University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: October 16, 2003

Football

Miami (OH) 59, UB 3

While the Bulls kept Miami's highly regarded quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, on the sidelines for most of the first quarter, it did not occur in the fashion they desired. RedHawks' wide receiver Ryne Robinson returned a pair of punts for touchdowns in the opening 11:26 of play, igniting Miami to a 59-3 win over UB in Yager Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Robinson finished the game with a Mid-American Conference record 237 punt-return yards, including the touchdown returns of 86 and 76 yards. The touchdown returns were part of a first quarter in which the Miami outscored UB 24-0.

UB's only score of the afternoon came with 11:50 remaining in the game when Dallas Pelz successfully kicked a 24-yard field goal that capped an eight-play, 74-yard drive. Dave Dawson had a 55-yard rush on the drive—UB's largest gain of the afternoon.

Dawson finished the day with 104 yards rushing, giving him a team-best 424 rushing yards on the season.

The Bulls will host Marshall at 1 p.m. on Saturday for homecoming.

Volleyball

Toledo 3, UB 0

UB's two-match MAC winning streak came to an end with a 3-0 shutout-30-23, 30-19, 31-29—at Toledo on Saturday. Senior Alexis Bouie led the Bulls with 11 kills and sophomore Katie Weekley added nine kills and a team-high three blocks.

Freshman Nikki Morzenti also finished with nine kills, and senior Lindsay Matikosh and junior Molly Schrantz each recorded a team-high eight digs. Sophomore setter Amy Brown finished the day with 34 assists.

The Bulls (7-11 overall, 2-3 MAC) were to finish off the non-conference schedule with a match yesterday at local rival Niagara. They then will travel to Akron tomorrow for match before returning home to host Ball State at 2 p.m. on Sunday in Alumni Arena.

Soccer

MEN'S

Marshall 1, UB 0

UB suffered a 1-0 loss to the Marshall Thundering Herd on Sunday-Senior Day- at RAC Field. The game's lone goal was scored by Michael McDonald 20 minutes into the first half. McDonald scored on a low shot through a slew of players in front of the Bulls' net, sneaking the ball past UB goalkeeper Chris Vavrina.

Vavrina—one of four Bulls' seniors recognized on the afternoon—finished with six saves, all of which came during second-half play.

The Bulls—who fell to 1-9-3 overall and 0-4-0 in MAC play—do not return to action for some time. Their next contest is scheduled for Oct. 24 when they head to Kentucky to face the Wildcats.

WOMEN'S

Ball State 2, UB 1 (2OT)
UB 3, Miami (OH) 1

Ball State's Dee Nocero scored with 25 seconds left in the second overtime to lift the Cardinals to a 2-1 victory over UB in women's soccer Friday night at RAC Field.

Following a scoreless first half, Buffalo opened the scoring in the 59th minute when Nicole Olszewski fed Emily Russell with a perfect pass that enabled the senior forward to score on a breakaway goal for the game's first tally. It was Russell's team-best 12th goal of the season, moving her into seventh place all-time at UB for goals in a season.

Ball State answered in the 80th minute when Amy Holst scored in traffic in front of the net to knot the game at 1-1.

The game remained tied through regulation and the first overtime. Just when it looked like a tie was inevitable, Holst pounced on a Bulls' turnover and fed Nocero for the gamewinner, leaving UB fans stunned.

Both goalkeepers made big saves down the stretch to keep the game tied. Anna-Lesa Calvert finished with two saves on the evening. Becker, who entered the game at the start of the second half for Ball State, made five saves.

On Sunday, Russell scored two goals, including the gamewinner, and added an assist to help the Bulls to a 3-1 win over Miami (OH) at RAC Field.

It was UB's first-ever win over Miami in seven meetings with the RedHawks.

Miami got on the board first in the 35th minute as Ashley Swinehart headed in a crossing pass from Jessica Godshall to give the Redhawks a 1-0 lead. The Bulls struck back just three minutes later when Jenny Dannecker took a pass from Russell and snuck it past Miami goalkeeper Megan Ortner. Russell took a perfect lead pass from her sister, Devon, got past a Miami defender and scored her 13th goal of the season to give UB a 2-1 lead in the 59th minute. Emily Russell would add an insurance goal in the 89th minute when she took a pass from Natalia Crofut and broke in alone on the Miami goalkeeper. It was her 14th goal of the season, leaving her three shy of the school record of 17 goals in a season set by Nora Bender in 1986.

Calvert made five saves to earn her seventh win of the season.

