University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: October 4, 2007

Football

Ball State 49, UB 14

It felt like deja vu for UB against Ball State at Schuemann Stadium on Saturday. Just like their meeting a year ago in Buffalo, the Cardinals scored two touchdowns in the first five minutes and the Bulls never recovered in a 49-14 loss.

Ball State quarterback Nate Davis, the Mid-American Conference's top-ranked quarterback, threw for 233 yards and three touchdowns to lead a potent Cardinal offense. The Bulls, who were extremely stingy with the ball early in the season, committed two turnovers and could not gain any from Ball State.

The Cardinals opened the scoring on their first possession, keyed by a 38-yard run on the first play from scrimmage by Frank Edmonds. Ball State scored in five plays, moving 62 yards to take a 7-0 lead with 10:57 remaining in the first quarter. Just 14 seconds later on UB next possession, Cardinal cornerback Trey Lewis stepped in front of a pass and returned it 26 yards for a score. After the PAT, Ball State led 14-0 with 10:43 remaining in the first quarter.

The Cardinals scored twice more in the first half to go to intermission with a 28-0 lead.

The Bulls had an opportunity at a turnover late in the second quarter when senior defensive end Trevor Scott forced a fumble when he sacked Davis. The Cardinals, however, were able to fall on the loose ball. It gave Scott, who entered the game 13th in the country in career sacks by active players, 5.5 sacks this season and was his team-leading third forced fumble of the year. Scott now has 14.5 career sacks in 15 games at defensive end.

The Bulls got on the scoreboard for the first time in the third quarter, keyed by a catch by junior flanker Ernest Jackson. Jackson caught a 54-yard fly pattern from quarterback Drew Willy to take the ball to the Cardinals 11-yard line. Jackson finished the game with 70 yards receiving on four catches.

Tailback James Starks finished the drive with a two-yard run, capping a seven-play, 78-yard drive. It was Starks' sixth touchdown of the season, matching his total from last year.

Starks added another touchdown early in the fourth quarter as he capped an eight-play, 66-yard drive with a one-yard blast to pay dirt with 13:22 left in the game.

The Bulls will host MAC opponents in back-to-back weeks, starting with Ohio this Saturday for Homecoming and Toledo on Oct. 13 for Family Weekend. Both games will begin at 1 p.m.

Volleyball

UB 3, Akron 1
Ball State 3, UB 0

UB picked up its first conference victory and ended a 12-match losing skid by defeating Akron, 3-1, Sept. 27 in Alumni Arena. The Bulls put forth a total team effort, with numerous players setting personal milestones.

The Bulls, who took the match 30-27, 30-24, 18-30, 30-27, were led by a near triple-double from freshman Lindsey Schlegel, who finished the match with nine kills, 41 assists and 11 digs. Sophomore Maria Mezzadri led the way for UB with 13 kills, while senior Sarah Streib recorded a career-high 11 kills as she saw action in all four games. In fact, Streib had two more kills against the Zips then she had during the entire 2006 season. Streib added nine digs and three assists. Junior Kate Love added seven kills.

Defensively, UB had four players in double figures in the digging department, led by 23 digs from senior Lizaiha Garcia. Three players had 11 digs, including Schlegel, sophomore Ellen Robertson and freshman Jenna Gabello. Gabello also had a career-high three service aces, which was tied for tops in the match.

The Bulls traveled to Ball State Saturday for a MAC match, but were unable to defeat the host Cardinals, falling 3-0. The Bulls are now 1-3 in conference play.

Ball State won the match 30-17, 30-17, 30-25, hitting .211, compared to a .075 hitting percentage for UB. Junior Claudia Neba led the Bulls with seven kills, while sophomore Kelsey Lueders added six kills on the evening. Schlegel had 25 assists, while Neba and Garcia each recorded double-digit digs with 10 and 15, respectively.

The Bulls hit the road this weekend for a pair of matches against MAC East opponents. UB will play at Miami (OH) tomorrow night and at Bowling Green on Saturday.

Soccer

MEN'S

UB 3, Bowling Green 2 (OT)
UB 1, Duquesne 0

UB opened MAC play with an overtime victory Friday night, defeating Bowling Green, 2-0. The Falcons took an early 2-0 lead, but the Bulls battled back and got the victory courtesy of an Alex Marrello goal just 26 seconds into overtime.

Bowling Green opened the scoring in the 12th minute when Thomas McLean scored on a free kick from 35 yards out. The Falcons doubled their advantage in the 37th minute when Cameron Hepple found the back of the net. Despite the score, the Bulls had the better of the possession in the first half, but Bowling Green simply made the most of their opportunities. UB managed to claw one goal back late in the first half when Justin Fredsell found Martin John all alone inside the Bowling Green six-yard box. John made no mistake with his header, finding the back of the net for his second goal of the season and cutting the Falcon lead to 2-1 in the 43rd minute.

In the second half, UB took complete control of the match, out-shooting Bowling Green 6-1 in the second 45 minutes. Dan Bulley leveled the score line in the 63rd minute when he struck a rocket from 25 yards out that beat Bowling Green goalkeeper Paul Shoemaker. The long-range bomb from Bulley was his third goal of the season.

Neither team could find another goal in regulation time, so UB was headed to overtime for the fifth time in its last seven matches.

