University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: October 14, 2004

Football

Akron 44, UB 21

Looking to win its second straight game, UB dropped a Mid-American Conference clash with Akron, 44-21, at the Rubber Bowl on Saturday night. UB twice took touchdown leads in the first half and threatened to tie the contest in the second half, but Akron had an answer for every Bulls' threat.

With the score tied, 7-7 in the first quarter, Datwan Hemingway entered the game on the Bulls' third possession and on his first collegiate pass attempt found Terrance Breaux, who made an acrobatic catch for a 38-yard completion. Two plays later, Hemmingway rolled to his right and found Chad Upshaw for a two-yard touchdown to put the Bulls ahead, 14-7.

However, Akron's Domenik Hixon returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards to quickly tie the game, 14-14. Akron then struck twice more in the second quarter to take a 28-14 halftime lead.

On the opening play of the second half, Steven King ripped off a career-long 52-yard run to put the ball in Akron territory. Four plays later, Jared Patterson pounded the ball across the goal line from two yards out to cut the Zips' lead to 28-21 just 2:20 into the third quarter. Patterson's touchdown was his seventh in the last nine games.

However, that was the closest the Bulls could get as Akron scored the last 16 points of the game for the 44-21 victory.

The Bulls' defense was susceptible to the big play as the Zips connected on eight plays of 24 yards or more to gain an advantage in field position. Miscues on offense also cost the Bulls. UB had five fumbles in the game. Although the Bulls regained possession on all five fumbles, they lost valuable yardage and spoiled the positive momentum the offense had established.

King rushed for a career-high 120 yards on only 12 carries, marking the second straight game that the sophomore running back has gained more than 100 yards on the ground. It also was the fourth game of the season in which the Bulls produced a 100-yard rusher.

The quarterback tandem of Hemingway and Chris Moore fared well again this week. Hemingway completed 4-of-10 passes for 79 yards and a touchdown. Moore was 7-for-10 for 57 yards. The redshirt freshman made good on his first six passes of the game. Neither quarterback turned the ball over.

On defense, the Bulls were led by J.J. Gibson, who had 11 tackles—five of which were solo.

The Bulls will look to rebound against Miami (OH) on Saturday in UB Stadium. Kickoff for the homecoming game is slated for 1:30 p.m.

Volleyball

Kent State 3, UB 2
Akron 3, UB 1

UB dropped a pair of heart-breaking home matches over the weekend with a five-game loss to Kent State on Friday night and a four-game decision to Akron on Sunday afternoon.

The Bulls fell to Kent State, 30-24, 26-30, 30-25, 24-30, 15-10. UB was led by junior Katie Weekley, who recorded a career-high 14 blocks, and sophomore Brandie Clark, who posted a triple-double with a career-high 10 kills, a career-high 39 assists and 14 digs.

Freshman Tammy Julé led the Bulls with 13 kills, and senior Molly Schrantz recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore Wendy Haskell tied her career high with seven kills, and freshman libero Lizaiha Garcia finished with a team-high 22 digs. Freshman Sarah Streib recorded one kill, three service aces and four digs, and provided a spark off the bench in game two when she came in and served nine straight points to get UB out to a 16-7 lead.

On Sunday, Schrantz recorded a team-high 18 kills and 17 digs, but the Bulls fell to Akron, 30-15, 28-30, 30-19, 30-25. The loss, the Bulls' seventh in a row, brings their record to 7-12 overall and 0-6 in the MAC.

Schrantz was the only player to reach double figures in kills for the Bulls. Brown finished with 42 assists, 12 digs, three kills and three blocks, and Garcia had a team-high 21 digs.

The Bulls will conclude their six-match homestand when they host Marshall at 7 p.m. today and Central Michigan at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

Soccer

MEN'S

UB 2, Bowling Green 1 (OT)

Senior Mirnes Biscevic scored at 1:41 into overtime on a cross from senior Jeff Martinko to lead UB to a 2-1 MAC win at Bowling Green on Sunday afternoon. It was UB's first MAC win since beating Kentucky, 2-1, on Oct. 20, 2002, a stretch of 11 games.

