DENVER, Colo. – The Western Michigan volleyball team closed out their weekend with another valiant effort on Sunday, falling 3-0 (25-27, 20-25, 23-25) to the Denver Pioneers on Sunday. With the loss, the Broncos fall to 1-7 overall on the season.
Both Sydney LeMay and Nicole Kinser tied for the team-high in kills, with both players adding 10 kills to the cause. LeMay hit .529 on the afternoon, going for 10 kills with one error on 17 swings, while Kinser went for 10 kills with two errors on 20 swings for a .400 attack percentage. Mary Murphy went off for 37 swings in just three sets, while Hailey Knecht added 21 swings. Alysia Baznik finished two kills shy of a double-double, adding eight kills and 14 digs.
The Pioneers opened up to a 10-7 lead in the first set on Sunday but the Broncos took a late lead, cutting a 15-10 deficit with a 9-3 run midway through the set. Sierra Hubbard-Neil cut it to two points with a pair of kills at 15-13, and Kinser made it 17-16 with a kill of her own. LeMay tied the set at 18-all with a kill, and Olivia Kofie gave the Broncos the lead with a kill of her own. Kinser put the Broncos ahead 22-23 with a kill, but the Pioneers added two straight points to go up 24-22. Bailey Schnell responded with an ace and Murphy made it 25-24 with a kill, but the Pioneers scored three straight points to make it 27-25.
The second set played out much in the same way, with the Pioneers opening up a quick lead but the Broncos pulling close midway through. Baznik cut the Pioneer lead to 13-12 with a kill, and Denver committed an error on the next point to tie the set. Denver pulled ahead 19-14 on a WMU ball handling error, but the Broncos cut into the lead and pulled to within 21-19 on a Denver error. The Pioneers scored four of the last five points to secure the 25-20 advantage.
WMU took a brief lead in the nip-and-tuck third set, with WMU cutting the Denver lead to 11-10 on a kill by Baznik and tying it on another kill by Baznik at 15-15. Mikaela Ryshytylo ripped a service ace to put the Broncs ahead 16-15, and LeMay kept the lead at 17-16 with a kill. Bailey Schnell built the lead to 20-17 with a kill, but the Pioneers tied it at 22 with an error and Moni Corrujedo tied it at 23-all with a kill. The Pioneers scored the final three points of the set to clinch the match.
