For the third straight match, the UB Volleyball team needed five sets to reach a decision, this time losing to Akron 19–25, 15–25, 29–27, 26–24, 10–15. Buffalo is now 4–9 on the season, and 0–1 in the MAC.

The Bulls attacked well in the first set, hitting 0.323 with only 2 attacking errors, but the problem was that they allowed 5 Akron aces, four to Akron setter Emily Weigand; while Buffalo had zero aces and four service errors. In the second set, Buffalo's serve receive, passing and attacking just disappeared and the Bulls hit only 0.086 and allowed two more aces by Akron.

As in the previous match against Canisius, Buffalo coach Scott Smith decided to switch from a two-setter offense, this time making the change late in the second set, to a one-setter offense with senior setter Scout McLerran running the show. It was too late to save the second set, but this would help in the third set. Smith also began using all four of his back row players in the regular rotation (something we haven't seen this year), providing better serve reception and passing, and the Bulls allowed no aces by Akron and hit 0.241 in the third set. Even so, the offense faded late, and a Buffalo lead of 24–21 disappeared. The Bulls would have a set point after a kill by senior outside hitter Rachel Sanks. Akron would move ahead again at 27–26, but then the Bulls scored the next three points to take the set, using a kill by sophomore right side Monika Šimkova, and two attack errors by Akron, one of them coming on a block by Šimkova and senior middle blocker Kristina Nieves.

The fourth set was another nail-biter as again Buffalo pulled ahead by three points late at 23–20, only to see Akron pick up four straight points, two on attack errors by Sanks. But then Sanks redeemed herself with a kill to tie the set at 24. A block by junior middle blocker Lexi Nordmann and freshman outside hitter Abby Leigh put the Bulls ahead, and an ace by Sanks finished the set.

In the fifth set, Buffalo never really could pull ahead, and Akron slowly pulled away. With Akron ahead 11–9, Buffalo played the longest rally of the year (and probably the longest rally of the decade), lasting well over a minute, and with each team having at least 10 attacks, spectacular digs and strong blocking that the other team covered, but finally an attack error by Leigh gave the point to Akron. A kill by Leigh would narrow Akron's lead to 2, but then Akron scored the last three points to take the match.

Šimkova led the Bulls with 18 kills, her career high at Buffalo, while Leigh had 16 (a career high for her), Sanks had 15 and Nordmann had 8. McLerran had a double-twenty, with 20 digs and 48 assists. Nordmann, third in the MAC in blocking, picked up 8 blocks, while Šimkova, Sanks and Leigh had three each. Sophomore libero Paige Beck had 24 digs, her third straight match with 20 or more digs, and Sanks had 10.

Notes:

• Freshman defensive specialist Melissa Masotto saw her first extended playing time of the year, as coach Smith used her in a regular rotation for four sets.
• Nordmann has displayed a skill all season long that we don't see often from the rest of the Bulls — that is pushing the ball to the deep back left corner, where often there is no defender after long rallies.
• The Bulls have been using a play on offense where either Sanks or Šimkova or Leigh attack out of the front row middle, and it was quite effective tonight; and really the whole year it has been an effective play.
  
• The match came within fractions of an inch of ending in the third set. With Akron ahead 26–25, an attack by Akron's Ashley Richardson was ruled out, but immediately the Akron players indicated that a Buffalo blocker had touched the ball and coach Tom Hanna challenged the call immediately. If the replay had overturned the original call, the match would have been over; but I think you can guess what happened.
• Buffalo faces Toledo at Alumni Arena on Saturday, September 28 at 6pm.