Oct. 31, 2009
Final Stats
BUFFALO, N.Y. - On Halloween night in Buffalo, the Miami and Buffalo volleyball teams went back-and-forth for over two hours, with the RedHawks coming from behind to win, 3-2 (22-25, 25-15, 16-25, 25-20, 17-15). With its third consecutive victory, Miami improves to 14-10 overall and 9-3 in the Mid-American Conference. The Bulls are 15-11 overall and 5-7 in the MAC.
For the second time this season and in her career, senior setter Andrea Atteberry led the way with a triple-double. She recorded career-high tying 10 kills, to go along with 52 assists and 12 digs.
Buffalo controlled the first half of the first set, taking a 15-8 lead. An 8-3 run led by three kills from Hallie Hanks and two consecutive service aces from Lisa Treadway pulled Miami to within two at 16-18. The teams traded points until back-to-back kills from Jenn Caylor and Atteberry made the score 23-22 in favor of the Bulls. Buffalo then won the set by taking the next two points.
With the score tied at two in the second set, Miami took control by scoring the next seven points off Maria Leahy's serve. During the run, Michele Metzler had two kills and teamed up with Hanks on a block. Buffalo was not able to get any closer as Atteberry was able to fool them by tipping her sets down for kills three times during the set. Her final kill off a Treadway dig-assist gave the RedHawks a 25-15 win.
The story of set three was long runs by both teams. Buffalo started the frame by taking the first five points. Miami answered by scoring the next five, which included three Hanks kills. With the score tied at nine, an 8-2 run by the Bulls gave them control of the set at 17-11. The RedHawks scored the next two points as Leahy put down a kill off an Atteberry assist, and then recorded a service ace, but Buffalo closed out the frame with one last 8-3 run to take a 25-16 victory.
Facing a must win situation in set four, the RedHawks could not shake the Bulls early. Through the first 36 points, neither team could establish a lead of more than two points and found themselves deadlocked at 18-18. From there, Miami forced Buffalo's Dani Silvers into committing four streak attack errors to take a 22-18 lead. That proved to be the difference as Megan Griffin, Hanks and Leahy each scored kills to give the RedHawks a 25-20 win.
Leahy was dominant in the early part of the fifth and final set, scoring three kills as the RedHawks took a 4-3 lead. Kills from Caylor and Metzler pushed the advantage to 6-4. A 6-2 run by Buffalo gave the Bulls their biggest lead of the set at 10-8, but Miami answered with a 3-1 run to tie the set at 11. With the score tie at 14, Metzler put down a kill off an Atteberry assist to create match point. However, Buffalo fought it off. Undaunted, Griffin recorded a kill to give the RedHawks a 16-15 lead, and Hanks finished the match off with the kill in the middle of the court.
Hanks finished the night as Miami's team leader in kills with 16. Metzler was right behind her with 15. Leahy had a double-double with 13 kills and 20 digs. Treadway contributed 18 digs of her own. The team hit .250 for the match, compared to Buffalo at .226.
The RedHawks return home on Thursday for a 7 p.m. match against Bowling Green at Millett Hall.
