BOX SCORE
KALAMAZOO -- It was a block party for the 852 fans at University Arena welcoming Western Michigan for its home opener after 11 straight matches on the road to open the season. The Broncos (10-2, 1-0 MAC) used a three-set season-high 11 blocks and 50 kills to halt a streaking Northern Illinois team 25-17, 25-15, 25-21 in the Mid-American Conference opener for both schools.
The Huskies (8-7, 0-1 MAC) had won six of their last seven entering the contest, but couldn't slow down a Western Michigan team that won its MAC opener for the 18th time in school history and the second year in a row against NIU.
Sophomore Jaime Gotham tied her career high with nine blocks on two solos and seven assists, a record she set in the Broncos last meeting against Northern Illinois. Gotham also had nine kills hitting .350 and four digs. Sophomore Allyson Doyle added five block assists, five kills, three aces and 12 digs.
Junior Michelle Moore led all players with 16 kills as she moved into 11th all-time at WMU with 1,126 career kills. Junior Katie Eberling just missed a double-double with 13 digs and nine kills, while sophomore Kate Corbett had tied her career high with eight kills and set a new career high by hitting .571. Mitchell directed the attack to the tune of 39 assists, while Caitlin Strimel anchored the defense with a match-high 15 digs.
The Broncos hit .250 on their way to 50 kills, while limiting Northern Illinois to a .019 attack percentage on 21 kills, 19 errors and 104 attacks. The Broncos also led in digs 56-44 and held NIU's Meagan Schoenrock to just 10 digs (3.33 dps) after she entered the match second in the nation with 5.05 digs per set.
"I thought we dominated the tempo the entire match and you could tell," head coach Colleen Munson said. "I think our performance tonight is also a testament to the non-conference schedule we played. The goal was to prepare ourselves for the MAC and I think that it showed tonight. Now we'll celebrate for a little while and then come back and refocus on Miami starting tomorrow."
Playing in front of the home crowd for the first time, the Broncos started fast by scoring the first four points at University Arena this season on kills by Corbett, Gotham and back-to-back smashes by Moore. One more kill by Moore and a Huskie error forced NIU to call timeout trailing by five, 6-1. That helped the Huskies come back and cut the lead to one, 8-7, but an errors on three of the next four points and a block by Corbett and Mitchell put WMU back up five.
Northern Illinois clawed back to 12-10, but an 8-2 run by the Broncos capped off by another block, this time by Gotham and Doyle, pushed the lead to 20-12 and that was it for NIU in set one, 25-17. Northern Illinois had 10 kills and 10 errors in set one, while WMU used 12 kills and four blocks to take the early lead.
The Huskies opened a 4-2 lead early in set two, but an 8-2 counter by the Broncos put them in control, 10-6. A kill by Gotham pushed the lead to five, 14-9, and forced NIU to use its second and last timeout. Three straight points out of the timeout pulled NIU to within two, 14-12, but a quintet of Bronco kills and another block by Gotham and Doyle in a 6-0 run put the Broncos up 20-12. WMU then finished emphatically with a kill by Corbett followed by a pair of aces from Doyle, 25-15.
Northern Illinois had only five kills in set two and five errors, while WMU had 17 kills and hit .394. Doyle and Gotham combined for three of WMU's four blocks in the set.
A 10-4 run midway through broke an eight-all tie and put the Broncos in control, 18-12, as Moore led the way with four kills in the rally. The Broncos continued to put on the pressure and reached match point when freshman Ashley Turnage, playing in her first career match, and Moore combined on a block to make it 24-17. Four straight errors by the Broncos kept hope alive for Northern Illinois until Moore spiked it away high and hard from the left side to end the match, 25-21.
The Broncos had a season-high 21 kills in the final frame and held NIU to six kills and four errors. The Broncos had 29 digs in set three, including eight by Strimel and five each from Mitchell and Doyle.
Western Michigan wraps up the homestand against defending MAC Tournament champion and preseason MAC East favorite Miami on Saturday at 7 p.m. The RedHawks (7-6, 1-0 MAC) ended a four-match losing streak by defeating Bowling Green at home on Thursday.
