BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Western Michigan volleyball team took a quick 2-0 lead and held on for their third straight road win, defeating the Buffalo Bulls 3-1 (25-16, 25-14, 20-25, 27-25) on Friday evening. The Broncos improve to 9-13 overall with the win and 5-2 in Mid-American Conference play.
Sydney LeMay finished with 17 kill on 33 attempts with six errors for a .333 hitting percentage and also added a match-high eight blocks. Olivia Kofie recorded 15 kills and a .303 hitting percentage while also posting five digs. Alysia Baznik recorded her seventh double-double of the season and third in a row with 10 kill and 12 digs. Hailey Knecht tied the match-high with 26 digs while senior Caroline Rose posted 17 digs. The duo of Mary Murphy and Sydney Cheatham combined for 49 assists and set the Broncos to a .223 hitting percentage.
The Broncos dominated in the first two sets against the Bulls, taking double-digit leads in each as they quickly moved out to a 2-0 match advantage. WMU went on a 12-4 run to open the first set, with Rose acing Abby Beacher to make it 10-4 and force a Buffalo timeout and adding another ace off Tessa Ooyama to finish the run. Kofie put the Broncos ahead by 11 in the first with a kill to make it 17-6, and the Broncos won the race to 20 when LeMay's kill made it 20-12. Baznik wrapped up the first set with kills on back-to-back points, posting two in a row to win it 25-16.
WMU was even better in the second set, breaking an early deadlock and running away with the set to take the overwhelming 2-0 match lead. The Broncos trailed 8-7 but tied it on an error by the Bulls; LeMay bounced a kill off a Cheatham set to tie the score and later added another kill to put her team ahead by a 13-9 score. She posted three straight kills after the Buffalo timeout to make it an 18-9 advantage, and the lead reached 10 points when LeMay teamed with Mikaela Ryshytylo to block Raven Jordan. Buffalo committed two straight errors – one service, one attacking – to deliver the 25-14 decision to the Broncos.
The Bulls eked out a 25-20 decision in the third set and looked to be ready to force a fifth but the Broncos rallied back for a fourth set win. Buffalo took a 23-22 lead on a kill by Akelia Lain but Ryshytylo tied it on the next point with a kill; the junior outside hitter kept her team alive again with a similar play two points later. LeMay and Ryshytylo blocked Megan Lipski at 25-all to take the lead for the first time since the Broncos led 22-21, and Murphy tipped a kill over on match point to seal the win.
