BOX SCORE
KALAMAZOO -- Junior Katie Eberling had a match-high 15 kills, hit .314 and added 11 digs to help Western Michigan sweep Central Michigan 25-23, 25-15, 36-34 in front of 1,007 at University Arena Friday night. The win by the Broncos (20-4, 11-2 MAC) moves them into sole possession of first place in the Mid-American Conference, one match ahead of Central Michigan (17-9, 10-3 MAC) in the West Division and Bowling Green (21-7, 10-3 MAC) and Ohio (17-7, 10-3 MAC) in the East Division.
"It feels good to control our own destiny and that's just a result of the team leaving everything on the court," head coach Colleen Munson said. "But, what we did tonight doesn't mean anything to Eastern Michigan, Ball State or Toledo. We need to continue to play our hearts out and good things will happen."
The 20 wins by WMU also marks the fourth such season in a row for the Brown & Gold.
Eberling was presented with a ball before the match for reaching 1,000 career kills on the Broncos' last road trip and with her 11 digs tonight she eclipsed 1,000 career digs to become only the second player in school history to accomplish that feat (Liz Gunn).
Junior Michelle Moore added 14 kills and nine digs for the Brown & Gold. Sophomore Allyson Doyle had nine kills, 12 digs, five assists, three blocks and two service aces, while sophomore Jaime Gotham added six kills and seven blocks. Sophomore Kate Corbett added five blocks of her own to help WMU reject 13 shots, a season-high for the Broncos.
"The story tonight was our blocking and the play of our outside hitters," Munson said. "We established the middle early and that opened up the outside and Central Michigan did the same thing. There was no secret on either side of the net where the ball was going, it just came down to execution. The way Ally (Doyle) and our middles drove the net, really allowed Michelle and Ebs to succeed."
Junior Jillian Mitchell had a match-high 36 assists, six blocks (one solo), five digs and two kills, while junior libero Caitlin Strimel led the Broncos with 15 digs.
The Broncos took the first two sets, but the match reached a boil in a third set that saw 28 ties and 14 lead changes. WMU used a 5-0 run to turn a one-point deficit into a four-point lead, 10-6, and force Central Michigan to call timeout. The Chippewas immediately responded with four straight to even the score before Mitchell and Corbett combined on a block to stop the run. CMU quickly came back and retook the lead, 13-12, on an ace, and eventually built the lead to 19-17 and 20-18.
A kill by Eberling and solo block from Mitchell evened the score and started the back-and-forth run that decided the match. CMU scored the next point, but neither team had more than an one-point lead until the end. Each team had multiple chances to win the set as Western Michigan lost six set points and CMU squandered five. The Broncos made their final run after CMU earned its fifth set point, 33-32.
Gotham and Eberling combined on a block to even the score and then Eberling hammered home a kill, 34-33. CMU tied the score on the next point, but Eberling cracked home two more kills to send the Bronco fans into jubilation. Eberling notched seven of her 15 kills in the third set.
WMU finished with 24 kills, 10 errors, four blocks and one ace in the fifth set, while the Chippewas had 18 kills, nine errors, five blocks and one ace.
Central Michigan started fast in the first set by building a 4-1 lead, but WMU scored three-straight to even the score. The Chippewas maintained control and built another four-point lead, 13-9. The Broncos pulled closer, but CMU continued to hold a slight edge, 20-18, as the points inched higher on the scoreboard. Back-to-back kills by Moore evened the set, but CMU retook the lead on an error, 21-20.
Moore answered with two more kills to give WMU its first lead, 22-21, since 6-5. CMU tied the set on the next point, but Gotham and Doyle rejected two straight attacks to give WMU set point, 24-23. The Chippewas saved one, but Eberling ended set one with a kill from the left side.
Set two would be all Western Michigan, but it took a little time. The Broncos opened a 5-1 lead, but CMU quickly knotted the score, 5-5, but then committed a service error followed by a Mitchell ace. That was the start of a 14-3 run that gave WMU an 11-point advantage, 19-8. Just like she would in the third and already did in the first, Eberling ended set two with a kill.
WMU held Central to a .000 attack percentage with nine kills and nine errors in 34 attacks. WMU hit just .147 with nine kills and four errors in 34 attacks, but the Broncos countered with five blocks and two aces, while CMU committed three serving errors.
Overall, defense was the name of the game. WMU hit just .183 with 47 kills and 19 errors, but held the Chippewas to .127 with 43 kills and 26 errors. Central Michigan led in digs, 77-53, behind 26 from Alexis Lonneman.
Whitney Evers led CMU with 13 kills and 12 digs.
The Broncos play their final conference home match against Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. Saturday.
