WILMINGTON, N.C. -- The Western Michigan volleyball team extended its win streak to four matches after taking down Morgan State 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-16), to open the Courtyard by Marriott Tournament hosted by UNC-Wilmington on Friday afternoon.
It's the third 3-0 win for the Broncos (6-3), who have won 12 straight sets since dropping the first one in a 3-1 win over Cincinnati back on Sept. 2. WMU had a season-high attack percentage of .379 and its third-straight match above .300. Freshman outside hitter Rachel Bontrager had a career-high attack percentage of .360 to go with her 12 kills and career-high three aces. Quiana Ware had 11 kills with a .429 attack percentage, while senior middle blocker Sydney LeMay led the match with a .636 attack percentage with seven kills on 11 attacks. LeMay also tied a career high with three aces. Sophomore libero Kathleen Reilly had 13 digs on the night, while sophomore defensive specialist Kennedy Potts made her collegiate debut. Junior setter Mary Murphy had a game-high 31 assists.
The first set was a tight one with the teams trading leads early on. Tied at 13-13 a kill by Cassandra Smigiel gave WMU a lead that that it didn't relinquish. MSU was able to keep within two points for of the rest of the set but the Broncos kept them at an arm's length before a kill by LeMay finished it off 25-22.
Western Michigan jumped on the Bears early in the second set and Morgan State never recovered. WMU had a 5-4 lead and a service error on MSU ignited a 6-0 run to push the lead to 11-4. Another service error led to the Broncos doubling up the bears after a 4-0 run pushed the score to 18-9. Western Michigan cruised from there to a 25-16 win.
The third set was much of the same. WMU jumped out to a 5-1 lead and later went on a 9-2 run to push the lead to 20-10. Ware and Bontrager each had four kills in the final set as the Broncos finished off the match with another 25-16 win.
It's a quick turnaround for Western Michigan. The Broncos take on the Liberty Flames on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. and then the host Seahawks at 7:30 p.m. The game can be seen live on uncwsports.com
