KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat their first B1G opponent in four years, as the Broncos downed the Northwestern Wildcats 3-2 (18-25, 23-25, 25-15, 25-20, 15-11) at University Arena on Friday. With the win, the Broncos improve to 1-0 on the season, winning their season opener for the second time in three seasons. The last time the Broncos defeated a B1G was during the 2009 season, when they downed Indiana 3-1 in Bloomington.
Stephenee Yancy led the Broncos offensively with an at-times dominant presence, notching a match-high 19 kills on 33 swings with five errors for a .424 hitting percentagel. Yancy was a stalwart defensively as well, tying for the team lead with seven blocks. Lexie Pawlik dished out 52 assists in her Bronco debut to go along with seven blocks, five digs, and three aces. Two other Broncos making their Kalamazoo premieres - Rachel Sheffer and Alysia Baznik - reached double digits in kills, posting 13 and 11, respectively. Lena Oliver had a match-high 24 digs.
The Broncos fell just short in the second set, but collected themselves during the long intermission and came out loaded for bear in the third frame. After the Wildcats pulled to within 4-3 early in the set, WMU went on a 5-0 tear that was sparked by a kill from Yancy. Ave Stout notched blocks on each of the next two points to make it 7-3, and a Northwestern blocking error capped the run at 9-3. Stout and Sheffer stretched the lead to 12-4 with a blcok of Savannah Paffen, and Pawlik posted two straight aces to give the Broncos a 10-point advantage. The Wildcats would get no closer than four points the rest of the way, with Sheffer delivering the kill shot at 25-15 to take the set.
WMU kept the head on in the fourth set, taking a 5-1 lead on the strength of two straight blocks from Yancy and Pawlik. Northwestern found a spark and took a 10-9 lead on a Yewande Akanbi kill, but Baznik responded with a kill to tie it. Yancy would get in on the action at the net again, teaming with Claire Gerwig to get the tiebreaker block and teaming with Pawlik on the next point to give her team a 12-10 lead. The Wildcats made it a two-point game at 16-14, but the Broncos stretched the lead out with a 5-2 run to make it 21-16 and force a Northwestern timeout. WMU eventually got the set win at 25-20 on an NU attack error.
Now infused with the momentum, WMU fended off a pesky Northwestern flurry late in the fifth set to close out the match. The Broncos took an 8-4 lead at the time the teams mirrored on the court, but the Wildcats scored five of the next six points to tie the match at 9-9. Pawlik broke the tie with a powerful lefty swing for the kill, and Sheffer and Baznik went back-to-back to take the 12-9 edge. Baznik and Stout combined for a block to make it 13-9, and Baznik closed the match with a kill.
