KALAMAZOO -- Senior outside hitter Allyson Doyle led all players with 13 kills, hit .500 and added 12 digs to lead Western Michigan past Mid-American Conference East leader Akron, 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-15), in front of 1,013 at University Arena on Saturday night.
Doyle moved into 15th in Western Michigan (15-6, 6-2 MAC) history with 1,087 career kills, while sophomore middle blocker Jessica Brown added 12 kills, two digs and two blocks.
Junior setter Sam Viox set a career high with eight kills, which she accomplished in nine attacks for an .889 attack percentage, and had 40 assists and 10 digs. Freshman outside hitter Ali Gossen had eight kills and hit .429, while freshman outside hitter Taylor Richard added 10 digs.
Freshman libero Lena Oliver led all players with 22 digs, as the Broncos held the Zips (13-7, 5-3 MAC) to .143 attacking. WMU had a significant advantage in kills (54-29), attack percentage (.325-.143) and digs (65-40).
Akron was led by middle blocker Tina Dimitrijevs with eight kills, .400 attack percentage and six blocks.
The Zips scored the first three points of the opening set, but WMU used a 4-0 run with kills by Brown, two in a row by junior middle blocker Ashley Turnage and one from Gossen to take the lead, 9-6. A solo block by Turnage put WMU up four, 12-8, and forced Akron to call timeout. The Zips came back within one, 15-14, but WMU constructed a 7-2 run to build the lead, 22-16, after two Doyle kills and an ace by sophomore defensive specialist Elizabeth Sweeney. The Broncos won the set, 25-17, after back-to-back errors by Akron.
WMU had 18 kills and hit. 308 in the set, led by Doyle with six kills, while Akron was limited to .103 attacking with nine kills.
Back-to-back aces led off the second set for Akron as it built the lead to three, 10-7. WMU came back with four in a row to take its first lead, 11-10, after an ace by Doyle. Akron tied the score four times, but couldn't get the lead back. The Zips were still within two, 19-17, when kills by Richard, Viox and Brown gave WMU a cushion, 22-17. Brown ended the set, 25-20, with a kill on WMU's third set point.
WMU hit .421 in the set with 19 kills, led by Brown with five kills and Viox was 4-for-4 in the set and had 14 assists. The Zips hit .278 with 13 kills and just three errors in the set.
Akron scored first in the third set after an error, but then Brown had three kills and Doyle had two in a 5-0 run. Kills by Doyle and Turnage pushed the lead to eight, 13-5, when Akron called its first timeout. That didn't slow the Broncos as another 4-0 run pushed the lead to 11, 19-8, and WMU went on to win on a kill by Richard, 25-15.
Brown had another five kills in the set as WMU hit .243 with 17 terminations, while holding Akron to seven kills and five errors for a .054 attack percentage.
The Broncos remain at University Arena for a non-conference match on Tuesday night against Notre Dame at 7 p.m. The match is also Volleyball Cares and fans are encouraged to join Western Michigan volleyball in wearing pink to the match.
