KALAMAZOO -- Junior middle blocker Ashley Turnage tied her season-high with 11 kills and added a season-high four blocks, while freshman outside hitter Ali Gossen set career highs of 10 kills, five digs and two blocks to lead Western Michigan past IPFW, 3-0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-23), in front of 946 fans in the Broncos' home opener at University Arena on Tuesday night.
The Broncos (3-1) needed just 69 minutes to win their second match in a row and vanquish the 2009 Summit League NCAA Tournament representative Mastodons (2-2).
Senior outside hitter Allyson Doyle added nine kills, 16 digs, five assists and five blocks, while setter Sam Viox had 34 assists and 12 digs for her seventh career double-double and first of the season. Freshman libero Lena Oliver led the Broncos with 18 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Jessica Brown tied Doyle for match-high honors with five blocks.
The Broncos had a season-high nine blocks and added 67 digs in just three sets to hold IPFW to .025 attacking. The Broncos stifled IPFW's top hitter Maya Schlindwein to a .-048 attack percentage with only five kills. She was averaging 4.13 kills per set and 16.7 kills per match entering the evening.
The Broncos hit .252 with 43 kills, 19 more than the Mastodons.
"We came away from last weekend with a list of things to work on and the team was very receptive in practice on Monday and took it to heart," head coach Colleen Munson said. "Tonight, we were more comfortable in serve receive and understood our system better. The players felt they were communicating better and it's good to see that on the court and hear that they recognize how much of a difference better communication makes."
The Broncos trailed by two, 5-3, to begin the match, but came back with a block by Gossen and Brown to ignite a 5-0 run and take the lead for good, 8-5, after Gossen and Turnage teamed on a block. IPFW trimmed the margin as close as two, but a blast from freshman outside hitter Gillian Asque put WMU up four, 13-9, and forced IPFW to call timeout. The Mastodons stayed within four, 17-13, but a kill by Doyle and block by Doyle and Turnage forced IPFW into its final timeout, 19-13. That didn't work as Goosen's serving powered the 8-0 run to close the set, 25-13.
WMU hit .414 with 16 kills, six by Turnage and five by Goosen, while holding IPFW to six kills and six errors to hit .000.
Western Michigan never let IPFW breath in the second set by scoring the first four points and eventually building a nine-point cushion, 15-6, after an Asque kill. The Mastodons never seriously threatened and Doyle ended the set for WMU, 25-12, with a kill off an overpass.
WMU's defense continued to baffle IPFW as the Mastodons had only three kills and nine errors to hit -.188. The Broncos hit .357 with 14 kills, including three each by Doyle, Brown and Asque.
The third set proved to be the closest of the match with 16 ties and three lead changes. The Broncos scored three points in a row midway through the set to build the largest lead for either team, 15-12, but it was short-lived. The Mastodons came back and went up two, 21-19, before WMU called timeout. The Broncos responded with kills by fresmen Asque and Gossen to tie the score.
IPFW called timeout and blocked the Broncos to regain the lead, but then missed their next attack. The Mastodons scored again to regain the lead, 23-22, but it was their final point. Viox and Turnage combined on a block to tie the score, followed by kills from Doyle and Turnage to end the match, 25-23.
With several long rallies and strong defense on both sides of the net, WMU had 58 attempts in the third set, after compiling 57 attempts in the first two sets combined. The Broncos still tallied 13 kills and hit .121, while IPFW woke up to hit 16 15 kills and attack at .158 clip. Doyle hit .444 in the set with four kills in nine attempts and added 10 digs.
The Broncos move on to Indianapolis, Ind., this weekend against host IUPUI, Wright State and DePaul in the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational on Saturday and Sunday.
