Sept. 2
Staff Report
Lizaiha Garcia set a Buffalo volleyball record for career digs on Saturday as the Bulls split two matches against Big East foes in Western New York Invitational action at Alumni Arena.
Garcia, a senior libero, had 22 digs in a win against South Florida and 11 in a loss to West Virginia, giving her 1,531 for her career, six more than the previous record held by Ann Reed.
UB’s 28-30, 30-23, 25-30, 31-29, 15-8 win over South Florida was its first of the season. UB had not won a game in five matches prior to Saturday.
The Bulls fought back from a 29-27 deficit in the fourth game. Garcia served up four of the final five points in the fifth game. Claudia Neba led the way with 12 kills. Marissa Hornbaker had a career-high 11 kills and freshman Richelle Bigelow recorded her second double-double with 10 kills and 16 digs. Freshman setter Lindsey Schlegel added 20 digs.
In the nightcap at Alumni Arena, West Virginia improved to 4-1 with a 30-24, 30-21, 30-18 victory.
E-mail your thoughts to scoreboard@gnnewspaper.com.
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Sept. 2
Posted by Jonah Bronstein
UB football alum Ramon Guzman has made the Indianopolis Colts 53-man roster after a strong preseason with defending champs. Guzman signed with the Colts as a free agent hours after April’s draft ended.
Guzman is the only former Bull currently in the NFL. Tight end Chad Upshaw, who also signed in the draft’s aftermath, was cut by the Carolina Panthers. Cornerback Gemara Williams was released by New England last month and tight end/long snapper Adam Johnson’s three-year NFL run ended this offseason.
• RELATED: Our training camp feature on Trevor Scott foolishly stated that the Bulls have never had a player drafted to the NFL. (It's since been changed).
In fact, the Bulls have had six players drafted, most recently WR Drew Haddad, who was taken in the seventh round by the Bills. The others: OT Les Molnar (1964), OT Frank Woidzik (1958), C Lou Reale (1959), DE Gerry Philbin (1964) and OT Ed Ellis (1997).
E-mail your thoughts to scoreboard@gnnewspaper.com. Sports reporter Jonah Bronstein can be reached at bronsteinj@gnnewspaper.com
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Sept. 2
Posted by Jonah Bronstein
At least, you figure, UB Athletics Director Warde Manuel was prepared for the possibility that the Bulls would get creamed by Rutgers on Thursday. But one can’t imagine he expected to see his alma mater’s national title hopes go up in smoke with a season-opening loss to Division I-AA powerhouse Appalachian State.
He’s probably wishing UB could’ve gotten the chance to catch Michigan sleeping in front of 109,218 fans and, now, the condescending glare on an entire sporting nation.
Makes us wonder if the talent level at the top of I-AA better than at the bottom of 1-A? UB looked physically unable to compete against the Scarlet Knights. The Mountaineers looked anything but on Saturday.
E-mail your thoughts to scoreboard@gnnewspaper.com. Sports reporter Jonah Bronstein can be reached at bronsteinj@gnnewspaper.com.
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Aug. 31
Staff Report
Chiara Greco scored the game-winning goal on an assist from Brittany Bisnott with 15 minutes remaining as visiting Niagara came from behind Friday night to beat Buffalo in the season-opener for both teams.
Lindsey Bailey, Andrea Vescio and Heidi Griffiths scored for UB. Brooke McCalla had two assists.
Bisnott, the nation’s second leading goal scorer a year ago, found the back of the net twice for Niagara.
• WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL: The Bulls fell to 0-5 on the year with a 30-26, 30-19, 30-17 loss to Valparaiso (2-1) on the first night of the Western New York Invitational.
Claudia Neba led the Bulls with seven kills and three block assists. Lizaiha Garcia had seven digs, leaving her 28 shy of the school record. Lindsey Schlegel, one of four freshman starters, had 19 assists and three service aces.
UB will South Florida at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and West Virginia at 7 p.m.
• MEN’S SOCCER: UB lost 1-0 to Fairfield at the St. John’s Nike Classic in Queens, N.Y.
E-mail your thoughts to scoreboard@gnnewspaper.com.
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Aug. 29
Staff Report
It’s starting to look like a rebuilding year for the UB volleyball team. The Bulls lost 30-18, 30-24, 30-21 at Syracuse Tuesday night, their fourth sweep in as many matches. A year ago, the UB beat the Orange in three games at Alumni Arena.
Granted, the Bulls have faced a tough collection of foes to open the season. But they struggled in the Mid-American Conference last season after going 11-5 in non-conference.
Maria Mezzadri had five kills and a block assist in her UB debut Tuesday. Freshman Richelle Bigelow led the Bulls with seven kills and three service aces. Lizaiha Garcia had 14 digs, putting her within 35 of the program’s all-time record.
UB returns to action Friday, hosting Valparaiso in the Western New York Invitational.
E-mail your thoughts to scoreboard@gnnewspaper.com.
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Aug. 28
Posted by Jonah Bronstein
Just caught wind from the UB media relations department that WGR-550 host Brad Riter will be interviewing the Bulls' football captains starting around 8 p.m. tonight. They're expected to devote two full segments to previewing Thursday night's opener at Rutgers, which will also air on WGR.