With the win, the Bulls improved to 8-6-1 overall and 4-4-1 in the MAC. Buffalo will next play tomorrow at Bowling Green.

Cross Country

Men first, women second at UB Invitational

The UB men's and Roberts Wesleyan women's cross-country squads were the team winners at the UB Invitational Cross Country meet held on Saturday at Beaver Island State Park.

The UB men placed five of the top seven finishers to score 16 team points en route to the title. Roberts Wesleyan (62), Houghton (76), Erie Community College (120), Daemen (121) and Hilbert (156) followed.

The UB women were squeezed out of a victory, scoring 33 points to finish second behind Roberts Wesleyan's 28 points in the tightly contested women's meet. Houghton (88) was third, followed by Daemen (92) and Medaille (154).

UB's Andy Wigton cruised to an easy victory in the men's race, which featured a field of 50 runners. The sophomore won the 8K event in 26:11.7, a full minute ahead of the second-place finisher, UB's Joel Beatty in 27:11.2. UB's Dan McKenna was third in 27:22.5. Todd Ludden, racing unattached, was fourth in 27:30.0 and UB's Ben Cady rounded out the top five in 27:34.0.

In the women's race, contested at 5K, Jenny Koeppel completed the course in 18:36.5 to take top honors. Koeppel finished more than 30 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Kim Cipura (19:07.6) of Roberts Wesleyan. The Bulls scored four runners, while Roberts Wesleyan placed five scoring runners in the top-10 to beat out UB for the team title.

Other UB finishers in the top-10 included Jennifer Jezorski, who finished fourth in 19:45.8, Hollie Rhodes, eighth in 20:05.7, and Kate Kohout ninth in 20:06.5.

The Bulls will see action on two fronts on Saturday as UB sends runners to the William and Mary Invitational in Williamsburg, Va., and the Roberts Wesleyan Invitational in Rochester.

Tennis

MEN'S

UB 7, Vermont 0
Binghamton 5, UB 2

UB scored its first dual-meet victory of the season with a 7-0 win at Vermont on Friday afternoon. The Bulls rolled to the victory, dropping just one set in the nine matches en route to the shutout.

In the doubles competition, the top doubles duo of Randy Rocchio and Nick Zieziula defeated Eric Conway and Matt Spring, 8-3. In the number two match, Mike Rockman combined with Josh Liederman to down Tom Whittaker and Chris Hathaway, 8-5. The number-three team of Rangga Prayudha and Albert Alant dropped Ethan Bernstein and Griffin Maloney, 8-2.

UB also cruised to singles victories in all six matches. Rockman, at first singles, defeated Spring, 6-1, 6-1. Rocchio knocked off Conway, 6-1, 6-1, at number two. Zieziula, at number three, downed Whittaker, 6-0, 6-3.

Liederman, at number four, defeated Maloney, 6-2, 6-2. At number five, Prayudha dropped Hathaway, 6-3, 6-3. The lone match to be extended past two sets was the number six match, where Alant rallied to defeat Brendan Matthews, 6-7, 6-2, 10-6 in the set tiebreaker.

The roadtrip concluded on Saturday with a 5-2 loss at Binghamton. Three of the singles matches went to tiebreakers as did one of the doubles matches.

In singles play, Zieziula rallied from a set down to defeat Binghamton's Edwin Gerard, 2-6, 6-4, 11-9. Liederman, at fourth singles, was UB's only other victor. He defeated Steve Spencer in straight sets, 6-0, 6-4.

WOMEN'S

UB 7, Cleveland State 0

UB improved to 3-0 on the fall season with a 7-0 non-conference win over visiting Cleveland State on Friday night in the Amherst Hills Tennis Club in Williamsville. The Bulls did not lose a set to the much-improved Viking squad and has yet to drop a singles match in dual-meet play in the 2003-04 season.

The Bulls won all three matches to secure the doubles point to open play. UB's top duo of Kristen Ortman and Miglena Nenova shut out Sarah Galon and Morgan Ungerott by an 8-0 margin. The number-two team of Michelle Kollarova and Katrin Fischer knocked off Amanda Cerny and Paulina Reyes, 8-5. The Bulls' number-three team of Lisa Wittman and Erica Zielinski recorded an 8-2 decision over Rebekah Bicksler and Marcella Capozziello.

In singles play, UB allowed the Vikings no more than four games in any of the matches.

