BOX SCORE

ATHENS, Ohio -- Michelle Moore pounded home a season-high 27 kills to lead Western Michigan past five-time defending Mid-American Conference champion Ohio 28-26, 25-21, 17-25, 21-25, 15-8 in front of 1,071 at The Convo in Athens, Ohio, Saturday night.

The Broncos' (18-3, 9-1 MAC) ended a nine-match losing streak against the Bobcats (14-7, 7-3 MAC) with their first win since Oct. 20, 2001, and the first win in Athens since Oct. 14, 2000. The win also keeps Western Michigan in sole possession of first place in the MAC West and with MAC East leader Miami's five-set loss at Ball State, sole possession of first place in the entire conference.

"At this point in the season, we're happy to get the win, but there are many strong teams in this conference and the significance of this win is no more or less than any road win in the MAC," head coach Colleen Munson said. "We played aggresively and with great effort and composure, which is what I'm most proud of." 

With her 27 kills, Moore moved into fifth all-time at WMU with 1,261 career kills, and added 13 kills for the double-double. Junior Katie Eberling added eight kills and 15 digs to reach a couple milestones of her own. She became just the 17th player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills with 1,006 and she moved into fifth all-time in digs with 968.

While Munson didn't want to hold this win over any other, the players definitely had this match circled on the calendar.

"I can't even describe the feeling to win this match, because we wanted it so bad since none of us had ever beaten Ohio," Moore said. "We had to give so much heart and focus to execute our game plan and then to come out with a win is an amazing feeling."

Sophomore Allyson Doyle added a double-double with 13 kills, 17 digs and three blocks, while junior Jillian Mitchell finished with 53 assists, nine digs, five kills and three blocks. Junior Caitlin Strimel finished with a team-high 24 digs, while the middle combination of sophomores Jaime Gotham and Kate Corbett combined for nine kills, 10 blocks and 10 digs (career-high eight blocks by Corbett and career-high nine digs by Gotham).

The Broncos won the first two sets against the Bobcats, but the champs wouldn't go down at home without a fight as they won the next two sets to force a fifth set.

Despite losing the previous two stanzas, there was no eloquent speech from the coaching staff in the huddle before the fifth set started.

"I honestly did not say a word to the team before the fifth set," Munson said. "I didn't have to say anything."

Amongst the players in the huddle, injured senior co-captain Ashley Vogl spoke up and gave voice to the players emotion, "We need to play every point like it means the world to us."

And that's what happened as the Broncos took control with a 4-1 run to start the fifth behind two kills from Moore and one from Gotham. Ohio scored to make it 4-2, but WMU got another kill from Gotham and two more from Moore to build a five-point edge, 7-2.

Ohio's star player, Ellen Herman, had a kill on the next point, but Moore and the Broncos wouldn't be denied. The junior from Fort Wayne, Ind., had three more kills in a 5-1 run that pushed the lead to eight, 12-4.

"She was very focused and determined," Munson said. "It was all over her body language and you could see it in every part of her game."

The Bobcats managed to score the next two points, but Eberling hammered one home for the 13th point and the Broncos reached match point, 14-7, on an Ohio error. OU saved one match-point, but Corbett ended the drama by hitting one into the deep right corner as the Broncos exploded in jubilation.

"(Before the set) we were looking in each other's eyes and we just knew," Moore said.  

Moore had seven kills in the final set, one more than the entire Ohio team as the Broncos hit .524 with 12 kills and one error in 21 attempts. Strimel registered six digs as WMU held Ohio to six kills and three errors in 26 attempts for a .115 percentage in the final frame.

"They don't make many mistakes, but they did in games three and four and we were able to capitalize and win by significant margins in those games," Ohio head coach Ryan Theis said. "But they didn't give us any in games one and two and they sure didn't give us any in five. So they take advantage of everything. That's what they're best at."

Ohio used a 4-0 run to break an early tie and force a Western Michigan timeout with the Broncos down 8-4 in the opening set. Doyle answered with a kill on the next point, but the Broncos couldn't closer than two and still trailed by four, 17-13, as the set wore down. A kill by Eberling and block with Corbett pulled WMU back within two, 17-15. That was part of a larger 7-2 run that gave WMU its first lead, 20-19, after a block from Mitchell and Corbett.

Ohio scored the next two points to take back control, 21-20. The Broncos forced three ties, but couldn't regain the lead before Ohio reached set point, 24-23. Back-to-back kills by Doyle staved off set point and put the Broncos in control, 25-24. The Bobcats fought off the first set point, but Doyle and Corbett combined on a block to give WMU another, 26-25. An error by WMU helped OU stay alive, but the Bobcats missed the serve and Moore finished them off, 28-26.

The Broncos hit .229 with 15 kills and four errors, while Ohio had 19 kills. The Broncos also forced 10 OU errors, including five rejections, all involving Corbett.

A 4-0 run turned a one-point deficit into a three-point advantage, 8-5, and forced Ohio to call timeout. His Bobcats responded with a 6-2 run to regain the lead, 11-10, momentarily before two Moore kills and one from Gotham put WMU back in control, 13-11.

The Bobcats tied the score at 13 and 14, but a pair of errors gave the Broncos another two-point edge. WMU held onto its tenous advantage until Ohio tied the score again, 20-20, after a solo block. The Broncos were the better finishers again, however, with five of the next six points, including kills from Moore, Gotham and Corbett on set point, 25-21.

The Broncos hit .200 with 15 kills and six errors, while holding Ohio to .125 with 12 kills and seven errors. Moore and Doyle both registered five kills for the Brown & Gold.

The ensuing 10-minute break worked to Ohio's advantage as it put a halt to Western Michigan's momentum. The Bobcats broke a six-all tie with a 6-1 run that forced WMU to burn a timeout. The stoppage didn't slow Ohio and they built the lead to seven, 16-9, before WMU used its final timeout. The Bobcats wouldn't be denied and finished the set, 25-17, with a kill by Meghan Simons.

Each team had 12 kills, but Ohio added three blocks and WMU committed four service errors. The Bobcats also picked up their defense with 21 digs.

Western Michigan took a 4-2 lead in set four, but it was short-lived. A 10-4 answer by Ohio forced Western Michigan to call timeout trailing by four, 12-8. Ohio built its lead to six, 16-10, but WMU tried to crawl back into the set. Three kills by Moore and one from Doyle made it a three-point set, 18-15, and Ohio called timeout to regroup. They scored the next two points out of the timeout to build a five-point edge, 20-15. The Broncos hung around and cut the lead to three, 24-21, after a block by Gotham and Mitchell, but Herman forced set five on the next point, 25-21.

The Broncos had only eight kills in the fourth set, while Ohio doubled that with 16. Ohio also had 23 digs and three more blocks in set four.

Ohio led in nearly every key statistic, including errors. The Bobcats had more kills (65-62), assists (64-61), digs (96-90) and blocks (12.0-11.0). The Broncos had ten less errors (24-34) and hung right with the MAC's best-blocking team with only one less block. The Broncos were also more efficient with a .194 attack percentage to .156 for the Bobcats.

Ohio was led by Herman with 20 kills and 23 digs, while Sarah Petrulis had a match-high 25 digs.

The Broncos wrap up their four-match homestand at Northern Illinois on Thursday and Bowling Green on Saturday.