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Sports Recap
Randy Rocchio of the men's tennis team was undefeated in singles play at the St. Bonaventure Fall Classic. Rocchio, UB's top singles player, defeated St. Bonaventure's Alejandro Nery, 6-3, 6-4, on Sunday to capture the individual title. He also combined with freshman Mike Rockman to post a 2-1 doubles record, dropping an 8-4 decision to St. Bonaventure in the final round.
Jenny Koeppel of the women's cross-country team finished seventh in a field of 75 runners at the Miami Invitational and was the first UB finisher in the meet. Koeppel completed the 5K course in a personal lifetime best of 18:07.26 as the Bulls finished fifth in the seven-team field. The time bettered the previous week's 18:26 when she finished second at the Tommy Evans Invitational.
Football
Colgate 38, UB 15
Colgate University won its eighth straight game in impressive fashion on Saturday by spoiling UB's home opener, 38-15, before 20,324 in UB Stadium.
The Raiders scored 38 unanswered points after spotting the Bulls a 7-0 first-quarter lead. The Colgate offense racked up an impressive 621 yards of offense with great balance between rush (358 yards) and pass (263 yards).
UB fell to 0-3 on the season. The Bulls will host Connecticut at 6 p.m. Saturday in UB Stadium.
The Bulls could not have seen the ambush coming based on the early action. Colgate opened the game by driving down the field to the UB 15 before a 32-yard field-goal attempt was missed. The Bulls took over at their own 20-yard line and seven plays later were in the Colgate endzone.
The key plays came on a 20-yard third-down connection from starting quarterback Randall Secky to flanker Matt Knueven and a 43-yard run by sophomore tailback Aaron Leeper. Leeper capped the drive with an eight-yard burst up the middle for his second touchdown of the season.
After that, however, it was all Colgate, as the Raiders kept a great balance between run and pass. Colgate tied the score with 38 seconds left in the first quarter on a one-yard run by Jamaal Branch, then took control of the game with a pair of impressive drives. The Raiders took the lead on a 15-play, 92-yard drive capped by a 19-yard field goal by Lane Schwarzberg. UB kept Colgate out of the endzone on a pass breakup by Delando Bradford, who finished with a career-high seven tackles and added a quarterback hurry.
The Raiders then took advantage of a UB fumble and drove 21 yards in four plays to take a 17-7 halftime lead when Chris Brown scored from 12 yards out with 6:30 left in the second quarter. The Raiders put the game away with a 98-yard drive on seven plays to take a 24-7 lead with 4:59 remaining in the third quarter and the Bulls were never in the game after that.
UB's final touchdown was a 10-yard run by redshirt freshman Steven King, the first of his collegiate career. That drive was led by sophomore quarterback P.J. Piskorik, who finished with 29 yards rushing while throwing for 50 yards.
Volleyball
Central Florida 3, UB 1
Georgia Southern 3, UB 0
Central Michigan 3, UB 0
UB dropped three matches at the Central Florida Fall Invitational over the weekend. The Bulls opened on Friday with a 3-1 decision to the host Golden Knights. Game scores were 30-28, 30-17, 28-30, 30-28. Sophomore Katie Weekley tied her career high with a match-high 10 blocks to lead the Bulls defensively, while junior Molly Schrantz led Buffalo's offense with 16 kills.
On Saturday, the Bulls finished play in the tournament, dropping matches to Georgia Southern (30-21, 30-21, 30-26) and to Mid-American Conference foe Central Michigan (30-18, 30-23, 30-20). The losses drop the Bulls' record to 4-6 overall on the season. Schrantz was named to the All-Tournament Team after leading the Bulls with 2.50 kills per game, 3.60 digs per game and 0.50 blocks per game in their three matches at the tournament.
UB will travel to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Tournament this weekend. The Bulls will play Texas Southern and Seton Hall tomorrow and Maryland Eastern Shore and Belmont on Saturday. The tournament will be the Bulls' last preparation for the MAC season as they open the conference slate with home matches against Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan on Sept. 26 and 27.
Soccer
MEN'S
UB 2, Canisius 2
UB rallied with a late second-half goal to tie the Canisius College Golden Griffins, 2-2, at RAC Field on Saturday. Patrick Beckley and Andrae Clarke each scored goals for UB.
Clarke tallied in the 85th minute, tying the game at two and forcing overtime. He leads the Bulls with a pair of goals this season. Beckley had opened the game's scoring in the 12th minute with a header from 10 yards out.
Chris Robey—who scored both Golden Griffins' goals—notched his first of the afternoon late in the first half with a shot into the lower left corner of the net. He added another goal in the 79th minute, knocking a pass from Al Franjoine into an open net.
UB freshman goalkeeper Brandon Foley earned a tie in his first career start, making four saves and allowing only two goals in 110 minutes of play.
