OXFORD, Ohio – The Western Michigan volleyball team picked up its first road win of the season, defeating defending Mid-American Conference Tournament Champions Miami, 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 36-34, 25-19) at Millet Hall on Saturday evening.
Quiana Ware led the attack for WMU (9-4, 2-0 MAC) with 17 kills on the night, also recording a career-high 19 digs for a double-double. Freshman Rachel Bontrager had 15 kills, while senior middle blocker Sydney LeMay had 11 kills and a career-high eight digs. Kathleen Reilly had 28 digs to lead the team, while freshman defensive specialist contributed with a career-high 20. Junior setter Mary Murphy had 45 assists and eight digs.
Miami jumped out to an early 9-5 lead to gain control of the first set. The Broncos attempted to rally a few times but the RedHawks held on to the lead on their way to a 25-20 win.
WMU responded in the second set by jumping out to an 8-5 lead. Miami responded and took a 10-8 lead, with the teams then battling to a 12-12 tie. The RedHawks retook the lead and held it until an 8-3 run gave the Broncos a 22-21 lead. The teams traded points until it was tied 23-23 and a kill by Bontrager and an attack error on MU's Margaret Payne gave Western Michigan the win, 25-23.
The Broncos came out on top of a marathon third set 36-34. WMU jumped out to an early 7-4 lead but the RedHawks responded to tie it up at 7-7. From there, Western Michigan retook the lead and held it until a 9-1 run flipped the set in Miami's favor, 25-24. The Broncos staved off the loss after a service error on Miami's Morgan Seaman. The teams traded points and set-point until deadlocked at 34-34. A kill by LeMay and a ball handling error on Seaman gave the set to WMU, 36-34.
The fourth set was all Broncos. WMU dropped the first point and quickly went on a run to take an 11-5 lead. The RedHawks chipped away slightly at the lead but WMU kept them at a distance until a 5-0 run cut the lead to 21-18. WMU scored the next three points on two kills by Ware and an attack error on Miami. After a kill by MU, LeMay finished off the match with her 11th kill.
Western Michigan returns to University Arena to host in-state rivals Central Michigan on Friday at 7 p.m. and Eastern Michigan on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Bronco fans with a ticket to Saturday's football game against Ball State can get into the volleyball match for free.
