The UB Volleyball team fell behind Canisius 2–0, but then changed their lineup and their offense took off, and Buffalo won the next three sets to defeat Canisius at Alumni Arena today. Buffalo finishes 2–1 in the Blue and White Classic tournament, and they finish their non-conference schedule with a 4–8 record.

The Bulls opened the match using a two setter offense, with freshman setter Emma Puzausky and senior setter Scout McLerran sharing the setting duties. However, the Bulls offense never looked smooth, and struggled throughout sets one and two. The Bulls passing was also inconsistent, and Buffalo hit 0.167 and 0.125 in the first two sets. Even so, Buffalo had a 22–19 lead in the first set, and later set point at 24–23, but the Bulls were unable to score again to pick up the first set win. In the second set, Buffalo trailed only 20–18, but would not score again.

Buffalo coach Scott Smith then changed to a one setter offense for the third set, with McLerran setting all six rotations. This would be the decisive coaching move of the match, and the Buffalo offense went from ineffective to very effective — although early in the third set it looked like the change wouldn't help. Buffalo fell behind 16–13, but then the Bulls offense finally kicked into gear, and Buffalo scored the next four points, with senior right side Polina Prokudina serving; and Prokudina and McLerran each had kills in that streak. Although Canisius would score the next point to tie the set up, Buffalo then went on an 8–2 run to take the third set, senior outside hitter Rachel Sanks scoring three kills in that sequence. The Bulls hit 0.297 in the third set.

Buffalo was on fire in the fourth set, hitting 0.529. They took a lead they would never relinquish at 9–8, eventually opening up a six point lead, and winning the set 25–20. Both Prokudina and Sanks had five kills in the set.

Things looked bleak for the Bulls as they fell behind 7–1 in the fifth set, as they hit some well set-up shots out of bounds, and made a few other mistakes. But then the Bulls tied it up with a 7–1 run of their own, as Canisius returned the favor and made attacking and serving errors.

And then the Bulls took the lead on the Play of the Match™. Senior defensive specialist Hannah Watson made a spectacular diving dig, but in doing so, collided with Prokudina, and Prokudina went down, obviously in pain, and did not get up. Play continued, Canisius attacked again, and this time sophomore libero Paige Beck made a spectacular dig to keep the ball alive, with Prokudina still on the floor. Prokudina slowly picked herself up off the floor, and on the next Canisius attack, the ball caromed off a UB blocker right to Prokudina, who was now on her feet just in time to make a perfect pass to McLerran, who found senior middle blocked Kristina Nieves for a kill. Prokudina would remain in the game.

Although Canisius would tie the set on the next play, Buffalo then took the lead for good, using kills by Sanks, Nieves, Sanks again, Prokudina and Sanks again to take the set 15–11. Buffalo hit 0.350 while holding Canisius to 0.136 for the set.

Sanks led the Bulls with 18 kills, Prokudina had 15, Nieves (who hit 0.474) and freshman outside hitter Abby Leigh had 11 each, while junior middle blocker Lexi Nordmann had 7. McLerran had a double-double with 48 assists and 11 digs. Beck had 20 digs, giving her back-to-back matches with 20 or more digs. Watson, who played in only 3 of the sets finished with 7 digs, as did Sanks. Nieves had 5 blocks, while Sanks and Nordmann each had 3. The Bulls had 11 aces, with five players recording 2 aces each.

Notes:

• Beck and Nieves were named to the all-tournament team. Nieves hit 0.500 for the tournament.
• Smith said after the match: "I wish we didn't always have to make things so interesting, but I was really proud of the way we competed and came back in that match today. I thought we passed the ball really well and our energy was much better in the later sets this afternoon."
• The Bulls begin their MAC schedule on Thursday, September 26 at Alumni Arena, against Akron at 6pm.
• Two years ago, Buffalo fell behind 2–0 to Canisius at Alumni Arena, and came back to win 3–2. Prokudina had 27 kills in that match.