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On December 3, the University of Buffalo dismissed Todd Kress, the head women's volleyball coach, following a third place finish in the MAC East and a 73-81 overall record in five seasons. Following a monthlong search, the Bulls have found a new leader of the team with the hire of Reed Sunahara.
Sunahara is coming back into the coaching fold after resigning as the head coach of Cincinnati women's volleyball in 2012 after spending 15 seasons at the helm. During his tenure with the Bearcats, he earned five conference titles in both Conference USA and the Big East while winning the 2011 Big East Tournament. Sunahara left UC as the winningest coach in program history and sporting an overall record of 308-149. Sunahara spent last season as an assistant to the US Women's National Team, which won the Pan American Cup and finished second in the Grand Championships in Tokyo.
It looks like the Bulls will be ready to make a push as Sunahara will be calling the shots for a Buffalo team that finished third in the less competitive MAC East. Buffalo will be returning an All-MAC First Team player in rising junior outside hitter Tahleia Bishop. However, there will be doubts about UB's ceiling in 2014 as it goes through the process of replacing graduating libero Kelly Svoboda, who was named MAC Defensive Player of the Year for the 2013 season.