University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: November 11, 2004

Football

Kent State 33, UB 7

Seniors David Alston and Josh Cribbs each surpassed the 100-yard mark on the ground and Kent State's defense limited UB to 116 total yards in a decisive 33-7 Mid-American Conference victory in UB Stadium.

Alston rushed for 174 yards and four touchdowns, while Cribbs, the do-it-all quarterback, ran for 132 yards and passed for 167 to lead the Golden Flashes (3-6, 2-4 in the MAC) to their second straight victory. UB, which fell to 1-8 and 1-6 in the MAC, never got anything going, falling behind 26-0 at halftime.

The Bulls were held to a season-low four net yards rushing and gave up a season-high five sacks in the game.

With the Golden Flashes starting at its two-yard line, Kent State showed the Bulls how it would be all day. The Golden Flashes converted three third-down conversions and scored on fourth-and-one at the UB four-yard line as Alston went in for the first score of the day. All told, the drive covered 98 yards in 16 plays and took 6:44 off the clock. It was a sign of things to come as Alston scored three more times in the second quarter—from 25, 16 and 2 yards out—and the Kent State interior lines dominated the game.

The Bulls' only score of the game came early in the fourth quarter when sophomore tight end Chad Upshaw scored from 28 yards out on a pass from P.J. Piskorik. It was Upshaw's second touchdown of the season and the third of his career. It also was one of only two UB plays over 20 yards on the day.

UB will host Central Michigan in its final MAC game of the season at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday in UB Stadium.

Volleyball

Toledo 3, UB 1
UB 3, Miami (OH) 2

UB snapped a 14-match losing streak on Friday with a thrilling, come-from-behind 3-2 win over the visiting Miami University RedHawks in Alumni Arena. The score was 17-30, 24-30, 30-23, 30-27, 15-11. Four players recorded double digits in kills for the Bulls (8-19 overall, 1-13 MAC), who claimed their first MAC victory of the season.

The RedHawks dominated game one, easily winning by a 30-17 score, aided by seven service aces. The Bulls started to show some life in game two, but Miami broke a 13-13 tied with a 5-0 run to go up 18-13 and UB could only get as close as two points for the remainder of the game before the 30-24 final.

Back-to-back block assists by the duo of junior Katie Weekley and sophomore Nikki Morzenti that put the Bulls up 17-16 proved to be the turning point in game three. Morzenti broke a 21-21 tie with a kill and then went on to serve six straight points that put the Bulls ahead 28-21 en route to the 30-23 victory.

IB took the momentum from the win into game four, going up 7-3. Weekley had six kills on 10 attack attempts and four blocks in the game to lead the Bulls to a 30-27 win that tied the match and forced the fifth and deciding game.

Weekley then had three kills and one block for four of the Bulls' first five points in game five that helped give them a 5-2 lead and enough of a cushion to hold on for the 15-11 win. Another block by Weekley and freshman Tammy Julé gave UB a 13-9 lead, and the Bulls' final two points in the game came on Miami attack errors.

Julé led the Bulls with a career-high 21 kills on 45 attacks, while adding 11 digs and five blocks. Weekley added a career-high 18 kills and a match-high 11 blocks. Morzenti finished with 17 kills and 10 digs, and senior Molly Schrantz recorded 11 kills, 10 digs and four blocks. Schrantz's seventh dig of the night was the 1,000th dig of her career, making her just the ninth player in UB volleyball history to reach that mark.

The homestand began on Nov. 4 as UB put forth a gutsy performance but fell to Toledo in four games, 30-25, 27-30, 30-23, 30-24.

Soccer

MEN'S

UB 2, Northern Illinois 1 (MAC Tournament)
Akron 4, UB 1 (MAC Tournament)

UB scored a thrilling, opening-round victory over Northern Illinois in the MAC Tournament before seeing the season end on Sunday with a loss against Akron in the semifinals.

The Bulls received two goals from freshman Lee Catchpole, who made his return to the lineup after missing the past seven games with an ankle injury. The win marked just the third time the Bulls have won a tournament game since they joined the MAC in 1998, and it was their first win in the post-season since they defeated Akron in the quarterfinals in 2000.

The Bulls and Catchpole got off to an early start when they converted on a penalty kick in the 10th minute of play. The Huskies evened the score in the 21st minute and the teams took a 1-1 tie into halftime. The game remained tied until the 71st minute when freshman Shyle Braithwaite found Catchpole, who was able to put it past the Huskies' goalkeeper.

Starting for the 16th time in 17 games, sophomore goalkeeper Dan Bell made four saves for his eighth win of the season.

On Sunday, Akron got on the board early in the first half and kept the lead for good. Down 2-0, the Bulls got their only goal of the game from Catchpole—his third goal of the tournament. Catchpole received a pass from senior Jeff Martinko at the corner and put it past the Akron goaltender.

The Bulls finished the season with an 8-8-2 overall record, their most wins since 2001 and a seven-game improvement in the win column from last season.

WOMEN'S

McJury, MacVie Earn MAC Honors

Senior Brenna McJury earned all-Mid-American Conference honors for the second straight year, as she earned a spot on the conference's second-team. Freshman Courtney MacVie grabbed a slot on the conference's All-Newcomer team, the conference office announced on Nov. 3.

McJury, a first-team All-MAC selection in 2003, was the rock of the Bulls' defense before going down with a season-ending injury at Ball State. During her 10 games, she helped the team to three shutouts and led the defense to overtime in two other matches. Also an important spark in the Bulls' offense, McJury had two assists this season.

