Last weekend, Bucknell Women’s Volleyball traveled to Buffalo, N.Y., to compete in the Ellicott Hotels Western New York Invitational against Canisius, Youngstown State and Niagara University. The Bison clinched another clean sweep weekend.
On Friday, Sept. 13, Bucknell pulled out a 3-2 victory against Canisius in a close first game.
Standout players in this match were Sidney Shaffer ’27, Tijana Kostic ’26 and Jordan Hardy ’25. Shaffer had a game-high of 16 kills, Kostic had 10 kills and 12 digs and Hardy had 21 digs.
During the first two sets, Canisius came out with the lead and held their early advantage for a while. Yet, the Bison never gave up and crawled back to win both sets (25-18 and 26-24).
Unfortunately, the third and fourth sets didn’t fall in Bucknell’s favor as they fell to Canisius 23-25 and 18-25.
The fifth set was crucial. Bucknell came out strong with a 4-1 lead; however, Canisius battled back to tie at 6-6 and then 8-8. Eventually, the Bison went on a 7-2 run, which sealed the win, ending the set 15-10.
On Saturday, Sept. 14, Bucknell defeated both Youngstown State and Niagara at 3-0 apiece.
The Bison came out blazing against Youngstown State with a 7-2 start in the first set. After trading points back and forth, the Bison clinched the set 25-17 on a run fueled by Kostic.
The second set started the same for Bucknell with a 6-3 advantage. However, Youngstown State was able to take over the lead 12-10. The Bison fought hard to regain the lead and ended up tying at 16-16. Kostic capped a 4-0 Bucknell run to win the set 25-19.
During the third set, Youngstown State came out with a 3-0 run, trying to avoid a sweep, but ultimately Bucknell recovered to end the set 25-16.
In the Bison’s second Saturday game, the opening set against Niagara began with a tight battle. Points were exchanged back and forth, and Niagara took a short-lived 13-11 lead. The Bison then went on a 14-1 run and completed the set 25-14.
In the second and third sets, Niagara came out with the advantage both times, continuing to fight but ultimately falling to Bucknell. The Orange and Blue were dynamic and clinched both sets 25-16 and 25-19.
After this weekend, Bucknell’s record is 8-1, marking their best start in program history since 2019.
This upcoming weekend, Bucknell will open Patriot League play at home. Friday, Sept. 20, the Orange and Blue will take on Holy Cross at 7 p.m. and on Saturday, Sept. 21, the Bison will face off against Army at 4 p.m.
