Oct. 3, 2003

Box Score

OXFORD, Ohio - Despite a career effort by junior outside hitter Tara Buroker (Bluffton, Ohio/Bluffton), who collected a career-high 28 kills and a season-best 22 digs, it was not enough as Miami suffered a five-game loss to Buffalo. After dropping the first two games 29-31 and 27-30, Miami regrouped to claim the next two games 30-25 and 30-27. However, the RedHawks (7-11; 1-3 Mid-American Conference) fell to the Bulls (6-10; 1-2 MAC) in the fifth game, 13-15.

Trailing 17-27 in the first game, Miami staged a valiant comeback, putting together a 10-1 run to pull within one of the Bulls, 27-28. Buroker drilled five kills and a block for the RedHawks, while junior outside hitter Angie Zent (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) added two kills. Buffalo junior outside hitter Molly Schrantz collected a kill to give the Bulls a two-point edge, 29-27, but Zent retaliated for Miami with a kill and then knocked down a block to knot the game, 29-29. A kill by Buffalo senior middle hitter Alexis Bouie and a RedHawk ball handling error ended the first game in favor of the Bulls, 31-29.

In the second game, kills by sophomore outside hitter Kristen Walters (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) and Buroker and a Buffalo ball handling error handed Miami its largest lead of the game, 17-12. Two other times the RedHawks would lead the Bulls by five points-the latest a 22-17 edge off a sophomore setter Megan Clark (Solon, Ohio/Solon) service ace-but Buffalo crept back and tied the game, 25-25, off a block by Bouie and freshman outside hitter Nikki Morzenti. Back-to-back kills by Morzenti handed Buffalo a lead it would not relinquish as the Bulls took the second game, 30-27.

Three service aces by sophomore middle hitter Natalie Kapteyn (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Kentwood) sparked Miami in the third game as the RedHawks battled back from an early game deficit to knot the set twice before taking a 19-16 lead. A service ace by redshirt freshman middle hitter Lauren Slusser (Columbus Grove, Ohio/Columbus Grove) and a block by Kapteyn and Zent helped Miami surge to the three-point lead. Four kills by Buroker down the stretch and a kill by Zent iced the game for the RedHawks, 30-25.

Trailing by as many as six in the fourth game, an 8-1 spurt catapulted Miami to a 23-20 lead. Slusser collected two kills and assisted on a block with Clark during the RedHawk surge. Buffalo came back to tie the game, 23-23, off a solo block by sophomore setter Amy Brown and a block by Brown and sophomore middle hitter Katie Weekley. A service ace by Slusser extended the RedHawk lead to 27-24, but a RedHawk attack error and a block by Weekley and Shrantz pulled the Bulls within one, 27-26. Buroker connected for a kill and senior middle hitter Susan Poll (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Kentwood) and Clark knocked down a block to cinch the game for Miami, 30-27.

Miami fell behind early in the fifth game, but came back to tie the game 6-6 off two kills apiece from Buroker and Poll. Buffalo gained a slight edge, 9-11, but again the RedHawks were able to tie things up, 11-11. From there, Miami would get as close as 12-13 off a Buroker kill, but the Bulls seized the deciding game off a Miami service error, 15-13.

Clark posted a season-best 63 assists and added a career-best 15 digs. Zent and Walters added 16 kills apiece and 17 and 12 digs, respectively. Sophomore libero Suzy Wolford (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) also produced 17 digs.

The RedHawks host Marshall on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.