But the overtime session didn't last very long. Bowling Green took the kickoff to begin the extra period, but once UB gained possession it went on the attack immediately. Dominic Oppong started the attack down the right side and then made a pass to Eric Johnson. Johnson cut inside toward the goal before finding Marrello in the six-yard box. Marrello one-touched the ball into the back of the net to give the Bulls the win. For Marrello, the goal was his third of the season and his second overtime game-winner.

Robert Shuttleworth made three saves in goal for UB, picking up his sixth victory of the season.

The Bulls picked up a 1-0 victory Sunday afternoon at Duquesne. Bulley scored the only goal of the match in the 63rd minute to give the Bulls the victory.

Bulley broke the deadlock 18 minutes into the second half, scoring an unassisted goal to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead. For Bulley, the goal was his second of the weekend and his team-leading fourth of the season.

Senior goalkeeper Daniel Bell was between the posts for the Bulls, making one save en route to the shutout victory. For Bell, the win was the 34th of his UB career, extending his school record for wins by a goalkeeper

The Bulls will return to action on Saturday when they travel to nationally ranked Saint Louis.

WOMEN'S

Akron 1, UB 0
Ohio 2, UB 1

Facing its first MAC opponent of the season, UB was narrowly defeated by Akron on Friday night, falling to the Zips 1-0.

The Zips, who entered the contest with a 5-1-2 record, scored the game's only goal at the 34:24 mark, as Jordan Baranowski beat UB goalkeeper Amy Coron from 15 yards out.

Caitlin Higgins lead the UB scoring attack, with three shots, including one on goal, while Coron finished with four saves.

On Sunday, UB fell, 2-1, to the Ohio University Bobcats in Athens.

Senior Ashley Turner scored unassisted for the Bulls in the 63rd minute of the match. The goal was Turner's second goal of the season.

The Bobcats struck first to gain a one-goal advantage in the 30th minute when Lindsey Price scored an unassisted goal after she slipped the ball past the Buffalo defense to face Coron in a one-on-one. Ohio carried the lead into the half and struck again in the second period, as Erika Schmitt found the back of the net on a pass from Danielle Young to put the Bobcats up by two at the 56:34 mark.

The Bulls mounted a comeback, however, as Turner placed the ball between the pipes to get the Bulls on the scoreboard after beating the Ohio defense to a loose ball.

Coron finished with seven saves on the day for the Bulls. Ohio outshot the Bulls 21-13 and edged the Bulls in corner kicks, 11-2.

UB will return to action tomorrow with a MAC contest at Western Michigan.

Cross Country

Men 20th, women 26th at Paul Short Invite

UB competed Friday at the 34th Annual Paul Short Invite, hosted by Lehigh University. The meet, one of the largest in the country, included several ranked teams and is considered the Bulls' toughest test against national competition.

The UB men scored 604 points in a 41-team field to finish 20th overall. The UB women scored 739 points to place 26th in the 47-team field. The Villanova men (50) and Princeton women (45) won the team titles.

UB junior Mary Veith was the top runner in the women's 6K race. Veith finished in 21:29 to place 32nd among a 317-runner field, the only UB woman in the top 100.

For the UB men, three racers finished in the top 100 led by senior Dan Giza, who completed the 8K course in 25:29 to finish 62nd among 268 runners. The time was his fastest of the season, cutting his previous best set at the Spartan Invite, by nine seconds.

Also finishing in the top 100 were senior Jesse Mang and sophomore Jason Ayr. Mang finished 80th in 25:41, with Ayr just eight seconds behind at 25:49 to take 95th place. Mang cut more than a minute off his previous best mark this season, while Ayr bettered his top mark by 15 seconds. Both previous bests also were set at the Spartan Invite at Michigan State.

Both squads are idle this weekend. The Bulls will race at the Bowling Green Falcon Invite on Oct. 13 to prep for the MAC meet on Oct. 27.

Tennis

WOMEN'S

Bulls claim four titles at Bucknell Invite

UB continued its stellar play this fall, claiming four championships at the Bucknell Invitational. The Bulls won titles in both singles and doubles play in competition against players from Bucknell, Duquesne, Loyola, Mount St. Mary's, Fairleigh Dickinson, Long Island and St. Bonaventure.

In doubles play, the Bulls claimed their first title as the team of Denise Harijanto and Diana Popescu picked up the victory in the Flight "A" doubles. Harijanto and Popescu defeated the team of Tania Varela and Lauren Lucido from Bucknell, 8-5. In the Flight "B" doubles, the team of Diana Toia and freshman Jenelle Jones-Mitchell reached the finals of their bracket and finished second in the flight.

In singles play, UB captured three more titles as the championship rounds of each flight had a distinct UB flavor. Senior Andreea Novaceanu finished as a finalist in the Flight "A" bracket. Her three victories in the tournament made her the all-time leader in singles victories at UB.

The Flight "B" final was the first all-Buffalo final, with Popescu paired against senior Smaranda Stan. Stan took the first set against Popescu, but the freshman took the second set and the 10-4 super-tiebreaker to remain undefeated on the year.

The Flight "C" final also was an all-UB final with Toia facing senior Tina Jacob. Jacob took the title, 6-3, 6-0.

In Flight "D," Jones-Mitchell ran the table in the consolation bracket after she lost her opening match in the tournament. Jones-Mitchell won three matches in the tournament, including the consolation championship against Joanna Grossman of Bucknell.

Though the first two weekends of fall play, UB has claimed six titles in the Bucknell Invitational and the Army invitational, which was played two weeks ago.