Nenova, playing at number one in a dual match for the first time this season, cruised to 6-0, 6-2 win over Galon. Ortman, at number two, had little trouble in downing Ungerott, 6-0, 6-1. At number three, Fischer also picked up 6-0, first-set win and then went on to defeat Bicksler, 6-2, in the final set. Kollarova scored a 6-1, 6-1 win over Reyes at number four. Wittman, the team captain, at fifth singles, dropped Capozziello, 6-3, 6-1. Sheri Ugowski completed the sweep with a 6-0, 6-2 win at sixth singles over Cerny.

The Bulls will travel to Binghamton for two matches on Saturday, meeting the host Bearcats at 9 a.m. and Siena at 12:30 p.m.

Crew

Bulls take first place titles in Buffalo and Rochester

It was a busy weekend for the UB crew teams as rowers competed at Buffalo's Head of the Niagara Regatta, hosted by the West Side Rowing Club on Saturday, and Sunday's Stonehurst Regatta along the Genesee River in Rochester. UB had winning crews at both meets and of the 51 rowers in the weekend races, 43 earned medals.

At the Head of the Niagara races, the Bulls scored victories in all three races they entered. First-time rowers in the novice four and eight boats won their races, as did the varsity eight team, while a second novice eight entry placed second.

The novice four squad included coxswain Abbie Potts with stroke seat rower Corinne Blum, third seat Crysten Rushmore, second seat Kaitlin Hambridge and bow seat occupant Kelly Botsoglou. The winning novice eight team consisted of coxswain Kimberly Campbell, stroke seat Kassia Threlkeld, Blum in the seventh seat, sixth seat Katie Noviello, fifth seat Caitlyn Lewis, fourth seat Marissa Ammendola, third seat Elizabeth McMahon, second seat Ginelle Michael and bow seat Samantha Atlas. The varsity eight team also earned a win. Caitlin Logue coxswained the team with Amy Aldridge in the stroke seat, seventh seat Stephanie Spinella, sixth seat Joanne Olsen, fifth seat Kristen Bender, fourth seat Georgia Maloney, third seat Michelle Heller, second seat Margaret Siller and bow seat Jessica Barrell,

At the Stonehurst meet, the lightweight four squad placed fourth in the open race that consisted of varsity and club entries. The squad was the first lightweight team to finish, thereby earning a first-place nod in that category. Syracuse won the open four competition. UB's varsity four team finished second overall in the same race. The varsity eight squad placed second to Queens College, narrowly being beaten by eight-tenths of a second.

UB's winning lightweight four entry consisted of coxswain Kaitlin Buchheit, stroke seat Emilee Norris, third seat Karen Corey, second seat Kaitlin Hambridge and Threlkeld in the bow seat. The varisty four team included coxswain Dawn Kavanaugh, Aldridge in the stroke seat, third seat Kat Vossler and bow seat Chandra Hazey. The varsity eight team consisted of Katie Johnson at coxswain, stroke seat Andrea Lysiuk, seventh seat Sara Sheffer, sixth seat Kasey Hansen, fifth seat Deanna Knighton, fourth seat Kali Spoto, third seat Tara Celestini, second seat Natalie Pugliese and Jessica Ecke in the bow seat.

Coming up this weekend is the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta along the fabled Charles River in Boston. The Head of the Charles meet is one of the largest in the country and UB crews have produced strong results in past races.

Basketball

MEN'S and WOMEN'S

Turner Battle and Jessica Kochendorfer named to Preseason All-MAC teams

Men's basketball junior Turner Battle and women's basketball senior Jessica Kochendorfer have been selected to the Preseason All-Mid-American Conference teams as voted on by members of the MAC News Media Association. The honor was Battle's first selection of his career, while Kochendorfer was named to the women's squad at the start of last season.

Battle, the lone non-senior selected to the men's team, led the Bulls in scoring (12.7 ppg), assists (4.5 apg) and steals (1.9 spg) en route to being named to the All-MAC Honorable Mention and Academic All-MAC teams following last season. He was the only player in the conference to be named to both teams. Following the 2001-02 season, Battle was named to the MAC All-Freshman team.

Kochendorfer is a three-year starter with career averages of 11.2 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game. She ranks among UB's career leaders in field-goal percentage (seventh, .463), free-throw percentage (sixth, .725), rebounds (12th, 555) and blocked shots (tied for third, 107). Last season, Kochendorfer ranked second on the team with 12.0 points per game and led the Bulls in rebounding (7.2 rpg) and blocks (1.48 bpg). She ranked seventh in the MAC in rebounds per game, 10th in field goal percentage (.455) and third in blocks per game.