With the UB Volleyball team on a 6–2 run, knocking off four of the top teams in the MAC, after a 1–5 start in the MAC, this prompted UB volleyball fan Tim Riordan to ask the obvious question: what has changed?

It all changed back on Columbus Day, when Buffalo hosted Ohio. That was actually the last match of the 1–5 start, in which Buffalo lost to the Bobcats in five sets, 16–14 in the fifth set. In that match, Buffalo coach Scott Smith decided on a fixed starting lineup and rotation, which has seen only minor changes since.

Previously, Smith had experimented with a two-setter offense on and off during the season. For the Ohio match, he settled on a one-setter offense, with senior Scout McLerran running the show. McLerran has now moved into fourth place on the all-time UB career assist list, and occupies second place in assists per set for a career; and an argument can be made that she is statistically the top setter of the rally scoring era, which began with the 2000 season. More Scout McLerran on the court is a good thing.

Also for the Ohio match, Smith moved freshman Abby Leigh to the middle blocker position, after she had played both outside hitter and right side hitter. Smith also decided that senior Polina Prokudina would play outside hitter and sophomore Monika Šimkova would play right side, instead of them (and Leigh) changing positions depending on the match.

This consistent lineup and rotation had a number of benefits, as the Bulls players settled into their role, and grew in confidence, and Prokudina and senior outside hitter Rachel Sanks (who hadn't changed position during the season) grew in effectiveness. It also gave McLerran a steady lineup to set the ball to. The numbers back that up.

A quick comment about Šimkova: her hitting percentage hasn't changed much, but her kills per set are down because she is getting fewer attempts, because of the increased effectiveness of Prokudina and Sanks.

On defense, the use of Leigh as middle blocker has also made a difference, as the freshman has had a very impressive season, and ought to make the MAC All-Freshman team. In the Ohio match, Leigh playing her first match at middle blocker since early in the season, picked up 18.5 points (yes, I know that's offense not defense, but we'll get to that), four more points than any other middle blocker has scored in a match this year. Then Leigh hosted her own personal block party, leading or tying for the lead for the Bulls in blocking in seven consecutive matches. In one remarkable stretch, Leigh picked up 11 blocks against Western Michigan (Buffalo hasn't had a blocker with 11 blocks in a match since 2015) — and the Bulls had only 11 blocks in the match! Then Leigh would also contribute to the first four blocks in the next match against Northern Illinois. So for 15 consecutive UB blocks, Leigh was involved in all of them.

Here are the defensive numbers: