ATHENS, Ohio – The Western Michigan volleyball team stunned the top team in the Mid-American Conference was a furious comeback in the MAC Tournament semifinals, as the Broncos rallied from a 2-0 hole to defeat the top-seeded Ohio Bobcats 3-2 (22-25, 19-25, 25-23, 25-23, 16-14) at the Convocation Center on Sunday. WMU improves to 21-13 overall on the season and will face Miami in the championship match tomorrow, Nov. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
The Broncos trailed two sets to none in the match, but they fought back to take the lead and won all three of the final sets by just two points apiece. WMU held Ohio to just a .208 hitting percentage in the match, including hitting percentages under .158 in each of the last two sets. It is the first time since 2010 that the Broncos won a match against the Bobcats in Athens.
Caroline Rose was part of a defensive effort that dug out 116 balls against the Bobcats, the third-highest total for a five-set match in program history; the junior back row defender had 39 digs of her own, the the most for the Broncos in a match since 2011 and the third-highest total for a five-set match in program history. Two other players reached 20+ digs, with Ali Gossen recording a career-high 26 and Alysia Baznik also setting a new career-high with 21, while Lexie Pawlik (14) and Mikaela Ryshytylo (11) also went into double-digits.
Baznik , Gossen and Pawlik each recorded double-doubles in the victory, with Baznik and Gossen notching Kills-Digs double-doubles and Pawlik an Assist-Dig double-double. Baznik had 12 kills to go along with her 21 digs, while Gossen contributed 12 kills to go with her 26 digs. Pawlik added a line of 47 assists and 14 digs. Sydney LeMay recorded the team-high with 17 kills on 35 swings with just four errors for a .371 hitting percentage.
The Bobcats jumped out to a 12-7 lead in the fifth set and seemed to be ready to put the match away, but the Broncos battled back with a 5-0 run to tie the score. Olivia Kofie got the rally started with a solo block of Abby Gilleland, and Claire Gerwig ripped a kill to make it 12-9 and force an Ohio timeout. Baznik and Gossen bounced kills on back-to-back points to immediately force the Bobcats to call their second timeout, and Kofie blasted one on the next point to make it 12-all. Gerwig gave the Broncos a 14-13 lead with a kill, and LeMay broke a 15-14 tie with a kill of her own. LeMay and Pawlik closed out the historic win with a block of Kelly Lamberti on match point, stuffing the attack to send the Broncos to the championship match.
Ohio led 20-17 in the third set but WMU used a 7-3 run late in the stanza to help strike the first blow against the Bobcats. Baznik tied the set at 21-all with a kill, and Kofie solo-blocked Mallory Salis a few points later to put the Broncos ahead 23-22. An attack error by Lamberti gave the Broncos the set point, leaving the opening for Kofie to bounce a kill to take the 25-23 decision.
WMU staved off early elimination late in the fourth set as well, as they trailed 22-20 in the waning moments after a block of Gerwig by Hannah Burkle and Shelby Walker. Gossen responded with a kill on the next point and a service ace two points later, though, to put WMU ahead 23-22. Jaime Kosiorek tied it with a kill, but Gossen broke the deadlock with a kill and the pairing of LeMay and Pawlik blocked Lamberti to take the fourth set 25-23.
