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Sports Recap
Volleyball
UB 3, Marist 1
Albany 3, UB 1
UB opened the 2005 season on a high note on Saturday with a convincing, 3-0 (30-26, 30-18, 30-17) win at Marist. Junior Nikki Morzenti led the Bulls with a match-high 10 kills and nine digs to fall just shy of a double-double, while junior Jenna Mapé recorded career highs of eight kills and six digs to lead the Bulls' effort.
After getting off to somewhat of a slow start that saw the Red Foxes jump out to a 5-1 lead in game one, the Bulls rebounded to tie the score at 11-11 and then take the lead for good at 16-15. Marist hung with Buffalo in the early going of game two before the Bulls broke a 15-15 tie with a 15-3 run to end the game. They then dominated game three to end the match in a clean sweep. The Bulls took advantage of poor hitting by Marist throughout the contest. The Red Foxes finished the match with a .092 hitting percentage, compared to the Bulls' .253.
Senior setter Amy Brown finished with 32 assists, four kills, five digs and two service aces, and junior Lauren Burd added seven kills. Senior Katie Weekley had six kills and a match-high five blocks and junior Brandie Clark added six kills, four blocks, five assists and nine digs. Libero Lizaiha Garcia finished with seven digs.
On Sunday, the Bulls had three players reach double figures in kills, led by Mapé with a career-high 16, but it was not enough for a win as the Albany Great Danes edged out the Bulls in four games, 30-22, 25-30, 31-29, 30-21.
The Bulls jumped out to an early 8-3 lead in game one, but the Great Danes came back to tie the score at 11-11 and then take the lead for good at 12-11. Albany's Ashley Hunter had four of her match-high 23 kills in the Great Danes' final six points to lead them to a 30-22 comeback victory. The Bulls again jumped out to an early 17-10 lead in game two en route to a 30-25 win to knot the match at one game apiece, but Albany rebounded to pull out a 31-29 win in game three to gain the upper hand.
After the Bulls led game three 7-4, the Great Danes tied the score at 10-10 and then took a late 26-20 lead. Two kills apiece by Mapé and Burd highlighted a 6-0 Buffalo run to tie the score at 26-26, and two straight kills by Burd followed by one by Morzenti later tied the score at 29-29. Albany took the 31-29 win following a Bulls' service error and attack error to end the game. The Great Danes then ended the match with an easy 30-21 win in game four.
In addition to Mapé, Morzenti (14) and Burd (11) also reached double digits in kills, while Burd also added four blocks. Weekley had nine kills and four blocks, and Clark finished with six kills, 11 digs and three blocks. Brown had 45 assists and Garcia had a team-high 15 digs.
UB will host the Western New York Invitational this weekend in Alumni Arena. The Bulls will play Maryland-Eastern Shore at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow and Army at 1 p.m. and Colgate at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Soccer
WOMEN'S
Lehigh 2, UB 0
UB 3, Army 2
Gina Lewandowski scored 25 minutes into the game and added an assist to lift Lehigh University to a 2-0 decision against UB during the opening game of the U.S. Military Academy's BAE Systems Fall Classic on Friday.
The Bulls took 17 shots, including 12 in the second half, but could force Mountain Hawks goaltender Julie Kafka to make only three saves. Lehigh took 22 shots, forcing senior UB goaltender Anna-Lesa Calvert to make four saves.
Lewandowski was fed on her game-winning goal from Christin Johnson, as she was able to put a shot in from close range. Nine minutes into the second half, Lewandowski fed Melissa Montalvo, as Montalvo managed to hit a shot from 20 yards out to seal the Mountain Hawks' win.
The Bulls started four freshmen from a recruiting class that was ranked 16th in the Northeast by SoccerBuzz.com. Janessa Banwell, Nikki Wilson, Brooke McCalla and Andrea Vescio each cracked the starting 11 in their first career game.
On Sunday, two goals in the first six minutes and three in the first half were more than enough for UB as it held on to upset host Army, 3-2, in the second round of the BAE Systems Classic.
