DEKALB, Ill. – The Western Michigan volleyball season came to an end as the Broncos fell to fourth-seeded Bowling Green 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 18-25, 18-25) at Northern Illinois's Victor E. Court in the Mid-American Conference Tournament Quarterfinals on Friday evening.

Bailey Schnell had a season-high 17 kills to lead the Broncos, while Olivia Kofie had 13 and Sydney LeMay had 10. WMU (12-19) was held to a .130 hitting percentage by the Falcons. Mary Murphy tallied 43 assists, while Kathleen Reilly led the way with 17 digs. Schnell also added 12 digs for a double-double.

Bowling Green jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the opening set. Western Michigan responded with a 12-3 run to take a 13-10 lead. The Broncos held on to their lead and fended off a late attempt by BGSU to rally, finishing off the set with back-to-back kills by Schnell and LeMay.  

The Broncos led early on in the second set, taking a 5-3 lead after a kill by Kofie and an attack error by Jelena Sunjic. The Falcons countered with a 7-3 run to take a 10-8 lead. Bowling Green extended its lead to 15-11 but WMU came back with the next five points to take a 16-15 lead. The teams traded leads and a kill by BGSU's Nicole Slimko tied the set at 19-19. That sparked a 7-2 run that closed out the set in favor of the Falcons, 25-21.

WMU led early in the third set, building a 7-4 advantage. Bowling Green responded with a 5-0 run to take a 9-7 lead, and then pushed the lead to 15-9. The Broncos tried to chip away and got within three after a kill by Kofie cut the advantage to 19-16 but the Falcons wrapped up the set with a 6-3 run of their own.

Bowling Green jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the fourth set and Western Michigan was held at bay, never tying the set. WMU got within four, 15-11, but the Falcons responded with a 5-1 run to push the lead to 19-12. From there, BGSU finished out the set and the match.