BOX SCORE
MILWAUKEE -- The Western Michigan volleyball team rallied from two sets down, but couldn't complete the comeback against Ohio State, 3-2 (18-25, 19-25, 25-23, 25-16, 11-15), in Saturday's first match of the Panther Invitational at the Klotsche Center.
Michelle Moore led the Broncos (3-6) with 18 kills and hit .308, while also accumulating 12 digs for her third double-double of the tournament. Allyson Doyle hit .318 to finish with 10 kills and 15 digs, while Jessica Brown hit .333 with 11 kills and four block assists. Kate Corbett added a career-high 12 kills and two block assists. Jillian Mitchell dished 54 assists and added 12 digs for her first double-double of the season and Caitlin Strimel added 12 digs, as well.
"I think the fact that we were down two games to none and we've been in that position before helped us," Moore said. "We had the mentality that we weren't going to roll over and give it to them in game three and we came out even harder in the fourth game to match their intensity. We weren't as calm and relexed in the fifth game and that set us back. In the middle of the game we calmed down, but it was too late.
"Overall, it was good because we learned that we found our ability to play at a high level again. We really played hard for two games straight against a really good Ohio State team. Now we know how to carry that level of play over into every game."
"We're really pleased with the way the team played in three and four, but we were trying too hard at the beginning of the fifth set," head coach Colleen Munson said. "I thought we played the best we have all season in three and four and look forward to us carrying that momentum into future matches."
A kill by Brown was the only point for the Broncos in the first five points of the fifth set and they called timeout. Moore had a kill out of the timeout and Ohio State (7-1) committed an error before answering with two kills in a row to go back up three, 6-3. A pair of kills by Doyle helped WMU pull within two, 7-5, but a block and two aces put OSU up five, 10-5. Two kills by Brown and one each from Eberling and Moore helped WMU close the gap to two, 11-9, but OSU answered. Kills by Brown and Moore helped WMU close to two points two more times, but WMU couldn't overcome the five-point deficit in the short set.
WMU had 10 kills and hit .389 in the fifth set, including four kills in five swings by Brown, but OSU countered with four aces and hit .353 with seven kills.
The Buckeyes scored the first three points of the match, but the Broncos regrouped with a 7-2 run to go up by two, 7-5, after kills by Brown and Corbett. Another kill by Corbett kept WMU up two, 9-7, before Ohio State went on a 5-0 run. After the fifth-straight OSU point, WMU called timeout. In the midst of the timeout, there was a discussion about Ohio State serving out-of-rotation that resulted in a 25-minute delay. After reviewing the rulebook and constant badgering from Ohio State head coach Geoff Carlston the officials determined that they did make a mistake and allowed Ohio State to serve out-of-rotation, but since the match had moved on there was nothing they could do.
A Moore kill out of the timeout merely slowed the run that turned into a 12-2 run that put the Buckeyes up eight, 19-11. The teams traded points down the stretch as Ohio State took the opening frame, 25-18.
The Buckeyes hit .357 with 18 kills, while WMU had just 10 kills and hit .135.
Ohio State maintained control with a 12-5 spurt to start the second set. Ohio State pushed the lead to nine, 16-7, before WMU fought back to pull within five, 19-14, but OSU pulled out the next two points and went on to win, 25-19.
Offense was at a premium in set two with WMU hitting .032 with nine kills and eight errors, while Ohio State had 12 kills, eight errors and hit .138.
An 8-4 start by Ohio State forced Western Michigan to call another timeout at the beginning of set three. The Broncos responded and slowly began to comeback before knotting the score, 18-18, with a kill by Moore. Ohio State scored the next point, but back-to-back kills by Moore and Corbett gave WMU its first lead, 20-19. The Buckeyes came back and regained the lead, 22-21, before Doyle had back-to-back kills to go back in front, 23-22. Ohio State had another kill to even the score, but Doyle gave WMU the lead with a kill and then combined with Brown for a block to end the set, 25-23.
The Broncos got six kills from Moore and five from Corbett on the way to 19 kills and .366 hitting. Ohio State had 17 kills and .368 hitting.
The fourth set started with neither team taking an advantage until WMU scored four straight with a Brown kill, Eberling ace, Mitchell/Brown block and Moore kill to go up four, 10-6. The Broncos kept up the pressure with Sam Viox at the service line as she had an ace, in addition to two kills from Moore and one each from Corbett and Mitchell during the 10-1 run. Ohio State scored four points to close within five, 16-11, but a kill by Corbett and Mitchell ace put WMU up 18-11 and they won, 25-16, by nine.
WMU hit .375 with 15 kills, five by Moore, and Ohio State hit .258 with 12 kills.
Overall, WMU hit .252 with 63 kills, 23 errors, 59 digs, six total blocks and five aces, while Ohio State hit .299 with 66 kills, 19 errors, 63 digs, 13 total blocks and nine service aces.
The Buckeyes were led by outside hitter Katie Dull with 25 kills and middle Kristen Dozier with 15 kills and seven blocks.
The Broncos finish the Panther Invitational against South Dakota (3-6) at 6 p.m.
