Volleyball drops five-setter at home to CMU

This one may have been worth the eight dollars.

UB Volleyball came from behind then squandered a lead tonight in a 27-29, 25-19, 25-18, 23-25, 13-15 loss to the visiting Central Michigan Chippewas. The defeat drops UB to 1-8 in the MAC and 2-20 overall.

The Bulls were flying through three sets, as Megan Wernette, Cassie Shado, and Rachel Sanks all had double-digit kills before the end of the third frame. Those opening three frames, in which Buffalo hit .358, were some of the finest of the season, and but for a narrow first set that was played almost entirely within a two point margin, UB would have gone home early with their first sweep of the year.

But the fourth set was a muddy one in which both teams hit .000 and UB let a 20-18 lead slip away, and Buffalo similarly could not hold 11-7 and 12-9 leads in the fifth, as CMU closed the match on a 6-1 run that included four kills from Jordan Beuter.

Beuter led all players with 26 kills, but for UB Shado had 21 (to just one error), Wernette 20, and Sanks 12. Scout McLerran served up a career-high 64 assists. McLerran’s number are the most since October 2005, and I believe UB hasn’t had two players with 20+ kills since November 2006. In those days, it took 30 points to win a set.

UB stays at home tomorrow for Eastern Michigan, who are 2-6 in conference but against a relatively tough early schedule that includes a 1-3 record against conference 1-4 Northern Illinois, Miami, Ohio, and Toledo and only one ‘bad’ loss to the Chippewas.