ATHENS, Ohio – The No. 5 seeded Western Michigan women's volleyball team stayed alive in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament with a 3-2 (25-15, 19-25, 27-25, 23-25, 15-9) win over No. 8 seeded Eastern Michigan in the First Round at the Convocation Center on the University of Ohio's campus. The Broncos, who are the MAC Tournament defending champions, improve to 15-17 overall this season and will move on to face No. 4 seeded Miami on Friday, Nov. 20 at 5:30 p.m.

All-MAC Freshman team honoree Bailey Schnell finished with 21 kills while First Team All-MAC selection Sydney LeMay had 15 and Mikaela Ryshytylo had 10. MAC Freshman of the Year Hailey Knecht had a match-high 35 digs while senior Caroline Rose was right behind with 34. Alysia Baznik had 50 assists while no other Bronco had more than two.

In the first set, the Broncos held an 18-14 lead and claimed seven of the final eight points to take a 1-0 lead. After the Eagles took the second set to tie it up at 1-1, the game went to 25-24 in the third set with EMU on top until Schnell landed a kill to spark the Broncos to win the next three points and claim game three 27-25 and take a 2-1 lead. In the fourth set, the Eagles scored three of the final four points to tie it up 2-2 and force a fifth set.  

In the fifth set, the Eagles tied it up at 9-9 before the Broncos won the final six points including two kills by LeMay and one by Baznik along with two errors by the Eagles.

The Broncos will face the No. 5 seeded Miami RedHawks on Friday, Nov. 20 at 5:30 p.m. in the Convocation Center. The winner between the Broncos and RedHawks will face No. 1 seeded Northern Illinois at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21.