KALAMAZOO -- Five different Broncos reached double-digit kills as a strong team effort helped Western Michigan defeat Northern Illinois, 3-2 (16-25, 25-16, 25-19, 23-25, 17-15), in front of 1,074 fans at University Arena on Thursday evening.
Allyson Doyle (12),
Gillian Asque (13),
Jessica Brown (13),
Ali Gossen (13) and
Ashley Turnage (15) each tallied double-digit kills with Doyle and Gossen also registering double-doubles on 19 and 12 kills respectively. The Broncos held Northern Illinois to a .264 hitting percentage and MAC kills leader Lauren Wicinski to just .290. Doyle had an efficient night, hitting a team-high .462 and also adding four assists. Junior setter
Sam Viox racked up 57 assists in the Bronco win.
NIU got out to a 7-0 lead in the first set before a kill by Brown got the Broncos on the board. WMU cut the lead to 10-7 after a kill by Asque, but did not get any closer as NIU quickly extended its lead, leaving WMU behind. A kill by Meghan Romo finished off the Broncos 25-16. Wicinski had nine of her match-high 27 kills in the first game.
Western Michigan started off the second game with a 5-2 lead. Northern Illinois twice cut the lead to one at 7-6 and 9-8 but five straight points by the Broncos helped extend the lead to 14-8. The Brown & Gold held strong, not letting the their lead dip to below four before putting the Huskies away 25-16. Gossen, Turnage and Brown each had four kills in the set in which WMU hit .448 to square the match 1-1.
Northern Illinois built an early 6-2 lead on the Broncos in set three but WMU went on an 8-1 run on the back of four NIU attack errors to go ahead 10-7. Northern Illinois cut the lead back down to two, 18-16 on an ace by Mary Kurish but the Broncos only extended their lead until an attack error by Sarah Angelos finished off the NIU. Gossen again helped lead WMU in the third game with four more kills, while Doyle pitched in four of her own. The Broncos held Northern Illinois to a .091 attack percentage, while hitting .432 themselves in the third set.
The two teams traded points until the 4-4 mark to open the fourth game. Northern Illinois went on a small 4-0 run to take the lead 8-4. WMU took a brief lead, 11-10, before the teams started trading leads. Deadlocked at 17-17 a kill by Allison McGlaughlin helped spark a 4-1 run to retake the lead, 21-18. A kill by Turnage and back-to-back kills by Doyle tied the game at 21. Sarah Angelos struck with back-to-back kills to give NIU a two point that the Huskies held, tying the match at 2-2 with a 25-23 win.
In the final set the Huskies jumped out to a 7-3 lead but the Broncos stormed back, scoring the next six points to take a 9-7 lead. After a NIU point Turnage blasted a kill into the middle of the court to put the Broncos up 10-8 before three straight points turned the lead back to Northern Illinois, 11-10. Doyle responded to square the set at 11 with her 11th kill on the night. The senior outside-hitter responded again after a NIU point to tie the game at 12-12 but a solo block by McGlaughlin once again gave the Huskies the lead. The two teams traded points to bring the score to 14-14, when an attacking error on Wicinski gave the Broncos match point at 15-14. Wicinski redeemed herself with a kill to tie it at 15-15 before handing WMU the lead on a service error. Turnage slammed home the game-winner to end WMU's two game losing streak and hand the Broncos a 17-15 set win.
Western Michigan hosts Miami on Saturday night at 7 p.m., looking to continue its momentum to earn a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament.