The Falcons got on the board first, denting the twine in the 70th minute when Omari Aldridge scored on an assist from Gregory Hennelly. The Bulls (7-4-1 overall, 1-2-0 MAC) fought back 12 minutes later when Biscevic scored unassisted to knot the game at one.

UB outshot Bowling Green, 13-10, and also held a slight advantage in corner kicks, 4-3. The offense was paced by three shots from Biscevic and four from freshman Shyle Braithwaite.

Sophomore Daniel Bell made four saves in goal for the Bulls, who have improved their win mark six games over last year.

The Bulls will take the field tomorrow at Cleveland State for a non-conference match.

WOMEN'S

UB 2, Western Michigan 2 (2 OT)
Northern Illinois 2, UB 1

UB forged a 2-2 tie against defending league champion Western Michigan but then dropped a 2-1 decision to Northern Illinois over the weekend.

Kellie Nicholson's unassisted goal in the 80th minute helped Western Michigan University to a 2-2 double overtime tie against the Bulls in MAC action on Friday afternoon at the WMU Soccer Complex.

Western Michigan, which came into the game fourth in the MAC, took five shots in the two overtime periods, forcing senior Anna-Lesa Calvert to stop one shot. She made seven stops in the game as Western Michigan fired 22 times in her direction.

Sophomore Jennifer Moreira scored in the 32nd minute on assists from junior Natalia Crofut and junior Erica Mincher. Mincher added another assist five minutes later when Crofut scored her fourth goal of the year.

On Sunday, Marissa Oriente's goal with 4:49 remaining clinched the 2-1 win for Northern Illinois in DeKalb.

Audra Gordon and Christie Ehrhardt assisted on the goal, as the Huskies had fought the Bulls tooth-and-nail during the game. The Huskies took 13 shots to the Bulls 12 and committed 11 fouls to the Bulls 13. Both teams had three corner kicks.

Northern Illinois got on the board in the seventh minute when Ehrhardt headed a ball in off a corner kick from Elaine Eliadis.

UB (3-10-1 overall, 2-5-1 MAC) responded late in the first half when senior Jenny Dannecker lifted a corner kick that Crofut headed into the net.

Dannecker leads the team with five assists. She now is tied for 12th with Jennifer DeVita (1992-95) with 10 career assists. Her 28 career points are the 19th-best mark in school history.

Crofut, who had three points in Friday's 2-2 tie to defending MAC champ Western Michigan, has 12 points on the year, the third year in a row she has reached that mark. Crofut is alone in 14th place in career points (39) at UB and needs just eight points to enter the top 10. Her 16 career goals are 12th best in program history.

The game was the end of a six-game road trip for the Bulls. The team returns to RAC Field for its final five games, beginning tomorrow with a 7 p.m. match with MAC foe Toledo.

Cross Country

Men's and women's teams victorious at home meet

Temperatures in the mid 60s and sustained 20-30 m.p.h. winds with higher gusts greeted the runners along the banks of the Niagara River as UB's men's and women's cross-country teams rolled to victories on Saturday at the 2004 UB Open at Beaver Island State Park on Grand Island.

The UB women placed five racers among the top six finishers to score 18 points en route to the team title, with Roberts Wesleyan finishing second at 48 points. Niagara (91), Daemen (101), Tri-State (IN) (126) and Medaille (177) rounded out the women's scoring.

The UB men scored 20 points to hold off second-place Roberts Wesleyan (56), with Tri-State (IN) (67), Niagara (104), Finger Lakes Community College (158) and Daemen (162) completing the field.

In the women's race, UB senior Jenny Koeppel ran away from the rest of the 60-runner field to take the 5K event in 17:59.35. Koeppel finished more than 25 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, junior teammate Jen Jezorski, who clocked in at 18:25.84.

