KENT, Ohio -- Middle blockers Ashley Turnage and Jessica Brown led Western Michigan with 12 and 10 kills to lead Western Michigan past Kent State, 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-20), on Saturday night at the M.A.C. Center.
Turnage hit .474 and added three blocks and two digs, while Brown hit .450 with two digs and two blocks as the Broncos (18-6, 8-2 MAC) hit .317 as a team in winning their sixth consecutive match.
Freshman outside hitter Ali Gossen hit .300 and added nine kills, while freshman outside hitter Gillian Asque had eight kills and three digs. Junior setter Sam Viox finished with 37 assists, six digs, two blocks and two kills, while freshman libero Lena Oliver led all players with 17 digs.
The Broncos held the Golden Flashes (10-15, 3-7 MAC) to .167 hitting with 37 kills, while the Broncos tallied 48 kills. The Broncos also had more digs (48-40) and blocks (6.0-4.0).
"This was a nice win and great opportunity to see us grow as a team," head coach Colleen Munson said. "We recognize that our opponents have their strengths and will go on runs, but we're not letting that faze us. The girls understand that the most important thing is what happens on our side of the net and not get caught up in what the other team is doing."
Kills by Gossen and Turnage put the Broncos in front, 6-4, to start the first set and they eventually went up four, 13-9, after another Gossen kill. Kent State came back to tie the set, 16-16, but a 4-1 run put WMU back in control, 20-17. The Golden Flashes rallied to score three in a row and tie the score, but then WMU ran out the set with five in a row, 25-20, with two Brown kills around a Viox kill.
WMU hit .342 with 20 kills in the first set, led by Brown with five kills and Viox had 17 assists in the set. Kent hit .281, but had just 11 kills.
A block by Turnage and senior outside hitter Allyson Doyle put the Broncos up three, 7-4, but Kent State rallied to tie, 8-8. The Broncos didn't let KSU go in front and went on an 8-3 run to build the lead again, 16-11. Kent State never mounted another rally and WMU took the set, 25-17, on a block by Brown and Viox.
WMU had 14 kills and hit .393, while holding Kent State to .147 hitting with 13 kills. Turnage hit .714 with five kills in seven swings in the set.
A solo block by Gossen and kill by Turnage put the Broncos up by four, 9-5, early in the third set. Kent State closed within one, 13-12, but a 6-2 run by the Broncos put some distance, 19-14, between the squads. The Broncos clinched the match on their first match point, 25-20, on a kill from Turnage in the middle.
WMU hit. 237 with 14 kills in the final set, while holding Kent State to .095 hitting with 12 kills.
The Broncos remain on the road next weekend when they head to Ball State (18-4, 8-2 MAC) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Toledo (8-13, 3-7 MAC) on Saturday at 5 p.m.
