INDIANAPOLIS -- The Western Michigan volleyball team completed its fifth consecutive sweep (25-17, 25-12, 25-14) and third of the weekend to clinch the 2010 IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational at The Jungle against DePaul on Sunday.
Junior setter Sam Viox was named tournament MVP after dishing out 30 assists with five digs, three blocks and two kills against the Blue Demons (0-6). The Broncos (6-1) hit .359 for the match with 43 kills and a mere six errors.
She was joined on the all-tournament team by freshman libero Lena Oliver and freshman outside hitter Ali Gossen. Oliver picked up a match-high 21 digs, while Gossen matched her career high with 10 kills and set a new career high with nine digs, along with two aces and a block. She also hit a career high .429.
Sophomore middle blocker Jess Brown hit .500 with a match-high 12 kills and added four blocks, while freshman outside hitter Gillian Asque tied her career high with 16 digs. The Broncos had 58 digs and six blocks in the match.
An Oliver ace put WMU up three, 6-3, before DePaul cut the lead to one at 6-5 and 7-6. WMU came back with three Turnage kills to build a four-point lead, 11-7, and increased the lead to five, 13-8, after Brown hammered home a pair of errant DePaul passes. The Blue Demons stayed within three, 16-13, but a Gossen kill and Turnage/Doyle block put WMU back up five, 18-13. The Broncos gave up two in a row, 18-15, but rallied again with a 7-2 run to close the set, 25-17, on a swing that sailed wide by DePaul.
Each team had 14 kills, but WMU hit .316 with only two errors, while DePaul hit .178 with six errors. The middle combination of Turnage and Brown each had four kills, while Oliver had eight digs.
The teams traded the first four points of the second set until WMU went on a 5-0 run of all kills, two by Gossen and one each from Brown, Viox and Doyle. The Broncos continued to play well and went up by eight, 15-7, when Oliver's clearance over the net dropped for a kill. The Broncos added another 5-0 run late in the set to go up 12, 20-8, with two Brown kills, two Doyle kills and a block by Brown and Viox. Gossen finished the set, 25-12, by ripping a kill from the right side off the floor in the middle of the court.
The Broncos hit .528 in the second set with 21 kills, while holding DePaul to .161 hitting with eight kills. Gossen led the way with six kills in the set, while Doyle and Brown each added four kills.
The Broncos lost the first two points of the third set, but then scored 10 of the next 12 to take control, 10-4, after a kill by Gossen and block by Gossen and Turnage. DePaul came back within three, 12-9, but the Broncos used a Gossen ace to go back up six, 15-9, with three points in a row. Brown took over late with three points in a row of her own on two kills and an assisted block with Viox. Oliver clinched the championship, 25-14, with a short serve that hit the floor for an ace.
The Broncos had only eight kills in the final set, but held DePaul to -.105 hitting with eight kills and 12 errors.
Next weekend, Western Michigan heads to Lincoln, Neb., to face No. 5 Illinois, No. 7 Nebraska and No. 20 Dayton.
