Buffalo Volleyball loses in three on the road to Miami

The difference between tonight's 25-19, 25-17, 25-18 loss for UB Volleyball and their last match was much more in their opponent than their own play. Led by Megan Lipski's 16 kills, Buffalo hit .221 on the night for once again one of their better showings of the season.

Unfortunately, the Bulls couldn't stop Miami's attack in any way shape or form. 6'5" Jenny Ingle had 8 kills while hitting .727, and the RedHawks had three further players hit above .300. Buffalo only managed five blocks and despite 56 kills (19 from Lipski) to prolong rallies, couldn't stop Miami.

The difference in each set was really one spurt from the hosts. In the first, Miami jumped out to a 10-3 lead and then used a 7-1 run to close the frame after UB pulled even at 18. In the second, Buffalo was playing well to 9-9, but gave up an 8-0 stretch that effectively ended their chances. After the break, it came earlier when UB led 7-5 only to eleven points later trail 16-7.

In addition to Lipski's double-double, Marissa Prinzbach added 10 digs to her 33 assists. Megan Wernette, Cassie Shado, Akeila Lain, and Valisha Watkins combined for 22 kills despite none hitting more than six. I don't know right now how many serve receipt errors UB had, but Miami did have five aces and Buffalo in general had a tougher day even by their standards.

There's not a whole lot more to say about this one: I thought UB again played well relative to the early season, but Miami was coming off a hard-fought four set loss to MAC frontrunners Ohio and we knew that Bowling Green tomorrow would be the more winnable match of the weekend. That match is at 5:00 tomorrow, and will also be broadcast on ESPN3