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2019 UB Volleyball Preview

It's a new season, and a new look for the UB Volleyball Team. What's new? A new head coach, two new assistant coaches, 7 incoming freshman and two incoming transfers. (But the good news is that the incoming freshman class earned "High Honorable Mention" honors from Prepvolleyball.com)

A year ago, under head coach Blair Brown Lipsitz, Buffalo finished with their best ever record in the MAC, 10–6, and earned the #4 seed in the MAC Tournament, also a program best. But then Lipsitz resigned, and assistant coach Scott Smith was named head coach. Last year, the Bulls were led offensively by sophomore outside hitter Andrea Mitrovic, the MAC leader in points per set, but Mitrovic transferred, leaving some big shoes to fill. And two starters, libero Lara Bickelhaupt and middle blocker Megan Wernette, graduated.

Can you say "rebuilding year"?

Let's look at the team, position by position.

Setter

At this crucial position, the Bulls are well stocked. They have two returning setters, both of whom averaged over 10 assists per set last year: senior Scout McLerran, who finished second in the MAC in assists per set (10.10); and junior Tia Gleason who would have led the MAC in assists per set (10.74) had she played enough games to qualify. McLerran had been the Bulls starting setter since she arrived as a freshman, and at one point was on pace to become 2nd all-time in career assists, but injuries last season de-railed that prospect, and Gleason stepped in and performed at a high level. Gleason, who stands 5–8, also finished third on the Bulls in blocks per set. Freshman Emma Puzausky from Bethel Park, PA gives the Bulls a different look at setter, standing 6 feet tall, making her a strong blocker and attacking threat. Puzausky can be seen on internet videos as a very offensive setter, attacking often and with many different types of attacks, something we haven't seen much of from UB setters.

Outside Hitter

Buffalo has two returning outside hitters, 6–4 senior Polina Prokudina and 5–10 senior Rachel Sanks. Prokudina averaged 2.56 kills per set while Sanks added 1.97 kills per set. (Just to put that in perspective, Mitrovic averaged 4.31). So both are going to have to step up their game if the Bulls offense is going to do well this year, but with Mitrovic gone, each should get more opportunities to attack. Also at outside hitter: 6–0 freshman Morgan Verheyen, from Waterford, MI who won a state championship as a junior on a team that went 64–2–2; and 6–1 sophomore transfer Monika Šimkova, who played at Long Beach State two years ago (and sat out last season), and also has played internationally for Slovakia.

Right Side

The Bulls don't have any players listed on the roster at this position. Prokudina played that position a year ago, so I would imagine she is the favorite. In addition, internet searches show that Verheyen, Šimkova and Puzausky all are listed as having played that position.

Middle Blocker

The Bulls have a lot of depth at middle blocker. The only returning player is 6–3 senior Kristina Nieves, who led the Bulls in blocks per set last year and added in 1.73 kills per set, hitting a team high 0.326. Lexi Nordmann is a 6–1 junior transfer from SMU, where she recorded 1.15 blocks per set as a freshman, and as a sophomore hit 0.296. Coach Smith calls her "a special player".

They will be joined at the middle blocker position by three freshman. Courtney Okwara is from Bowie, MD, she stands 6–1, and hit 0.395 as a senior. Abby Leigh is from Strongsville, OH stands 6–2 and hit 0.408 as a senior. Olivia DeBortoli stands 6–2 and is from Clifton Park, NY where she hit 0.388 as a senior and was named First Team All-New York.

Libero/Defensive Specialist

With the graduation of Bickelhaupt, the libero position is up for grabs. Senior Hannah Watson has been a steady part of the Bulls back row defense since she arrived as a freshman, playing mostly defensive specialist, and averaged 2 digs per set last year. As a freshman, she played libero and picked up a career high 37 digs against St. Francis (PA). Sophomore Paige Beck played in every set a freshman defensive specialist, and averaged 2.19 digs per set. In high school, Beck played libero and was only the second player at her high school to record 1,000 career digs.

Two freshman join the back row for UB. Melissa Masotto from Center Moriches, NY was a three year captain in high school. Jenna Sonnenberg, from Niagara-Wheatfield High School, led her team to their first ever state championship tournament and was named to the All-Tournament team and All-WNY Team, and had 1,021 digs and 228 aces in her high school career.

Notes:

  • Lipsitz said about her resignation: "It has been an honor to be the head volleyball coach at Buffalo over the last four seasons. At this time, I am making a decision that is in the best interest of my family. I have a great deal of confidence in Scott to lead these young women and I look forward to continuing to assist him and the program however I can."
  • Buffalo has two new assistant coaches, David Beck and Kaysie Shebeneck.
  • Outside hitter Lauren Slavoski is no longer with the team. She played sparingly over her two years at UB.
  • On August 24, the Bulls have an exhibition match against Binghamton at Alumni Arena at 1pm. The season begins for real when the Bulls will host a home tournament on the weekend of August 30; they host another home tournament again on the weekend of September 20. More information about the schedule is here.
  • What else has changed about the UB Volleyball program? Their social media frequency of posts has tripled or quadrupled on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
  • Another change: with the re-designed UB Bulls web site, new statistics appear that were not present last year (in fact, I didn't even know these statistics were kept at all). Now, serve receive opportunities and serve receive percentage is available.
  • Mitrovic will play at Arizona State. She also made her international debut this summer, appearing for Canada in the Tokyo Olympic Qualifying Tournament. She appeared only briefly against Russia and did not score; and then appeared against Mexico, scoring 5 kills on 8 attempts. Canada did not qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

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