BOX SCORE
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Western Michigan placed three players in double-figures in kills, but dropped their first five-set match of the season 25-22, 22-25, 20-25, 25-16, 8-15 against Wake Forest in front of 289 fans in both teams opening match of the Black & Gold Challenge at Reynolds Gym.
Michelle Moore had a match-high 18 kills to move past Kathryn Babcock and into a tie with Paige Paulson for 14th all-time at WMU with 1,028 career kills, while Katie Eberling added a double-double with 16 kills and 13 digs to move into sole possession of second-place on WMU's career double-double list with 32. Allyson Doyle also had a double-double with 15 kills, hitting a team-high .333, and 11 digs. Jillian Mitchell added her second-straight double-double of the season with a career-high-tying 55 assists amd 14 digs. Defending MAC Defensive Player of the Year Caitlin Strimel led WMU with 26 digs. Jaime Gotham added nine kills and four blocks, including two solo, for WMU.
With each team playing its first fifth set of the season, it was Wake Forest (4-3) who got the jump on the Broncos (5-1) by building an 8-2 advantage. The Broncos cut the lead to two, 8-6, after four consecutive kills, but WFU answered with three straight to go back up five, 11-6, and that was too much for WMU to overcome.
The Broncos started the first set by scoring three of the first four points behind kills from Jillian Mitchell and Jaime Gotham. Wake Forest hung around, but WMU extended its lead to four, 13-9, after a Michelle Moore kill. The Demon Deacons came back with a 5-1 run to even the score at 14 and start a stretch that would see seven ties and three lead changes.
WFU took its first lead at 16-15 and WMU was unable to regain the advantage until a late 4-0 run turned a one-point deficit into a three-point lead, 23-20. Moore had a pair of kills, followed by a Mitchell ace and Allyson Doyle kill. Moore had another kill to give WMU set point, 24-21, and the Broncos took set one on an attack error by Wake Forest, 25-22.
Wake Forest took the momentum in set two by jumping out to a 7-2 lead that forced the Broncos to call a timeout. Kills by Doyle, Kate Corbett and Eberling pulled WMU back to within three, 10-7, but Wake Forest scored three straight to push its lead back up to six, 13-7. The Broncos came back to cut the lead on four different occassions, but either the Deacons had an answer or WMU committed an error to stifle the rally.
Eventually, WFU got to set point, 24-18, but WMU wouldn't let the Deacons off easily. The Broncos fought off four set points, but the deficit was too much as Wake Forest evened the match, 25-22.
Like the previous set, number three saw WMU fall behind early and stage a late comeback that Wake Forest was able to parry. The Broncos scored the first point on a block by Eberling and Gotham, but Wake Forest took the lead for good by scoring the next three points. The Demon Deacons eventually built their lead to 15-9 before the Broncos burned their first timeout. Moore had a kill after the timeout, but Wake Forest scored the next two points to push its lead to seven, 17-10.
The Broncos staged another late comeback with a 4-0 run behind two kills from Eberling and a solo block by Gotham to trim the WFU lead to two, 20-18. Another Gotham kill moments later kept the deficit at a deuce, 21-19, but WFU closed with four of the next five points to take the set, 25-20, and the match lead, 2-1.
WMU hit negative in set three with 11 kills and 12 errors in 46 attempts. WFU wasn't much better with a match-low .158 on 11 kills with five errors on 38 attacks. The Broncos had four total blocks to three for the Deacons.
After playiing from behind during the last two sets, Western Michigan took the early advantage and held onto it in set four. Two kills from Moore and one each from Eberling, Doyle and Corbett staked WMU to a 6-2 lead and Wake Forest called timeout. The Deacons chipped away and pulled within two, 13-11, but that would be the closest they would get to the Brown & Gold. Moore got sideout for the Broncos with a kill that started a 6-0 run with Mitchell serving. When WFU ended it, the Broncos led 19-12 and played sideout volleyball the rest of the way. Eberling ended the set with a kill to the left corner that gave WMU the set, 25-16, and evened the match for the first set five for both teams in 2008.
The Broncos hit .382 in the set with 16 kills and only three errors, while holding WFU to a match-low .114 percentage on 11 kills and seven errors.
The Broncos hit .195 with 64 kills and 27 errors, while the Demon Deacons hit .216 with 60 kills and 24 errors. Each team had two aces and WFU had one more total block (7-6).
The Broncos concludes play with two matches on Saturday against Delaware (2-7) at 10 a.m. and East Carolina (8-2) at 4:30 p.m.
