TOLEDO, Ohio – The Western Michigan volleyball team started slow but closed things out on a hot streak, winning three straight sets on the road to defeat Toledo 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-21) at Savage Arena on Friday. With the win, the Broncos improve to 16-10 on the season, 7-4 against Mid-American Conference opposition.
Sydney LeMay was dominant against the Rockets, recording a match-high 18 kills while committing just three errors for a .469 hitting percentage. Ave Stout joined LeMay in the double-digit kills club on Friday with 12 kills on 16 swings. She committed just one error herself for a team-best .688 hitting percentage. Lexie Pawlik recorded 54 assists and eight kills while also setting the Broncos to a .315 team hitting percentage. Sierra Hubbard-Neil had 23 digs in just four sets.
WMU dropped the first set to the Rockets but battled back to take the second set, taking an early lead and holding it throughout the set. Stout broke a 6-6 tie with a kill off a set by Pawlik, and on the next point swatted a free ball back over the net for an 8-6 Bronco lead. LeMay and Mikaela Ryshytylo combined to block Mary O'Connor to push WMU to a 15-9 lead, and Alysia Baznik forced a Rocket timeout with a kill at 17-10. Brooke Frazer cut the Bronco lead to 20-17 with a solo block, but Pawlik tipped a kill over to stem the bleeding. Frazer made it 24-22 with a kill, but LeMay finished off the set with a kill on the next point to tie the overall match.
The Broncos dominated the third set, again overcoming some tense situations early on to take the game victory. Baznik helped the Broncos win the race to 10 points with a kill at 10-7, and the lead jumped up to five points when Stout smashed a kill off a free ball to make it 13-8. LeMay upped that advantage to six points a few points later, taking a set from Pawlik and smashing it for an 18-12 advantage and forcing a Rocket timeout. Stout later gave the Broncos their largest lead of the set with a kill to make it 24-15, and Ali Gossen recorded a kill on the final point of the set for the 25-18 win.
Toledo leapt out to a 4-1 lead early in the fourth set, but the Broncos righted the ship quickly with a 6-1 run that was sparked by a kill from LeMay. Maddie Strall sliced the WMU lead to just 9-8 with a kill, but the Broncos scored three of the next four points – including two kills by LeMay – to take the advantage for good. The lead reached five points when Ryshytylo bashed a set from Pawlik for a kill at 19-14, and LeMay forced set point with a kill at 24-17. Pawlik and LeMay combined for a block of Alyssa Ehrhardt on the final point of the set, giving WMU a 25-21 win and the match.
