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Sports Recap
Mark Budd of the wrestling team won his weight class by earning five victories at the season-opening Slippery Rock Open.
Jenna Mapé of the women's volleyball team had 41 kills and a .243 hitting percentage in matches last week against Akron and Toledo.
Football
Hofher will not return in 2006
Warde Manuel, director of athletics, announced on Tuesday that head football coach Jim Hofher will not return to the Bulls' sidelines in 2006, but that he and his staff will complete the 2005 season.
"This has been a difficult decision to make because I know the time and efforts that Jim and his staff have invested to try to turn this program around," said Manuel. "That being said, I thought it was in the best interest of our program moving forward to make the announcement at this time. This allows the university to begin the process of finding coach Hofher's successor.
Manuel said a national search for a new head coach will begin immediately, but indicated that no specific timetable has been set for naming Hofher's successor.
President John B. Simpson noted that, "as with each of our institutional goals, building a strong athletic program requires us to look unflinchingly at our strengths and weaknesses, to critically examine the reality within which we operate, and to clearly identify our institutional priorities and the strategies we will use to achieve them."
"I fully support Warde Manuel's determination in this matter, and I have great confidence in the strategies he is developing to build a strong, successful athletic program that complements the excellence of UB's academic programs," Simpson added.
Hofher and his staff will finish out the regular season, which includes games at Kent State on Saturday and at home versus Eastern Michigan on Nov. 19. Hofher has compiled a record of 7-48 thus far in his UB career.
Miami (Ohio) 54, UB 13
UB ran into the hottest team in the Mid-American Conference on Saturday at Yager Stadium, and the Bulls could do nothing to slow down the Miami RedHawks' express.
The RedHawks took advantage of some early miscues by the Bulls to open up a commanding, 17-0, first-quarter lead en route to a 54-13 victory. UB turned the ball over five times in the first half, and eight times overall in suffering the worst defeat of the season. The Bulls fell to 0-9, 0-6 in the MAC.
Volleyball
Toledo 3, UB 2
UB 3, Akron 1
UB put forth a strong effort for four games to earn a 3-1 victory over the visiting Akron Zips Saturday night in Alumni Arena, 28-30, 30-10, 30-27, 30-23. The win was UB's second in its last three matches. The Bulls (11-17 overall, 3-1 MAC) played just seven players in the match, with five reaching double digits in kills, five reaching double digits in digs and four collecting double-doubles.
The Bulls opened the week on Nov. 3 as the visiting Toledo Rockets used comeback after comeback to finally pull out a gutsy 3-2 win over UB in Alumni Arena. Game scores were 29-31, 24-30, 30-28, 33-31 and 15-8.
The Bulls are home again this weekend to close out the regular season. They will host Northern Illinois at 6 p.m. tomorrow and Western Michigan at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Tennis
MEN'S
Bulls wrap up fall slate at Cornell Invitational
UB concluded the fall portion of the schedule with play at the Cornell Fall Invitational. There was no team scoring as bracket play was contested in three singles and two doubles flights. Eight schools sent teams to the tournament.
Three UB players went 2-1 in singles play in their flights. In the B flight, Nikesh Singh Panthlia reached the semifinal round before being bounced out of the competition. In the C flight, Matt Kennedy and Albert Alant each scored two victories before bowing out in the quarterfinal round.
WOMEN'S
Novaceanu reaches finals at Big Green Invitational
For the third consecutive season, a UB player earned a spot in the finals of Dartmouth University's Big Green Invitational. Sophomore Andreea Novaceanu played in the championship match of the tournament's A Flight as the Bulls concluded the fall slate. Players representing 18 schools competed in the three-day tournament.
Novaceanu, who captured the B Flight title as a freshman last season, fell in the championship match to Harvard's Steph Schnitter in a matchup of the top two seeds in the tournament. Novaceanu, the second seed, was defeated by top-seeded Schnitter in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, to complete an incredible run as she took four matches in the three-day tournament.
Senior Kristen Ortman also represented the Bulls in the A Flight, but fell in the second round to be eliminated from the tournament.
Junior Miglena Nenova, who reached the B championship as a freshman in 2003, reached the second round before being knocked out of the tournament.
Crew
Women complete fall season at Syracuse Invitational
UB officially concluded its fall season with a valiant showing in the first annual Syracuse Invitational Saturday. The invitational, a recent addition to the rowing schedule, included Syracuse University, University of Rochester, University of Connecticut and Cornell University.
The Varsity Fours placed third behind two Syracuse boats, which placed exactly one second of each other in times of 21:31 and 21:32, respectively. The Buffalo B boat finished within a few lengths to take third place in a time of 22:05. The two other Bulls entries claimed fifth and eighth place among a field of 11 boats.
UB also competed in the Novice Eight race that featured 10. The Buffalo A boat came away with top honors in 19:58, squeaking past the Syracuse A boat, which was clocked in 20:10. The Bulls wrapped up their day with the B and C boats placing in times of 22:18 and 22:22, taking fifth and eighth place honors.
Swimming
WOMEN'S
Akron 186, UB 112
UB fell to visiting Akron, 186-112, in MAC action on Saturday in Alumni Arena Natatorium.
The Bulls (2-3 overall, 0-3 MAC) won four events on the 16-event card. UB posted a one-two finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle led by junior Kahla Walkinshaw, who touched the wall first in 10:45.31. Junior teammate Eugenie Viale finished second in 10:51.31.
Freshman Rachel Sorg posted a first-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing in 2:11.27.
Junior Danielle Gervais held off a late charge from Akron's Amelia Loge to take the 200-yard breaststroke by three-hundredths of a second.
Sorg and Walkinshaw also paired with seniors Jackie English and Olga Wojcik to win the 800-yard freestyle relay, the first time that the Bulls have raced the event this season. The foursome finished in 7:57.92 with Wojcik holding off a late-charging Ali Allwes of Akron, who cut more than four seconds off UB's lead when the pair hit the water for the final 200 yards.
Wrestling
Budd, Cerminara, Sherrell win Slippery Rock Open titles
Seniors Kyle Cerminara (197 pounds) and Harold Sherrell, and junior Mark Budd (133 pounds) won individual titles at the Slippery Rock Open on Saturday.
Redshirting junior Jeff Parker, wrestling unattached, also advanced to the finals at heavyweight and was set to face Sherrell, but forfeited the match after suffering a cut above his eye in an earlier round.
Basketball
MEN'S
UB to host Gannon in exhibition
UB will host Gannon University in an exhibition game at 8 p.m. Friday in Alumni Arena. The game will follow the women's volleyball match against Northern Illinois, scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
The game is free to the public and will give UB fans a chance to see the Bulls before they officially open the season against Canisius on Nov. 18.