WOMEN'S
Western Michigan 2, UB 1
UB 4, Northern Illinois 0
UB dropped a 2-1 decision to Western Michigan in the opening game of MAC play on Friday night at RAC Field. Western Michigan scored two first-half goals and survived a late rally by the Bulls to hold on for the victory.
The Broncos got on the board first in the 24th minute when Jessica Pattison took a pass from Chantel Robinson and shot it past UB goalkeeper Anna-Lesa Calvert. Amy Letzgus scored in traffic off a corner kick with only nine seconds remaining in the first half to give Western Michigan a 2-0 lead at the break.
The Bulls rallied in the second half as Emily Russell scored her conference-best sixth goal of the season in the 72nd minute, off a pass from freshman Jessica Roesch to cut the lead to 2-1. However, UB couldn't capitalize on several late-scoring chances and were defeated for the first time in five games.
UB cruised past Northern Illinois, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon at RAC Field, earning a split of the weekend matches. Nicole Olszewski scored two goals to help lead the way for UB, with Natalia Crofut and Jenny Dannecker each adding a goal.
With the win, the Bulls improve to 5-2-0 overall and 1-1-0 in the MAC.
UB will return to action tomorrow when it travels to Central Michigan to face the Chippewas.
Cross Country
Men fourth, women fifth at Miami Invitational
UB was in action Saturday at the Miami Invitational in Oxford. The men placed fourth in the five-team field with 79 points, just 10 points out of second place. Meanwhile, the women's squad placed fifth among seven squads with a total score of 101 points. Miami's men (19) and Michigan's women (33) took the team titles on Saturday.
Among UB racers, junior Jenny Koeppel was the top individual finisher. Koeppel completed the women's 6K course in 18:07.26 to take seventh among 75 runners. Freshman Dan McKenna placed 11th in a 52-runner field in the men's 8K race, crossing the finish line in 26:25.75.
Both squads will take this weekend off before heading to the Bronx for the Iona Meet of Champions races on Sept. 27.
Tennis
MEN'S
Four Bulls go undefeated in singles play at St. Bonaventure Fall Classic
Four UB players recorded undefeated 3-0 singles marks to earn individual champion honors at the St. Bonaventure Fall Classic, which concluded play on Sunday. The tournament was played in an individual format with no team scores awarded.
Junior Randy Rocchio, senior Rangga Prayudha and freshmen Mike Rockman and Albert Alant scored victories in Sunday's singles finals to lead the Bulls as the squad opened the 2003-04 season.
On Sunday, Rocchio downed St. Bonaventure's Alejandro Nery, 6-3, 6-4, to take an individual title. Rocchio also earned victories over opponents from Niagara and Cleveland State on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Rockman registered a straight-set 6-2, 7-5 win over St. Bonaventure's Mario Arce, while Prayudha and Alant also scored convincing wins against the Bonnies. Prayudha downed Andrew Hart, 7-6, 6-2, and Alant knocked off Sajeel Quershi, 6-0, 6-4.
In doubles play, Nick Zieziula and Alant went undefeated, earning an 8-3 win over Quershi and Dan Stankovic of St. Bonaventure in Sunday's final. The duo had been extended in Friday's opener, defeating Youngstown State's Justin Beck and Jason Trapp, 9-7, before blanking Niagara's Dave Rueter and Joseph Dante, 8-0, on Saturday.
UB will takes to the courts with the Can-Am Invitational starting on Sept. 26. The Bulls and Niagara University will be serving as co-hosts of the tournament which is slated to run through the weekend.
WOMEN'S
UB 7, Rochester 0
UB opened the 2003-04 season with a convincing, 7-0 win over host Rochester on Sunday. The Bulls won all six singles matches and three doubles matches, as well as picking up a victory in a non-scoring doubles match to roll past the Yellowjackets.
UB swept the singles matches , winning five matches in straight sets. The lone match to go past two sets was at number one, as UB's Kristen Ortman rallied after dropping the opening to set to Rochester's Joanna Toke, 6-0, to defeat her opponent 6-3 in the second set and 10-7 in the tiebreaker.
Freshmen Miglena Nenova and Katrin Fischer were victorious in their collegiate debuts at second and third singles, respectively. Nenova downed Tara Pajoohi, 6-1, 6-2, while Fischer defeated Michelle Punj, 6-4, 6-1.
The remainder of the UB singles lineup also rolled to straight-set victories. Michelle Kollarova defeated Jill Adornetto, 6-3, 6-1, at number four. At number five, Lisa Wittman breezed past Jaymi Della, 6-0, 6-1. Sixth singles player Erica Zielinski knocked off Nell Aronoff, 6-2, 6-0, to complete the sweep for the Bulls.
The Bulls open their home slate on Sunday when they host St. Francis (PA) at 10 a.m. at the UB Tennis Center.