KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team fell to Mid-American Conference West Champions Ball State, 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 25-16, 21-25, 10-15) at University Arena on Saturday night.
WMU earned the sixth seed in the MAC Tournament and will take on Central Michigan on Thursday at Miami University at 7 p.m. on ESPN3.com.
Four Broncos had double-digit kills on the night, led by freshman outside hitter Rachel Bontrager's 17. Senior Sydney LeMay had 16, fellow senior Olivia Kofie and Quiana Ware each had 11. Mary Murphy had 40 assists, while freshman Kathleen led the way with 25 digs. Freshman defensive specialist Kaley Smith had a career-high 19 digs.
WMU took the first set 25-22. The Broncos took an early lead and never trailed. The kept the set close and tied it late at 19-19. A service error on Ball State and a kill by Bontrager gave Western Michigan a 21-19 lead and extended it to 24-21. BSU took one back but Bontrager finished the set off for the Broncos.
Ball State jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start the second set. WMU chipped away at the lead and got within one at 11-10 but was never able to get over the hump, falling 25-21.
The third set started off tight as the teams battled to a 9-9 tie. WMU then went on a 9-1 run to take a 18-10 lead. WMU continued cruising and a kill by Kofie finished off the set at 25-16.
Western Michigan jumped out to a 10-6 lead but was unable to sustain it. The Cardinals chipped away and eventually overtook WMU after an ace by Jessica Lindsey gave them an 18-17 lead. From there BSU went on a 7-4 run to close out the set 25-21.
WMU took an early 5-2 lead to start the fifth set. Ball State went on a 6-1 run to take an 8-6 lead. The Broncos tied it up at 8-8 but the Cardinals once again responded, going on a 7-2 run to finish off the match.
