Women's Volleyball | September 12, 2016
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team makes a quick trip to the east side of the state to take on Oakland University on Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
LAST WEEKEND
WMU is looking to rebound after going 1-2 against a tough field over the weekend hosting the Holiday Inn West Invitational. The Broncos dropped their first match to Tennessee, 3-1, but rebounded on Friday evening to defeat eventual champions Xavier, 3-1. WMU dropped the final match on Saturday in a 3-2 thriller against Milwaukee.
SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES // 4-6
OU go out to a 4-1 start with its only loss coming to No. 23 Louisville, but have since lost the last five matches. Tuesday's match is the first home contest for the Grizzlies this season, having played three road and seven neutral-site matches.
Oakland has three players that average at least 2.0 kills per set, with senior outside hitter Melissa Deatsch leading the team with 2. 77. Junior outside hitter Darien Bandel is second on the team with 2.31 and junior middle hitter Sammy Condon is third with 2.08. Sophomore middle hitter Krysteena Davis averages 1.36 kills per set and leads the team with 1.05 blocks per set, totaling 41 so far this season.
Senior Jordan Lentz has served as the primary setter for the team, averaging 8.87 assists per set and totaling 346 so far. Senior defensive specialist Alli Gutschow leads the team in digs per set at 2.74, just ahead of Deatsch at 2.59 per game.
CAREER NIGHTS
Friday night's win over Xavier saw two Broncos have personal-best nights. Junior middle blocker Olivia Kofie registered a career-high 21 kills to help propel the Broncos to victory. A big reason for that was the superb setting by junior Mary Murphy, who finished the night with a career-high 61 assists. Prior to the match Kofie's previous match-best was 15, which she recorded twice in her career. Murphy broke her previous career-best of 59, which she set back on Aug. 30 in a five-set win over Fort Wayne.
ROAD WARRIORS
Western Michigan plays just one of its next seven matches at University Arena. The Broncos are wrapping up non-conference play with the match at Oakland and a pair of matches against Indiana State and Bradley later this Saturday at ISU's tournament. WMU starts Mid-American Conference play with three of its first four games on the road, hosting only Miami on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 2 p.m. The Broncos are at Northern Illinois to open MAC play on Sept. 22 and then at Eastern Michigan on Sept. 30 and at Central Michigan on Oct. 2.
