The UB women’s volleyball team (8-1) traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio for the Xavier Invitational tournament this weekend, finishing 2-1 in matches against Missouri (6-2), Xavier (4-3), and Bellarmine (2-6).
On Friday morning, the team took care of Missouri 3-0 to keep the win streak going, boosting their record to 7-0. The win marks the program’s first victory against an opponent from the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
There was no shortness of offense against Missouri, as UB senior outside hitter Katrin Trebichavska led the team with 11 kills, while fifth-year outside/middle Abby Leigh had 10 kills, and senior outside/rightside Stacia Gollogly had 7 kills. These performances were aided by junior setter Mandy Leigh who had 31 assists, and senior defensive specialist Julianna Lopez logged 11 digs. The team held a block party as Abby Leigh had 4, while fifth-year Courtney Okwara and senior Katrin Trebichavska had 2. This win continued the Bulls hot start to the season and moved them to 7-0.
On Friday night the Bulls suffered their first loss of the season, falling to Xavier 3-2. UB won the second and fourth set by scores of 25-18 and 25-23, almost won the third set losing 30-28, but got dominated in the first and fifth sets losing by scores of 25-16 and 15-7. Despite the loss, there were some standout performances by Trebichavska, Okwara, and Leigh with 18, 9, and 11 kills respectively.
Setter Mandy Leigh tallied 45 assists and junior libero/outside Maria Futey tallying seven. Futey also shined defensively recording 23 digs, Leigh with 14, and Lopez once again with 11. The main takeaway from this match would be the potential of underestimating your opponent as Xavier jumped on them early and held on for the upset.
Volleyball bounced back Saturday morning by dismantling Bellarmine 3-0, winning by scores of 25-15, 25-21, 25-14. UB got back in the win column and improved to a record of 8-1.
Trebichavska's dominance continued as she logged another 10 kills, Abby Leigh continued to shine with 10 kills, and sophomore outside Lauren Otten joined the party with eight kills. Trebichavska also recorded 6 aces and already has 21 this year which has potential for more than last year's 51. With 34 more assists, Leigh now has 315 on the year.
The Bulls will travel to Queens, New York for the Red Storm Invitational, Sept. 15-16 to play No. 17 Arkansas (7-2), Columbia (2-5) and St. Johns (7-2).
UB begins Mid-American Conference play on Sept. 22-23 on the road against Kent State (3-6).
The sports desk can be reached at sports@ubspectrum.com
Michael Scotto is an assistant sports editor for The Spectrum. In his free time he's either playing volleyball or catching up on sports.
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
