Volleyball Defeats Akron Again

Freshman outside hitter Milla Malik (pictured above) came into Tuesday night’s match at Akron leading the Bulls in kills per set (3.68) and points per set (4.03). A stellar performance from Malik pushed those numbers even higher — Malik had 23 kills (and just 2 errors), plus 2 aces, to lead the Bulls to a 3–1 victory over Akron. Malik now occupies into fourth place in the MAC with 3.83 kills per set, and also fourth in the MAC in points per set at 4.19.

And then there was senior middle blocker Lexi Nordmann, 6th in the MAC in hitting percentage before the match at 0.313. Nordmann went way beyond that, hitting 0.440 with 12 kills and just 1 error against Akron, and she also had six blocks.

Let’s not fail to mention that just about everyone had a strong performance. Freshman right side Emma Gielas had 14 kills. Junior setter Kyndal Bacon had 56 assists, a huge number for a four set match, and her career high in a Buffalo uniform, surpassing her assist totals in five set matches. Bacon has moved into 9th place in the MAC in assists per set. Sophomore libero Jenna Sonnenberg had 28 assists, also a career high in just four sets. Sophomore middle blocker Courtney Okwara had 6 kills and zero errors. And the Bulls out-hit Akron by almost 100 points, 0.333 to 0.237, and out-blocked Akron 8–4.

For the Bulls, it was their second win of the season over Akron, the first one coming a week earlier by a score of 3–0 at Alumni Arena. Buffalo’s season record is now 4–16. They close out their season with a pair of matches this weekend at Alumni Arena against Bowling Green. The games are Friday, March 26 at 6pm and Saturday, March 27at 2pm, both games on ESPN+. Bowling Green will be the #1 seed into the MAC Tournament, but they lost their undefeated status on Tuesday night when they were defeated by the last place team in the MAC West, Toledo.