OXFORD, Ohio – Freshman outside hitter Rachel Bontrager racked up a match-high 23 kills as the Western Michigan volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Central Michigan 3-2 (21-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15-8) on Thursday night to advance to the Mid-American Conference Tournament Quarterfinals.

Bontrager was one of three Broncos with double-digit kills, followed by Sydney LeMay with 17 and Olivia Kofie with 11. Mary Murphy had 58 assists on the night, while Kathleen Reilly led the way with 33 digs. Bontrager also had 14 digs for a double-double.

After dropping the first two sets 25-21 WMU took an early 9-6 lead on the Chippewas to open the third set. WMU kept CMU at bay until a 2-0 run tied it up at 19-19. Western Michigan scored the next three points on kills by LeMay, Willow Martin and Kofie to take a 22-19 lead. The teams traded points with the Broncos sitting 24-22 before another kill by Kofie finished it off.

The fourth set started off tight with the teams tied up at 10-1 but that was the final tie of the set. WMU went on a 7-2 run to open it up and cruised to a 25-17 win to tie the match up at 2-2.

 The teams battled to a 5-5 tie to open up the fifth and final set but the Broncos took over from there. After temporarily going down 6-5 WMU went on an 8-0 run to take a 13-6 lead. CMU fought back briefly but Western Michigan claimed the set and the match on Bontrager's 23rd kill.

The Broncos are set to take on Ball State on Friday night at 7 p.m. in the MAC Quarterfinals. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN3.com and on the WatchESPN App.