KALAMAZOO, Mich. – For the fourth year in a row Western Michigan volleyball won its home opener as the Broncos defeated Chicago State in three sets (25-21, 26-24, 25-16) on Tuesday night inside University Arena.
For the fourth match in a row WMU was led by sophomore Rachel Bontrager who registered 11 kills to go along with two blocks and seven digs. Bontrager came into Tuesday's match ranking second in the Mid-American Conference with 4.36 kills per set.

Against the Cougars, the duo of freshman Sammi Labolle and sophomore Cassandra Smigiel each registered six kills while junior Kate Carey and freshman Meredith Phillips had five kills. Defensively, senior Mary Murphy neared her second double-double of the season with 29 assists and seven digs.

As a team the Broncos held Chicago State to a .128 attack percentage and recorded five blocks. Junior Kathleen Reilly led WMU in digs with 14 while freshman Illyria Kalaj earned her second straight double digit digs match with 10.

With the win the Broncos improve their overall record to 2-2 and have now won six of the last seven home openers. After a brief stint at home WMU hits the road this weekend for the Hampton Inn Invitational, hosted by IUPUI. The Brown & Gold play host school IUPUI on Friday, Aug. 31 before wrapping up the weekend with a doubleheader on Saturday against Northern Arizona and SIU-Edwardsville.

In the first set the Broncos held the Cougars to a .139 attack percentage en route to a 25-21 set victory. The two teams traded points early before Bontrager's second kill of the set tied things up at 12-12. Later in the set, WMU embarked on a 3-0 run thanks to two Chicago State attack errors to take a 22-18 lead. A service error by Chicago State ended the first and gave WMU a 1-0 lead in the match.

Trailing by three late in the second, the Broncos came roaring back with a 4-0 run with three straight kills by Carey and Bontrager to grab a one-point lead. Chicago State countered with a 3-0 run forcing WMU to call a timeout trailing 23-22. The set was tied
at 24-24 before a CSU attack error and a kill Labolle propelled WMU to a 26-24 set victory.

It was all Western Michigan in the third set as the Broncos held Chicago State to a .029 attack percentage while freshman Meredith Phillips registered five kills to secure the 25-16 set victory. The Broncos pulled away from the Cougars midway through the set going on a 10-1 run to take a commanding 16-8 lead.

Chicago State cut the Bronco lead down to six in the third before WMU scored four of the final five points to capture the set and match victory.