KENT, Ohio — The University at Buffalo volleyball team put forth a valiant effort in their Mid-American Conference opener on Friday evening, but the Bulls fell at Kent State, 3-0.
The Golden Flashes took the contest 27-25, 25-15, 25-20 as they outhit UB, .245 to .179. The Bulls trailed 10-7 in the opening set when a quick 4-1 run tied it up at 11-11. A kill from freshman Scout McLerran put UB up 14-12 and a solo block from sophomore Valisha Watkins gave Buffalo an 18-15 advantage. Kent State came back to tie the match up at 23-23 and then the Golden Flashes fought off two UB set points before scoring the final three points of the set for the 27-25 advantage.
The Bulls took an early 4-1 lead in the second set, but then Kent State went on a 17-5 run en route to a 25-15 victory in set two. In the third set, the Bulls tied it up at 16-16, but then Kent State went ahead 23-19 and went on to take the set 25-20.
Sophomore Megan Wernette led the Bulls with eight kills and no errors on 16 swings as she hit .500. Sophomore Madison Clark added seven kills, while Watkins and McLerran each added four. McLerran also finished with a team-high 24 assists and added seven digs and four blocks.
Defensively, Watkins led the Bulls with 19 digs and freshman libero Hannah Watson had 11. Fellow freshman Maddie Torbeck, who returned to the lineup after missing the last eight matches due to injury, had eight digs and a service ace.
The Bulls finished with 11.0 total blocks, led by five a piece from Wernette and junior Cassie Shado. Wernette added a pair of solos on the evening.
UB will remain on the road as it heads down to Athens to face Ohio tomorrow night at 7 p.m. The Bobcats defeated Akron 3-0 this evening.
from UBBulls.com via IFTTT
