ROCHESTER, N.Y.— The Buffalo State volleyball team concluded play in the University of Rochester Invitational on Saturday afternoon with losses to Smith College and RIT, falling in five sets to the Pioneers, before losing in three sets to the Tigers.
 
MATCH 1 BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Smith College def. Buffalo State, 3-2 (25-18, 19-25, 25-14, 22-25, 15-11)
LOCATION: Louis Alexander Palestra – Rochester, N.Y.
RECORDS: Smith College (3-1), Buffalo State (0-2)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Alena McKelvey (Buffalo, N.Y./City Honors) led the Bengals in the today's first match, posting 12 kills.
• Erin Mergler (Amherst, N.Y./Williamsville North) and Samantha Coakley (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) each contributed nine kills for Buffalo State.
• Jenna Hugenschmidt (Clarence Center, N.Y./Clarence) finished with a team-high four service aces and had a .958 reception percentage on 24 attempts.
• Riley Domin (Getzville, N.Y./Williamsville South) distributed 35 assists to seven different teammates.
• After dropping the first set, the Bengals responded with a 25-19 victory in the second set, led by four kills on seven attempts by McKelvey in the set.
• With a 10-9 lead in the third set, the Pioneers won 15 of the next 20 points to take the set.
• Trailing 22-19 in the fourth set, Buffalo State won the final six points to win the set, capped off by a service ace by Domin.
• Smith overcame a 7-5 deficit in the tiebreaking fifth set to win the match.

 
FOR THE FOES

• Kinsey Cronin had 17 kills and a .577 hitting percentage to lead the Pioneers.
• Gabby Beckman had 19 digs to lead the Smith defense.

 
MATCH 2 BASICS
FINAL SCORE: RIT def. Buffalo State, 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-17)
LOCATION: Louis Alexander Palestra – Rochester, N.Y.
RECORDS:  RIT (5-0), Buffalo State (0-3)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• McCartney Geartz (N. Tonawanda, N.Y./N. Tonawanda) led the Bengals with six kills and a .417 hitting percentage in the match.
• Hugenschmidt led the Bengal defense with 12 digs.
• The Bengals fell behind early in the first set, and were not able to recover as the Tigers took cruised to a 25-19 victory.
• Buffalo State jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third set, but the Tigers fought back, eventually ending the match on a five point run.
• As a team, the Tigers attacked for a .316 hitting percentage

FOR THE FOES

• Kate Hobler had 12 kills to lead the Tigers.

UP NEXT
Buffalo State will head to Bradford, P.A. on Wednesday to face Pitt-Bradford in a non-conference matchup. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.