KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan Volleyball team improved to 3-0 in Mid-American Conference play after taking down Central Michigan 3-1 (25-22. 22-25., 25-16, 25-19), at University Arena on Friday evening.

Freshman outside hitter Rachel Bontrager out-dueled the MAC's leading attacker in CMU's Jordan Bueter and finished with a match-high 17 kills. Bontrager also had a career-high four aces and WMU had a season-high of 10. Sophomore outside hitter Quiana Ware also reached double-digits with 14 kills. Mary Murphy had 49 assists, while Kathleen Reilly led the match with 21 digs.

Ware had five kills in the first set as the Broncos took a 1-0 lead after beating the Chippewas 25-22. The set was back and forth until it was 8-8 and WMU sparked a small 5-1 run to take a 13-9 lead. CMU battled back and took an 18-15 lead after a 9-2 run. Murphy took serve after a kill by Ware and the Broncos erased the lead and briefly jumped ahead 20-19.  A kill by Central Michigan's Paige Carey tied it up at 20-20. WMU responded with a 4-0 error to push the lead to 24-20. CMU scored two straight before a kill by Olivia Kofie finished off the set.

The teams were deadlocked to the middle of the second set at 16-16 before the Chippewas broke away with the lead after an attacking error on the Broncos made it 17-16. CMU never trailed again in the set and pulled away from the 25-22 win.

Western Michigan dominated in the third set, hitting .529. Sophomore Willow Martin was inserted into the lineup and set a new career-high after four kills in the set. Bontrager hit 7-for-9 as the Broncos cruised to a 25-16 win.

WMU jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the in the fourth set but the Chippewas came back with a 7-3 run to tie it up at 10-10. Murphy tallied a kill and the Broncos never trailed the rest of the match. WMU built a 19-15 lead and kept CMU at bay before finishing the set after a kill by Ware, 25-19.

The Broncos have a quick turnaround and take on MAC rivals Eastern Michigan on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.