BOX SCORE
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Jillian Mitchell and Katie Eberling were named to the Aquafina Invitational All-Tournament Team after Western Michigan defeated UAB 25-17, 25-16, 25-22 to start the year 2-0 and finish in a first-place tie in the event at the University of Florida. This is the Broncos first 2-0 start since 2005.
Jillian Mitchell dished out 40 assists for the Broncos (2-0) against the Blazers (0-2) and finished the weekend averaging 11.67 assists per game. Eberling narrowly missed a double-double against UAB with nine kills and 10 digs. She led WMU with 4.17 digs per game for the weekend.
"Defeating two quality opponents in Pacific and UAB is a great start to our season," head coach Colleen Munson said. "We matured in both matches playing against two distinct styles. We accomplished our goal of starting the year 2-0 and continued to grow as a team with each and every set."
The Broncos tied No. 8 Florida for first place with a 2-0 mark, but WMU won both its matches in three sets (Florida defeated UAB in four) and allowed the fewest points in the tournament. Opponents scored 17 points or less in 4-of-6 sets.
Senior Ashley Vogl led WMU with 14 kills and hit .619 against the Blazers, while junior Michelle Moore and sophomore Allyson Doyle each added 11 kills. Doyle registered the first double-double of the season for the Brown & Gold with a team-high 12 digs.
WMU opened set one with the first two points on a Moore kill and Eberling ace, but UAB kept things close at 5-5. That's when the Broncos started an 11-4 run that pushed their lead to seven, 16-9, behind kills from five different players. Back-to-back kills by Eberling and Doyle pushed the lead to 19-11 and UAB was forced to burn its final timeout. That didn't slow down WMU as they closed the set on an UAB error to take a 1-0 lead.
WMU hit .361 in set one with a season-high 18 kills and five errors in 36 attempts, while UAB hit just .065 with eight kills. Vogl and Eberling led the way with five kills in the stanza and Mitchell passed out 16 assists.
The Blazers scored the first two points of set two and eventually built a three-point edge, 10-7, before the Broncos came back. Three straight kills by Moore, Eberling and Doyle broke a 14-all tie and forced UAB to call timeout. That didn't face the Broncos as Moore dropped in back-to-back aces during the 7-0 run that gave the Broncos an insurmountable 21-14 advantage. Overall, the Broncos closed the set on an 11-2 run going into the 10-minute break.
The Broncos fought from behind throughout much of set three after UAB built an early 7-2 lead that caused Munson to call timeout. WMU slowly crawled back and tied the set at 13 after a Moore kill, but UAB built its lead back to three, 17-14. Again WMU came back and tied the the match at 19 after kills from Doyle and Vogl. UAB called timeout, but Vogl came back with another kill after the timeout to give WMU its first lead of the set, 20-19.
UAB evened the score on the next point, but Vogl and Moore hammered home two straight kills to give WMU the two-point edge, 22-20. WMU stretched the lead to three after a block by Mitchell and Jaime Gotham and closed out the match with a push shot into the empty right-hand corner by Mitchell after a long rally.
Caitlin Strimel also finished in double figures with 10 digs, while Gotham and Mitchell tied for match-high honors with three block assists. Gotham also tied Moore with two service aces.
UAB was led by Savannah Pegg with 11 kills.
Western Michigan is back in action next weekend at the Redbird Classic in Normal, Ill., against Oakland, Western Carolina and host Illinois State Sept. 5-6.
