The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Buffalo
Volleyball shuts out Buffalo on the road for third straight win
October 25 | Women's Volleyball
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BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University of Akron volleyball team made a statement Thursday night, making their presence in the Mid-American Conference known by locking up its third straight win with a dramatic shut out of Buffalo on the road, 25-20, 25-15, 25-23.
The victory marks UA's seventh shut out this season, its second of the year against UB.
Chelsea Harvey, though recognized as the MAC East Division Defensive Player of the Week, put on a spectacular offensive show en route to a double-double. The senior outside hitter picked up 10 digs while leading the Zips with 12 kills and zero errors in 21 attempts to hit an impressive .571.
Setter Morgan Kuhn matched Harvey's clip throwing down four kills of her own without an error to go along with 29 assists and 10 digs.
Tina Dimitrijevs surpassed 1,000 kills for her career with eight on the night, needing just seven heading into the match to reach the milestone.
The Zips' offense attacked early and often, laying the groundwork in the first set by jumping out to a 6-2 advantage. The Bulls fought to tie the score at eight and again at nine, but it would not take long after that for Akron to distance itself and maintain the lead, scoring on four consecutive plays to finish the opening period.
UA hit .324 as a team in the second set and never trailed after the first play of the game, dominating the floor and leading by as many as nine before handily finishing off round two.
The tables turned in the third set, and before long it looked like almost a guarantee that the match would need at least four sets to be decided. The score tied a total of 12 times and the lead bounced back and forth another five times until late in the game.
Down by five at 22-17, the Zips picked up some momentum from a Buffalo service error on the following play. That momentum would quickly snowball into a remarkable 8-1 Akron run that would be enough to see the Zips through to victory. Buffalo called two timeouts during that stretch but could not find an answer to the Akron's relentless front line. Dimitrijevs, Harvey and Alex Cocklin all chipped in scores and teamed up to force the Bulls into three hitting errors.
On the heels of a three match win streak, Akron (13-10, 6-5 MAC) is above .500 in league play for the first time this season since being 1-0 after its conference-opening win over Buffalo the first time around.
The Zips will have the day off Friday before playing host to their only remaining West Division opponent when Toledo comes to Rhodes Arena on Saturday, Oct. 27 for a 5 p.m. contest. UT (8-16, 2-9 MAC) issued a comeback that fell short in a five set loss to Ball State Thursday night.
