Volleyball sweeps Kent State to kick off MAC play

This past weekend, Mid-American Conference (MAC) play began for the UB women’s volleyball team (12-2, 2-0 MAC) as it traveled to Kent State and beat down the Golden Flashes (4-9, 0-2 MAC) twice in two matches.

The first match was a decisive victory for the Bulls as they won 3-0 by scores of 25-20, 26-24, and 25-14. With the victory, Bulls head coach Scott Smith achieved his 60th career win, making him the fourth coach to hit the milestone in program history. 

Junior setter Mandy Leigh continued to electrify, putting up 29 assists, 10 digs, and even added two blocks. 

Senior right-side Emma Gielas, fifth-year middle Courtney Okwara, and fifth-year outside/middle Abby Leigh all contributed on offense and defense. Gielas recorded nine kills and two assists, Okwara had seven kills and three blocks, and Leigh had six kills, two aces, and two blocks. Senior DS Julianna Lopez put her specialty to work as she registered four aces and eight digs. 

The second match didn’t come as easy for the Bulls despite winning the first set. The Golden Flashes took sets two and three by scores of 25-23 and 25-19 putting UB’s backs against the wall.

 Despite being down 2-1, the Bulls held on to win 3-2 after winning the fourth set 25-17 and the fifth set 15-7 thanks to  Leigh, Gielas, Leigh, senior outside Katrin Trebichavska, and junior libero Maria Futey. 

Leigh had a monster performance in the second match with 15 kills and a .500 hitting percentage, three aces, and seven blocks, while her sister Mandy also dominated with 46 assists and 14 digs. Gielas contributed nine kills, and two aces, as well as  Trebichavska who had 11 kills and three blocks. Futey logged 19 digs and five assists while Lopez tallied eight digs.   

The Bulls will host Ohio (6-8, 1-1 MAC) this Friday, Sept. 29 at Alumni Arena for their home opener, as they look to stay undefeated in MAC play.

The sports desk can be reached at sports@ubspectrum.com

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