The men's 8K race was won by Roberts Wesleyan freshman Julius Rono in 26:00.93, but eight UB runners were among the next nine finishers to ensure the team title for the Bulls. Junior Andy Wigton was second overall, just 10 seconds behind Rono in 26:10.38. Sophomore Nate Lockett was third in 26:43.01. The men's field consisted of 56 runners.

The Bulls will eturn to action on Saturday against a very competitive field at the Penn State Invitational. The race should serve as a good warm-up for UB's next competition, the MAC Championships in Toledo on Oct. 30.

Tennis

MEN'S

Binghamton 5, UB 2

UB dropped a 5-2 decision to Binghamton University on Sunday afternoon in non-conference action. With the loss, the Bulls concluded the fall dual-meet slate with a 1-1 record.

UB opened the match with a 1-0 lead by taking two of the doubles contests. At number one, the combination of Nick Zieziula and Matt Kennedy knocked off Dan Hanegby and Brian O'Connor, 8-4. The number three squad of Yules Hadisubroto and Albert Alant downed Krishna Vallabhaneni and Jon Bonnet by an 8-5 margin. The Bulls dropped the number two match as Mike Rockman and Josh Liederman were defeated by Alex Dobrin and Faisal Mohamed, 8-5.

Rockman was the only UB player to claim a singles victory, with Binghamton taking five of six matches to steal the win. Rockman, playing at second singles, needed a tiebreaker to defeat Richemn Mourad. Rockman took the first set, 7-5, but dropped the second, 6-4. In the 10-point tiebreaker, Rockman rallied to claim the match with a 10-3 win.

The Bulls will head to West Point for the Army Shootout Invitational this weekend.

WOMEN'S

Bulls complete play at Binghamton Tournament

UB completed play in the Binghamton Tournament on Sunday, winning a majority of the matches against Colgate and Albany in the non-scoring event. UB won six of nine matches against the Raiders, while taking 11 of 12 matches against the Great Danes.

UB came up short against the host Bearcats in Saturday's opener, taking just four of the 10 matches. The tournament was played in a blind dual format, meaning that teams faced off against each other in a regular dual match, but there would be no team scoring.

Sophomore Katrin Fischer was the lone UB singles player to emerge with an undefeated 3-0 record. On Saturday, Fischer, playing at number three, knocked off Binghamton's Jelena Koprivica in a tie-breaking third set, 6-1, 5-7, (10-6). She then rolled to a straight-set win over Colgate's Alex Seaton, 7-5, 6-3 and completed the weekend with a victory over Albany's Aimee Kern, 7-5, 7-5.

UB's number one doubles duo of Miglena Nenova and Kristen Ortman also racked up three wins, defeating their opponents from Binghamton and Colgate on Saturday with 8-6 decisions and their Albany opponents, 8-0, on Sunday.

The Bulls will host Robert Morris at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the University Tennis Club.

Crew

UB crews post impressive results at Stonehurst Regatta

UB posted some of its best results ever at Rochester's Stonehurst Capital Invitational Regatta. The races were held on the Genesee River.

UB's top varsity eight entry finished third overall in a field of 24 teams, trailing behind two of the Northeast's strongest squads. UB was the third-fastest team in both the morning and afternoon races behind Radcliffe and Syracuse, nearly catching the Orange's entry in the afternoon race.

The Bulls finished with a combined championship time of 34:17.32. Radcliffe was first in 33:25.95 and Syracuse was second in 33:49.99.

UB's B entry also competed in the race, taking 19th overall and fifth among the open class, which consisted of Radcliffe, Syracuse and UB.

Also enjoying success was UB's varsity four entry. The Bulls placed fifth in a field of 17 boats in 40:18.16. The top three finishers in the race were top Canadian squads from Brock (first and third) and Queens (second) universities. Syracuse was fourth.

In the other race in which the Bulls were entered, the lightweight eight finished behind Queens in a two-boat race. UB put together a combined time of 35:53.58 to Queens' 34:52.32.

Up next for the team is the famous and always competitive Head of the Charles Regatta on Oct. 24 along the Charles River in Boston.