staller finished with seven kills and 10 digs, while Hatchett finished with seven kills.

After finishing the weekend with a 2-2 record, Hatchett said there would be a transition period for the team.

“We have a ton of new players, a ton of incoming freshman,” Hatchell said. “We have a new coaching staff, so I would say there’s a ton of adjustments. There’s a lot of room for improvement. We’ve done better in each category, improved on offense and defense. That’s what practice is for and that’s what we’ll be doing.”

Buffalo travels to Tampa Bay, Florida for three matches in the USF Tournament. The Bulls begin their weekend against South Florida (1-2) on Sept. 5 at 2 p.m.

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