BOX SCORE
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Michelle Moore had 12 kills to lead Western Michigan in a dominating 25-23, 25-8, 25-11 victory over East Carolina that took just 58 minutes in the Black & Gold Challenge in front of 130 at Reynolds Gym. Moore and Jillian Mitchell were named to the all-tournament team for the Broncos (7-1), who finished second in the event. Mitchell has been named to the all-tournament team in all three tournaments the Broncos have competed in this season.
Mitchell added 27 assists, four aces, four kills and seven digs in the final match, while Jaime Gotham had eight kills and hit .471 against the Pirates (8-4).
Moore's 12 kills moves her 14th place ranking to 1,064, 16 shy of Bridget Norris.
East Carolina scored the first two points of the match, but WMU came back with a 6-1 run behind one kill from Jillian Mitchell and two more from Michelle Moore to go up 6-3. The Broncos continued to push the lead upward after Mitchell had a pair of aces and Jaime Gotham added a kill to put WMU up 16-11. ECU hung around and cut the lead to one on numerous occasions, the final time at 24-23, but Gotham ended things with a kill off an overpass to give WMU the 1-0 match advantage.
The Broncos hit .326 with 18 kills and just four errors and ECU also was good offensively with 14 kills and three errors for a .355 attack percentage.
Set two wouldn't be nearly as close as the Broncos held the Pirates to just eight points, the lowest total they have allowed since winning set one, 30-7, against UIC on Sept. 25, 2007.
ECU scored the first point and then the Broncos rattled off 10 straight behind two aces from Caitlin Strimel and three Moore kills. Another 4-0 run shortly thereafter put the Broncos up 14-2. The Broncos didn't let up and eventually put ECU away after Strimel's third ace and a bad set by the Pirates, 25-8.
WMU served up seven aces in the set, in addition to 10 kills with only two errors. They also had 14 digs and held ECU to a -.036 attack percentage with four kills and five errors in 28 attempts.
Set three was all Western Michigan one more time as they held East Carolina to -.212 hitting on five kills with 12 errors in 33 attempts. The Broncos had 11 kills and two service aces in the set.
The Broncos have one more non-conference tournament next weekend before Mid-American Conference play begins. The Broncos travel to Notre Dame for the Golden Dome Invitational against UC-Irvine, Liberty and the host Fighting Irish.