The Bulls rolled to a quick 2-0 lead as Banwell scored her first career goal on a cross from senior Natalia Crofut in the fourth minute. McCalla, Banwell's travel team teammate on the Unionville-Milliken Soccer Club, added her first career goal 49 seconds later as a feed from junior Jessica Roesch helped force Army goaltender Rebecca Garcia from the box, allowing McCalla to launch a 25-yarder into the net.
McCalla assisted on another tally before the half to give UB a 3-0 lead, as she fed a cross to sophomore Kathleen Fage, who deposited the shot into the opposite corner.
Army, 1-1 overall and ranked 12th in the Northeast Region in SoccerBuzz.com's preseason poll, came storming back in the second half, though, as Pia White was able to dribble down the right side of the field and beat Calvert with a shot to the left corner in the 71st minute. Two minutes later, Molly Byrnes found the back of the net after beating Calvert to the right. The Black Knights rally fell short there, though, as Calvert stopped eight shots to preserve the win as the Knights outshot the Bulls, 18-17.
Calvert, who made 12 saves while allowing four goals in the tournament, was named to the All-Tournament team. The senior goalkeeper became just the fourth UB goalkeeper to save 250 shots in her career with her seventh save against Army.
Crofut, who is now nine points shy of tying Kent State's Nicki Downey and Ohio's Abby Leopold with 55 career points, 24th in MAC history, also made the All-Tournament team, along with Roesch, who rounded out UB's three selections.
The Bulls will face another tough test when they travel to Orlando tomorrow to face Jacksonville in the opening round of the Central Florida Tournament. On Sunday, UB will play Central Florida, ranked sixth in the Southeast Region preseason poll by Soccerbuzz.com.
Football
Bulls prepare for season opener
Head coach Jim Hofher's voice was filled with optimism when he spoke to reporters at the team's annual media day. And why not-the fifth-year head coach has his most experienced team set to take the field in September. The 2005 season kicks off tonight when the Bulls travel to Connecticut to battle the Huskies. The home opener against Rutgers is scheduled for Sept. 17.
UB has 15 starters returning from last season; among that group are eight starters on a defense that finished in the upper half of the MAC in total defense in 2004.
The Bulls return seven starters on offense that accounted for the 20 of the Bulls' 22 touchdowns last season.
Athletic News
UB sports on radio and TV in 2005-06
UB has reached landmark agreements to have its athletic events broadcast on radio at all-time high levels.
All football, and men's and women's basketball games will air, along with a select number of events from the school's other athletic programs. Bulls football games once again will be broadcast on WGR-550 AM and also on WHTK-1280 AM in the Rochester market. Two UB games-versus Rutgers on Sept. 17 and at Toledo on Oct. 22-will air on WWKB-1520 AM instead of WGR due to conflicts with Buffalo Sabres games. WHTK will air all games that conflict with Rochester Red Wings or Rochester Americans action on tape delay.
Howard Simon, part of WGR's morning show, will call the UB football action for the first time. Weekend host Brian Koziol will handle color-analyst duties. Brendan McDaniels continues in his role as sideline reporter and host of the 30-minute pregame show, which includes pregame analysis from head coach Jim Hofher, player interviews and an opponent scouting report. Hofher's comments also will air as part of the postgame show, which will includes a game recap with highlights.
Men's basketball action will return to WWKB-1520 AM, Buffalo's only 50,000 watt station, this season with Jim Rosenhaus once again handling play-by-play duties.
For the first time in school history, all Bulls women's basketball games will air as well. Each game can be heard on WLVL-1340 AM. Josh Whetzel, three years the voice of the Rochester Red Wings and an 11-year broadcast veteran, will be calling all the action.
In addition, WLVL will be the home for up to 12 broadcasts of other UB athletic events. Those events will be announced at a later date.
All Bulls games that air on radio will be available to listen to free of charge at http://www.buffalobulls.com via Teamline.