Recap courtesy of Buffalo's Athletic Communications Department
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo women's volleyball team (15-11, 7-8 MAC) had their backs against the wall against the Akron Zips (11-16, 6-9 MAC) after dropping the first two sets. The Bulls rallied for their first reverse sweep since Oct. 13, 2023, at Toledo. With the win, the Bulls can advance to the MAC Tournament with a road win over the Ohio Bobcats on Friday night.
Buffalo improved to 10-1 when at least three Bulls record 10+ kills in the same match.
Angelina Siepierski,
Sydney Bell and
Manoela Forlin all recorded 13 kills.
Sadie Gladhill had a terrific night as she finished with a career-high 27 digs.
Maddie Mitchell recorded her 25
th career double-double with a season-high 49 assists and 14 digs.
Buffalo had a season-high 17 blocks courtesy of
Abisola Adebayo and company. She tied her career-high seven blocks, three of which were solo.
Nienke Trossel set a career-high with six blocks as Bell added five of her own. Forlin tied her career-high four blocks as
Reese Collins had a pair of blocks.
Akron struck first as they won the first set, 25-22. Buffalo got out to a 5-1 lead before a 7-1 run by the Zips gave them an 8-6 lead. It was back and forth but the Bulls managed to get a late 21-20 lead. Akron closed the set on a 5-1 run. The tightness carried over to the second set. Akron led 13-9 before the momentum shifted as the Bulls went up 19-17. Buffalo led 23-20, but called a timeout leading 23-22 to cool of Akron's offense. It worked briefly as Buffalo had a pair of chances at set point, but Akron fought them off. Akron took the set 27-25 despite having less kills than the Bulls. Through the first two sets, the Bulls hit just .047.
Everything changed in the third set. Buffalo hit a blistering .364 with just four errors, as they rolled 25-17. Forlin was unstoppable with eight of the team's 16 kills in the set. The Bulls' defense forced mistakes as the Zips hit .083 to swing the momentum. Buffalo controlled the net in the fourth set as they had six blocks. The Bulls defense turned into offense and vice versa. They finished with 21 total points as Akron could only muster up 14. The Bulls won 25-19 to force the fifth and decisive set.
In a 15-point set, there were seven ties and a pair of lead changes. The set was tight until the Bulls took a 9-7 lead. The Bulls never fell behind as they won 15-12. Buffalo's offense was electric as they hit .368 with eight kills and an error on 19 attempts.
The Bulls are back in action on Friday at Ohio at 5 p.m. to close out the regular season.
