Women’s volleyball (9-12, 2-7 MAC) fell to Ohio (4-15, 4-4 MAC), 1-3, Friday night and 0-3 Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena. The Bulls are on a seven-game losing streak after starting out 2-0 in conference play, with four of those losses coming as sweeps.
The Bulls struggled to gain any momentum Friday night as the Bobcats took the contest 25-15, 27-25, 20-25, 25-14.
Ohio took the first set in dominant fashion but the second set was a tight match and came down to the wire. Trailing 24-22 late in the set, sophomore outside hitter Milla Malik and sophomore right side Emma Gielas scored the next three points before Ohio fought off the late push and took the set.
UB took the third set with Gielas scoring three of the final five points herself. But the Bulls were unable to keep the momentum going, as they dropped the fourth set.
Gielas finished with 17 kills and two blocks while Malik recorded 11 kills, two blocks and one ace. Freshman setter Mandy Leigh posted an impressive 40 assists and 11 digs.
The Bulls were outhit .269 to .189 and recorded 22 errors total.
The following afternoon was not one to remember for the Bulls, as they failed to win a single set and hit a season-low .081 compared to the Bobcats’ .268. Ohio took the contest 25-21, 25-16, 25-15.
The first set was UB’s best opportunity, as they trailed 22-21 late but were unable to contain Ohio’s strong offensive play. The Bulls allowed three straight points to drop the set.
Malik led the Bulls in kills with 12, including 10 digs, to complete the double-double. Despite being unable to garner any offensive momentum, UB was strong on the defensive end. Senior setter Kyndal Bacon recorded 15 digs and freshman defensive specialist Hannah Jacoby added 14 to the Bulls’ defensive effort.
UB will look to break its seven-game losing streak when the Bulls hit the road for their next four matches, starting with back-to-back games against Kent State (9-11, 4-4 MAC) in Kent, OH, Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 23 at 4 p.m. The games will be aired on ESPN3.
Hunter Skoczylas is the assistant sports editor and can be reached at hunter.skoczylas@ubspectrum.com or on Twitter @HunterSkoczylas
Hunter Skoczylas is the sports editor for The Spectrum. In his free time, he can be found looking up random sports statistics, jamming to Fleetwood Mac and dedicating his Sunday afternoons to watching the Buffalo Bills.
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