This might come off as a shameless attempt to solicit a response to this blog, but a prior commitment will likely keep us from tuning in, so we'd greatly appreciate if somebody could pass along a recap. If the e-mail is coherent, and doesn't libel anybody, we'll post it up here by the morning.
E-mail your opinions to scoreboard@gnnewspaper.com. Sports reporter Jonah Bronstein can be reached at bronsteinj@gnnewspaper.com
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Aug. 27
Posted by Jonah Bronstein
Turner Gill announced Monday at UB’s first football media luncheon that tight ends Robert Yealu (knee) and Brian Kisabeth (knee) and defensive end Tom Drewes (foot) will miss the entire season due to injury.
Yealu, who went down during the Bulls’ first summer scrimmage, was projected to be the starting tight end this year. Kisabeth entered camp in competition to be his backup. Both are juniors. Jesse Rack, a sophomore, will start Thursday’s opener at Rutgers. Kyle Brey, a redshirt freshman, will back him up. Gill also indicated that true freshman Aaron Connacher (Jamestown) will play sooner than later.
Drewes arrived on campus last year as a touted middle linebacker. He played well enough at Auburn early last year to earn brief starting role, but quickly wound up back on the bench. He was moved to defensive end after spring practices.
Senior defensive end James Judges will not play Thursday because of an arm injury. Gill said he expects Judges to return to action next week.
Other notes of interest from the Bulls’ updated depth chart:
• Brett Hamlin will start opposite Naaman Roosevelt at wide receiver. Hamlin led the team in receptions as a true freshman in 2005 then redshirted last season after breaking his foot in September.
• Peter Bittner (Williamsville North) beat out Jon Geddes at left guard. Bittner, a redshirt freshman, is the only offensive lineman in Thursday’s starting lineup that didn’t start last season.
• As expected, Kareem Byrom has been moved to outside linebacker. Replacing him at strong safety is Adekunle Akingba, a transfer from Nassau Community College who played linebacker during the spring.
• True freshman Domonic Cook (St. Joe’s) will start at cornerback opposite Kendrick Hawkins. Three of the Bulls’ four backup defensive backs are also true freshman: safeties Josh Copeland and Davonte Shannon and cornerback Josh Thomas.
• Naaman Roosevelt will again handle kick and punt return duties, along with backup running back Mario Henry.
• Walk-on freshman A.J. Principe beat out Gerry McGroarty at kicker.
Sports reporter Jonah Bronstein can be reach at bronsteinj@gnnewspaper.com. E-mail your opinions to scoreboard@gnnewspaper.com.
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Aug. 26
Posted by Jonah Bronstein
UB’s offense is now firmly in Turner Gill’s hands. It was somewhat surprising when Gill decided not to retain offensive coordinator Gerald Carr, considering how the offense certainly outperformed the defense during Gill’s first year as head coach. Realizing Gill wanted to be the head coach and coordinator all along, things make more sense.
Perusing UB’s press release archives, it appears Gill originally planned on doing this his first year. Before hiring Carr, Gill named former offensive line coach Angus McClure as assistant offensive coordinator and designated quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt as passing game coordinator. Only after Van Pelt left to work for the Bills did Gill go out and get a true offensive coordinator.
Gill said he didn’t modify the offensive system but it will be interesting to see if his play-calling is noticeably different than Carr’s. Particularly, will Gill be more creative in his use of players like James Starks and Naaman Roosevelt?
Sports reporter Jonah Bronstein can be reach at bronsteinj@gnnewspaper.com. E-mail your opinions to scoreboard@gnnewspaper.com.
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Aug. 26
Staff Report
The Buffalo volleyball team failed to win a game in the first University at Buffalo Classic this weekend at Alumni Arena.
On Saturday, UB fell to Stony Brook (20-28, 30-18, 30-23) and North Carolina (30-21, 30-25, 30-17). The Bulls were swept by Stony Brook on Friday.
All three visitors went 2-1 at the UB Classic. North Carolina was awarded the championship by having the highest game-winning percentage among common opponents. Lancaster native Stephanie Jansma, who was recruited to North Carolina by UB head coach Jim Lodes, was named tournament MVP.
UB’s Lindsey Schlegel, a freshman setter from Lancaster who Lodes met while recruiting Jansma, earned a spot on the all-tournament team. Schlegel had a tournament-best 35 assists against North Carolina and 21 against Stony Brook.
Senior libero Lizaiha Garcia had 12 digs against North Carolina and nine against Stony Brook, leaving her 49 shy of becoming the Bulls’ all-time leader.
The Bulls (0-3) continue their non-league schedule Tuesday at Syracuse. Next weekend, they will co-host the WNY Invitational.
E-mail your thoughts to scoreboard@gnnewspaper.com.
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Aug. 24
Staff Report
The Buffalo volleyball team opened its 2007 with a 30-10, 30-18, 32-20 loss to Baylor on Friday night at Alumni Arena in the first day of the innaugural University at Buffalo Classic.
Each of UB’s three freshman starters made an impact. Lindsey Schlegel (Lancaster) had 22 assists, a match-high three service aces, and a team-high 12 digs. Richelle Bigelow and Claudia Neba each had eight digs. Senior captain Lizaiha Garcia had 10 digs, leaving her 70 shy of the Bulls’ all-time record.
E-mail your thoughts to scoreboard@gnnewspaper.com.
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