Nov. 10, 2007
BUFFALO, NY - Miami University's volleyball team concluded its Mid-American Conference schedule on Saturday night with a four-game win over the Buffalo Bulls (28-30, 30-27, 30-26, 30-16). Miami (16-9; 13-3 MAC) will be the No. 3 seed in the MAC Tournament and the RedHawks first game in the tournament will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 16. Buffalo finished the regular season with a 2-30 record and a 1-15 MAC record.
Miami got off to a rough start in the first game as seven kills and a service ace by Buffalo gave the Bulls a 10-7 lead. Trailing by four, 13-17, Miami collected two errors, giving the Bulls their biggest lead of the game, 19-13. Miami closed its deficit to four points and consecutive service aces by junior outside hitter Emily Schroeder brought Miami within one point, 22-21. The RedHawks tied the game on two different occasions, with the last occurring at 27-27, but two kills by the Bulls and a Miami attack error gave Buffalo a 30-28 game-one win.
With a 6-5 lead in game two, two Bull errors, two kills by Schroeder and a service ace by senior outside hitter Jeanna Staun spurred a five-point spurt for the Red and White, giving Miami an 11-5 cushion. Buffalo retaliated by taking five of the next six points to close within two points, 12-10. Up 15-14, the RedHawks lost some momentum as three Buffalo kills and a service ace put Miami in a three-point hole, 15-18, and forced a RedHawk timeout. Trailing by three points as late as 20-23, the RedHawks used a set of two and three-point spurts to knot the game at 26-26. With the game on the line, freshman setter Michelle Mangia went to sophomore middle hitter Megan Griffin and Griffin connected on three kills down the stretch, giving Miami a much needed 30-27 game-two win.
Contributions from four RedHawks, including two service aces by senior middle hitter Carli Reihman, led a Miami surge out of the 10-minute intermission that put Miami up 7-1 in game three. The six-point cushion would not hold up long as the Bulls rallied to tie the game at 10-10. Six ties ensued, with the last happening at 20-20, until a kill by Reihman and a kill by junior outside hitter Alex Ratcliff gave Miami some breathing room, 23-20. As game-point stared Miami in the face, Griffin put down another crucial ball and Miami took the third game, 30-26.
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Both teams fought to keep game four close, but three consecutive attack errors by Buffalo put Miami up 10-6. With its four-point lead still in tact, 13-9, kills by freshman middle hitter Michele Metzler and Ratcliff, coupled with a Bull error extended the RedHawk lead to 16-9. After the teams traded ball handling errors, consecutive service aces by Reihman gave Miami a nine-point lead, 19-10. From that point, the RedHawks cruised to a 30-16 game-four win.
Schroeder led the RedHawks with 13 kills, while sophomore libero Maria Leahy led the RedHawks with 16 digs. Reihman finished the match with 3 block assists, making her Miami's all-time leader in block assists with 366.
The win over Buffalo clinched a bye in the opening round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament and the No. 3 seed for the RedHawks in the conference tournament. Miami ends the conference schedule with a 13-3 MAC record, which is its best conference mark since the 1998 MAC Championship Miami team went 15-3. The RedHawks opponent in quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament will be the winner of the No. 6 versus No. 11 match-up in the opening round of MAC Tournament. The No. 6 against No. 11 match-up will be played on Tuesday, Nov. 13.
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