This week’s edition of the Buffalo State Sports Round-up may stick out from the rest, as there are only four pieces of Buffalo State athletics to cover. Is this the least amount of action we’ve seen in a week? Absolutely. Does it make it any less exciting? That can be answered with a resounding NO. Come see for yourself.
Natalia Sawyer:
Representing the Buffalo State track & field team, Natalia Sawyer took a hop, skip, and a jump over to Birmingham, Alabama, to compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships this past weekend – her fourth consecutive appearance.
Sawyer was placed in the opening heat of the 60-meter hurdles. Coming in at a time of 8.90 seconds, she just missed the top five with a sixth-place finish in her heat. Overall, she placed 17th in the event.
This brings Natalia Sawyer’s indoor career to a close, finishing with one national championship in 2024 and All-America honors in all four of her years as a Bengal.
Despite the team’s season concluding weeks ago, Sawyer’s trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships earns the entire indoor track & field team this week’s Buffalo State Sports Round-up Team of the Week award. Congratulations to Natalia and the program for another tremendous season.
Stay tuned for the outdoor track & field season starting soon.
Men’s Volleyball:
With program history in sight, the men’s volleyball team geared up for its lone game of the week, which took place on Wednesday night at the Sports Arena against the 8-11 University of Mount Union Purple Raiders.
The opening set began as a back-and-forth contest, slowly shifting in the Purple Raiders’ favor. The Bengals were feeling the pressure as they fell behind 17-22 late in the set. A service error by Mount Union bought them some time, but far from enough, as the Purple Raiders responded with a three-point run to seal the first set and increase their upset chances significantly.
Needing to shake the cobwebs off, the Bengals bested Mount Union in a game of early runs, taking a 5-3 lead. The Bengals continued to string together run after run, inevitably tying the match at one set apiece with a 25-18 set win. The Bengals seemed like themselves again – absolutely locked in.
The third set returned to a back-and-forth brawl, with the Purple Raiders having the edge over the Bengals once more. As each team raced toward the finish line, the set broke out into another game of runs, which quickly went south for the Bengals. Hanging onto a 22-20 lead, the Bengals were within an arm’s length of the checkered ribbon at the end of the track, but the Purple Raiders stormed past with a five-point run. Now trailing two sets to one, the Bengals’ shot at history was fading right before their eyes.
And that fueled the Purple Raiders, as they jumped the Bengals to start the fourth set, leading by as much as six. The squad didn’t hear a bell, so they fought on, shortening the deficit down to just two. From there, the Bengals went on a 9-2 run to win the fourth set and force a fifth and final set. The entire crowd’s fingernails were bound to be chewed off by the end of this one.
In the anxiety-inducing race to 15, Mount Union beat the Bengals to the halfway point, taking an 8-3 lead. The Purple Raiders continued applying pressure, though the Bengals remained calm, cutting the deficit down to three before going on a three-point run to tie the set at 13 all. Two points later, they were back to square one, now knotted at 14. A critical service error put the Bengals on the ropes, and the very next play, the Purple Raiders delivered the knockout blow to stun the home crowd and pull off the upset.
The men’s volleyball team’s win streak ends at 10 – just one game shy of tying the program record. The Bengals’ quest for the record restarts on Wednesday at Hilbert College, turning around the next day to face Penn State Behrend on their home court.
Women’s Lacrosse:
The women’s lacrosse team continued its homestand this past week, hosting Hibert College on Wednesday and Grove City College on Saturday afternoon. They looked to get the sour taste of defeat out of their mouth following their first loss of the season vs Utica.
Putting Hilbert College on the same field as Buffalo State after a loss was like bringing a lamb to slaughter. Wednesday’s contest was another massacre, courtesy of the Bengals.
The Bengals hung 10 goals on the Hawks in the first quarter alone – the most the team has scored in a quarter this season. They followed up by netting four goals in each of the next two quarters, making the score 18-0 with 15 minutes left to play. If you could throw in the towel in a women’s lacrosse game, there’s no doubt Hilbert College would’ve done so.
Despite an astounding 18-goal lead, the Bengals refused to let the Hawks off the hook, scoring five more goals to notch the squad’s largest win of the season – topping the 22-point win over Geneva College by one goal. Of the 23 goals scored by the Bengals, seniors Emilee Josker and Kira Grzechowiak scored 11 of them.
The Bengals faced a much stiffer test on Saturday when they played the Grove City College Wolverines, and it was apparent from the opening quarter.
In the first two minutes, Kira Grzechowiak struck, giving the Bengals the early lead. Grove City responded by doubling up on goals, snagging a one-point advantage. The scoring continued at a frantic pace, and by the end of the first quarter, both teams were deadlocked at three.
The second quarter was ALL Wolverines, as they got the Bengals in penalty trouble to score three goals within the first five minutes. They added another goal on a free-position shot later in the second. The Bengals were able to muster up a late goal to slow down the bleeding before halftime. They trailed 7-4.
For the first 13 minutes of the second half, the scoring went completely cold – neither side could find the back of the net. That flipped entirely in the final two minutes, as the Bengals scored three goals to outdo the Wolverines’ one to make it a one-goal game with the fourth quarter looming.
In the fourth quarter, it was the same story – again, neither team could muster up anything offensively, which served as a benefit to Grove City. With 2:08 remaining, Grove City’s Jess Robinette netted the dagger, clinching a 9-7 road win for the Wolverines. This loss drops the women’s lacrosse team to 3-2 on the young season.
The Bengals finish out their five-game homestand with the Morgan’s Message Game on Wednesday afternoon before hitting the road to play Plattsburgh State on Saturday afternoon.
Thank you for joining us for this week’s edition of the Buffalo State Sports Round-up, which lacked the amount of action we’re used to seeing but made up for it with some exhilarating down-to-the-wire contests. There will be NO round-up next week, so stay tuned for the next one in two weeks’ time. Happy spring break!
