MUNCIE, Ind. – The Western Michigan volleyball team fell 3-1 (21-25, 18-25, 25-12, 14-25) on the road at Ball State on Friday night.

Bailey Schnell led the Broncos with 14 kills, but WMU was held to a .097 hitting percentage on the night. Olivia Kofie also had 10 kills on the night, while Mary Murphy had 37 assists. Four players had double-digit digs, led by Kathleen Reilly and her career-high 29. Murphy added 10 for a double-double, while Schnell also recorded 11 to earn herself a double-double. Alysia Baznik also had 12.

Ball State jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first set and WMU did its best to catch up. The Broncos slowly whittled away at the lead, getting it down to two at 18-16. Western Michigan got within one after back to back kills by Kofie at 22-21, but BSU finished off the set with a 3-0 run.

The Broncos and the Cardinals traded small runs to open the second set, with WMU taking a 10-9 lead after three straight points on two kills by Schnell and one by Kofie. Ball State responded with six straight points to take the lead 15-10. WMU brought it back down to three points twice, but the Cardinals responded with a 5-1 run to push the lead to 21-14 and finish them off 25-18.

The teams traded points to open the third set. WMU maintained a one-point lead, 7-6, after a Bronco error but then opened up the set with a 8-1 run to take a 15-7 lead. Western Michigan maintained its gap and pushed the lead even higher to 23-11 after a kills by Mikaela Ryshytylo and Murphy. Ryshytylo recorded back-to-back kills to close out the set 25-12.

In the fourth set the Broncos took an early 4-2 lead but Ball State responded with a 13-1 run to take a 15-5 lead that WMU never recovered from. WMU was able to get within nine points late in the set but the Cardinals polished off the set and the match with a kill by Sabrina Mangapora.

Western Michigan now heads to Toledo to take on the Golden Flashes on Saturday at 5 p.m.