Welcome to the first Buffalo State Sports Round-Up, giving you all the results from last week in the fall sports season. Women’s Volleyball, Football, Men’s Soccer, and Women’s Soccer were all in action over the last seven days, with all four teams competing on Saturday afternoon. Did they bring home a win? Did they fall just short? Here’s where we find out.

Women’s Volleyball:
The Women’s Volleyball squad got their game week started on Wednesday, heading down to Rochester to face Nazareth University for an out-of-conference match-up. The Golden Flyers were looking to get their first win of the year, but the Bengals were not going to let them have it on this night. Buffalo State took the match in straight sets (25-10, 25-16, 26-24) to earn their seventh win, inching closer to evening up their record. Junior Delia Lake led the way in the win with 10 kills and 6 blocks, while fellow junior Ella Whitman added 3 aces and sophomore April Jakubowski contributed 22 assists.

Saturday was a busy day for the team as they traveled down to University Heights, Ohio, to compete in the John Carroll Tri-Match. They started their day against Ohio Wesleyan University, where the match went down to the wire. The Bengals took two of the first three sets, just needing one more set to get to 8-8 on the season. However, the Battling Bishops were able to climb back to take the fourth set, forcing a fifth and deciding set. Ohio Wesleyan would go on to win the fifth set and take home the win in a nail-biter (19-25, 25-16, 23-25, 27-25, 15-11). Despite the loss, Ella Whitman, Delia Lake, and April Jakubowski continued to shine as Whitman and Lake each scored 19 and 10 kills, respectively, while Jakubowski added 29 assists and 3 aces.

To close the day, the Bengals met the hosting John Carroll Blue Streaks, where things did not go the Bengals’ way. The Blue Streaks’ homecourt advantage paid dividends as they controlled all three sets to win them straight (25-17, 25-18, 25-21). Ella Whitman was on her game yet again, with Autumn Flanders backing her on the defensive end with 12 digs in the loss. The two losses drop Buffalo State to 7-10, though they aim to get back in the win column this Friday night when they head down to Cortland to face the defending conference champion Red Dragons to open the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) season.

Football:
On Saturday afternoon, the Buffalo State Bengals football team went on the road to face the Hilbert Hawks, with both teams in search of their first win in the 2025 campaign. When the clock struck triple zeroes, it was the Buffalo State Bengals who were victorious, improving to 1-3 on the year, with a third-quarter touchdown pass from senior quarterback Noah Kimble to senior wide receiver Otho Cox being the difference. The team will be hungry to get back on the gridiron for this Saturday’s Homecoming game against Union College, with a two-game win streak on their mind.

To get the full breakdown of the Bengals’ win over Hilbert, go to the sports page of The Record to see fellow staff writer Matthew Barton’s recap on everything you need to know from Saturday’s contest.

Women’s Soccer:
The women’s soccer squad opened SUNYAC play on the road, taking the bus over to Potsdam University for a clash with the Bears. The Bengals got things started in a hurry. Within the opening minute, sophomore Olivia Kilmer put one in the back of the net to give Buffalo State the early lead; sophomore Makenzie Below was credited with the assist. Over the course of the game, the Bengals would double Potsdam in shots on goal, with both teams being hit with 9 fouls.

The score remained 1-0 until the 56-minute mark, when Potsdam’s Meg Napoleon buried one to tie the game. It was then, at the 68-minute mark, that freshman midfielder Reagan Michel fed another freshman midfielder, Riley Stevenson, for the go-ahead goal. Goalie Addy Williams would make a clutch save in the closing minutes to move the Bengals to 4-4-2 on the season, picking up a huge win to start the conference calendar.

The team is back on home soil this Wednesday for another SUNYAC match-up against SUNY Morrisville at 4 pm at Coyer Field.

Men’s Soccer:
The only Bengals team to play on home turf this past week, the men’s soccer team didn’t disappoint those who made their way to Coyer Field on Saturday afternoon. Like the women’s team, they were up against the SUNY Potsdam Bears to open SUNYAC play. The Bengals were determined to start strong, and did they ever.
Potsdam was able to keep them off the board for the first fifteen minutes, but Buffalo State broke through late in the sixteenth minute as the superstar senior forward Diego Rivera knocked in his first of many goals on the day. Over the next 23 minutes, Rivera would net four more goals to put the Bengals in front 5-0. And just when you thought they were done, sophomore Aney Djadou added another goal to give Buffalo State a 6-0 lead, assisted by none other than Diego Rivera. That would end up being the final score; the squad earning their eighth win of the season, and an undefeated start to conference play, with ease. Rivera’s five-goal performance was one for the books, falling just two goals short of a Buffalo State record.

Catch the 8-1 Buffalo State men’s soccer team in action once again this Wednesday as they travel to SUNY Morrisville to challenge a tough Mustangs team holding a 3-1-1 home record.

Each team added a win to the win column, making this a successful week for Buffalo State athletics to wrap up the September schedule. Come back next week for another edition of the Buffalo State Sports Round-Up.