After McJury's injury, MacVie moved back to the sweeper position that McJury had occupied. In that role, MacVie helped the team to a 4-4-1 record in the final nine games, including a 2-0 shutout of co-league champion Ohio. Starting all 19 games, MacVie played an integral part of a Bulls' defense that had four shutouts on the season.

MacVie also helped spark the offense, offering three assists on the year, including one on the go-ahead-goal in UB's 2-1 win over Marshall on Oct. 22 and one on the game-winning goal in UB's season-concluding, 2-1, win against Cornell on Oct. 26.

UB finished the season 7-11-1 under 10th-year head coach Jean-A Tassy.

Swimming

MEN'S

Miami (OH) 147, UB 82

UB opened the 2004-05 campaign with a 147-82 loss to MAC rival Miami (Ohio) Saturday afternoon in the Corwin Nixon Aquatic Center.

The Bulls claimed four of the 13 events, with two victories coming after the RedHawks swam exhibition swimmers in the races. Sophomore Luke Adams won the 200-yard backstroke in 1:57.92. Adams also raced the opening leg of UB's winning 400-yard freestyle relay team.

Mark Sy claimed a victory in the 200-yard butterfly in 1:57.76, while Geoff Wells won the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:12.47. Jeff Hurst narrowly missed a victory in the 200-yard individual medley, finishing in 1:58.94, just two-hundredths of a second behind first-place Blake Norman (1:58.92). Yarger also finished second in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:56.63.

The Bulls will open the home portion of the schedule on Saturday when they host MAC rival Ohio at 1 p.m. in the Alumni Arena Natatorium.

WOMEN'S

Miami (OH) 145, UB 93
Ball State 193, UB 107

UB dropped MAC meets at Miami (OH) and Ball State over the weekend to even its record to 2-2 overall and 0-2 in the league.

On Friday, UB was handed its first loss of the 2004-05 campaign with a 145-93 decision to Miami (OH) in the Corwin Nixon Aquatics Center.

The Bulls swept the diving events. In the one-meter competition, the Bulls claimed the top three spots. Tracy Hoover won the event with a six-dive total score of 216.95 points to edge out teammate Kimberly LaHaye with 214.05 points. Miranda Matias was third with 205.70 points.

LaHaye claimed the three-meter diving victory with 242.80 points for her six dives. Matias was second at 231.10 points.

UB picked up first-place finishes in the final two events, while the RedHawks swam exhibition swimmers. Julie Marcotte took first in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:26.03. The UB foursome of Jennefer Brankovsky, Meghan Lafferty, Andrea Scharf and Bethany Miller placed first in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:40.78.

In UB's 193-107 loss at Ball State on Saturday, the Bulls won five of the 16 events with Brankovsky claiming a pair, as well as a second-place finish. Brankovsky won the 100-yard breaststroke in a season-best 1:07.62. She also won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:10.69. Brankovsky placed a close second in the 100-yard butterfly in a season-best 58.67, with Ball State's Erin Johnson claiming the win in 58.22.

UB also picked up victories from Kahla Walkinshaw and Frances Stephenson in the distance freestyle races. Walkinshaw took the grueling 1,650-yard freestyle in 17:56.51, with teammate Eugenie Viale placing second in 17:59.85. Stephenson claimed victory in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:13.92, with Walkinshaw finishing second in 5:16.69. Amanda Marcus was UB's other victor on Saturday with her win in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:27.61.

The Bulls will return home for MAC contests this weekend. UB hosts Marshall at 4 p.m. tomorrow and Ohio at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Tennis

MEN'S

Bulls complete fall season at Dartmouth tournament

UB completed the fall portion of the 2004-05 schedule over the weekend with good results at the Dartmouth Big Green Invitational. UB sent three players to the non-scoring flighted event.

Sophomore Mike Rockman turned in the best results in singles play with a 3-1 record. Rockman opened the A flight singles bracket with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Zoltan Bus of Manhattan. In the second round, Rockman scored a straight-sets win over Rutgers' Gabe Adams, 6-4, 7-5. He earned a semifinal berth by rallying from a set down to defeat Harvard's Scott Denenberg, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. The sophomore lost in his quest to reach the finals, falling 6-1, 6-0, to Dartmouth's Dave Webb, the tournament's top seed.

However, Rockman did score a title in the doubles competition. Paired with Princeton's Jonathan Leslie, the duo claimed the B title with three victories. They opened with an 8-4 win over New Hampshire's Goldy Sherrill and Brett Teolis, then scored an 8-3 win over Dartmouth's Rashaad Elder-Bush and John Bois to move into the finals. In the championship match, Rockman and Leslie knocked off another Dartmouth duo, Eli Samaha and Travis Maiers, 8-5.

WOMEN'S

Novaceanu wins B singles title at Big Green Invitational

UB freshman Andreea Novaceanu compiled a perfect 5-0 singles record—without dropping a set—to win the B flight of the Big green Invitational tournament. Included in her performance were victories over the top two seeds of the flight in the semifinal and finals.

Novaceanu opened the tournament with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Cheryl Hickey, a Coast Guard Academy exchange cadet representing Army. Novaceanu then followed with a second-round win over Hande Gorur of St. John's, 6-3, 6-2. In the quarterfinals, she downed Meredith Woodhouse of Brown, 6-4, 6-1. A semifinal victory, 6-1, 6-3, over second-seeded Barbara Schumsky of Connecticut propelled Novaceanu into the championship match, where she met top-seeded Lauren Leo of St. John's. A 6-1, 6-3 victory over Leo gave Novaceanu the flight title and exacted a bit of revenge for UB. Leo defeated UB's Miglena Nenova to take the B title in last season's tournament.