Bulls Victorious Over Bobcats in Five-Set Thriller

Saturday, October 4

Athens, Ohio

4 p.m.

4-9,1-3MAC

Ohio

2-14,0-4MAC

Buffalo

Ohio

Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UB Athletics

Bulls Victorious Over Bobcats in Five-Set Thriller

10/4/2025 8:07:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Emerson Matthews finishes with career-high 25 kills in the win

By: Zach Monell

ATHENS, Ohio – The Buffalo Bulls volleyball team (4-9, 1-3 MAC) was victorious on Saturday evening against the Ohio Bobcats (2-14, 1-4 MAC) for their first conference win of the season, 19-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-17, 15-13.

Emerson Matthews had a match-high 25 kills and 27.0 points. Both career marks for the freshman Bull. Manoela Forlin tallied 15 kills as she hit .342 on the day. Maddie Mitchell finished with 46 assists and 18 digs, good for her fourth double-double of the season.

Keira Kleidon had a match-high 20 digs with Tehya Shaw adding four total blocks.

The Bulls outhit the Bobcats, .290 to .188.

At the net, the Bulls finished with six blocks to Ohio's four.

SET 1
It was a tight opening set as there were 12 ties and a pair of lead changes. Buffalo's offense struggled to find a rhythm as they hit .071 to Ohio's .310. After tying the set at 15, the Bulls couldn't keep up as Ohio won, 25-19.

SET 2
Buffalo's offense clicked in the second set with a .333 hitting percentage. After going down, 2-0, the Bulls came back to take a 5-4 lead and never looked back. Their lead reached as many as five points at 17-12, forcing an Ohio timeout. Buffalo forced 14 Ohio errors for a 25-21 win.

SET 3
Out of the break, it was a tight set in favor of the Bobcats. The Bulls outhit Ohio, .303 to .222, but they fell into an early hole they couldn't come back from.

SET 4
Buffalo dominated on the attack as they had a .424 hitting percentage to Ohio's .154. Matthews had nine kills in the set with a .583 hitting percentage that propelled the Bulls to a 25-17 set win and the decisive fifth set.

SET 5
The Bulls offense came through despite Ohio taking a 6-3 lead. The Bulls tied the set at 9 and didn't trail the rest of the way as they came away with the 15-12 win. Both Forlin and Matthews had three kills in the set.

UP NEXT
The Bulls will stay on the road as they'll play the Akron Zips on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.

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