BOX SCORE
NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Three players posted double-doubles as Western Michigan defeated Liberty 28-26, 25-15, 17-25, 25-16 in each team's second match of the Golden Dome Invitational at Notre Dame's Joyce Center.
The Broncos (8-2) were led by junior Michelle Moore with 13 kills and 15 digs, sophomore Allyson Doyle with 11 kills, 14 digs and five blocks and junior Jillian Mitchell with 49 assists, 13 digs and five kills.
Moore's 13 kills pushed her into 13th place all-time at WMU with 1,086 career kills, just ahead of Bridget Norris and 10 away from passing Lise Martin.
The Broncos also got 12 kills from junior Katie Eberling and 11 from sophomore Jaime Gotham, as they hit .423 and .524 respectively. Junior Caitlin Strimel led all players with 23 digs and sophomore Kate Corbett added seven kills and four blocks.
The first set was the tighest of the four sets with seven ties and three lead changes between WMU and Liberty (8-4). The Broncos started fast with four straight points to take a 4-1 lead. A block by Doyle and Corbett pushed the advantage to 8-4, but the Flames came back and took a two-point lead, 20-18, after a kill.
The Broncos responded and finally took back the lead, 23-22, after a Gotham kill. The Flames hung close and pushed the set into extra points, but the Broncos finally got the break to take set one, 28-26. Both teams were on fire on offense, but WMU was slightly better with 19 kills hitting .412, while Liberty hit .314 with 18 kills.
The Flames fell behind in set two as the Broncos opened a 5-1 lead behind a pair of Moore kills and one from Mitchell. WMU added four-straight points moments later after a Corbett kill, Moore kill, Eberling ace and Moore kill to take a 13-5 advantage. Liberty was never in the set the rest of the way as the Broncos assumed the two-set lead, 25-15.
WMU continued to hit effectively with a .424 attack percentage on 15 kills and one lone error, while holding Liberty to just .194 hitting in the second stanza.
The Broncos had a case of attack errors in the third set with nine and that allowed Liberty to steal one. A 7-1 run by the Flames, helped by six Bronco miscues, pushed their advantage to 13-6. That was enough for Liberty to hang on as they didn't allow the Broncos to string together more than two points in a row the rest of the set in a 25-17 win.
WMU hit .043 with 11 kills and nine errors, but did limit the Flames to .196 hitting with 13 kills.
A 5-0 run capped by a block from Doyle and Gotham, followed by a Doyle kill helped WMU reestablish control with a 7-3 lead in set four and that was all the cushion WMU would need. Liberty cut the lead to 7-4 on the next point, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the match as Moore's solo block ended it for the Broncos, 25-16.
The Broncos finished set four hitting .250 with 14 kills, while picking up four blocks to help hold the Flames to .021 hitting on 10 kills and nine errors.
The Flames were led by Nicki Scripko with 16 kills, but WMU forced her into eight errors and .163 attack percentage in the fourth-straight loss for Liberty after eight consecutive wins to open the season.
The Broncos finish play in the Golden Dome Invitational against host Notre Dame (5-6) on Sunday at 2 p.m.
