EAST LANSING, Mich. – To wrap up non-conference play, Western Michigan volleyball split a pair of matches at the Auto Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational, defeating Albany in three sets (25-16, 25-17, 25-20) and falling to Michigan State in four sets (19-25, 22-25, 25-14, 20-25) on Saturday.

Over the weekend the Broncos went 2-1 and improved their overall record to 10-4. In three matches the Brown & Gold had an attack percentage of .226 while holding its opponents to just a .124 attack percentage. WMU had five players total double digit kills over the weekend.

Redshirt freshman Janell Williams and junior Kathleen Reilly were each named to the Auto Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational All-Tournament team.

In three matches, Williams registered 20 kills and had a .326 attack percentage which ranked eighth best amongst the teams at the tournament. The Ann Arbor, Mich., native was also tied for the team lead with 10 blocks, which ranked as the fifth most at
the invitational.

Reilly led the Spartan Invitational in digs with 46, averaging 4.18 per set. Over the weekend, the junior libero had five service aces, averaging 0.45 per set. It's the second all-tournament team honor for Reilly, earning the spot last weekend at the Delta Hotel by Marriott Kalamazoo Conference Center Tournament.   

Western Michigan begins Mid-American Conference play at home next weekend hosting Ball State and Toledo, Sept. 21-22. Friday's match against Ball State will be streamed on ESPN3 while Saturday's match with Toledo can be seen on ESPN Plus.

Match vs. Albany
Western Michigan volleyball started off the day at the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational with a sweep of Albany (25-16, 25-17, 25-20) for their fourth straight victory and 10^th win of the season.

The Broncos continued their stellar defensive effort on Saturday collecting five blocks and holding the Great Danes to a .040 attack percentage. At the net the Broncos have registered at least five blocks in three of the last four matches.

Offensively, WMU was led by freshman Meredith Phillips with 12 kills and a staggering .647 attack percentage. It was the fourth time this season Phillips has recorded double digit kills and was one shy of her career-high.

Sophomore Rachel Bontrager neared her sixth double-double of the season with 10 digs and seven kills. The Brown & Gold had seven different players earn a kill against Albany as the team hit an overall attack percentage of .266.

Leading the Broncos in assists once again was senior Mary Murphy with 35 to go along with three digs, one block and two kills. This season, Murphy has collected 30 or more assists in 10 of the 13 games.

It was a dominant first set for WMU, never trailing in the set to take a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-16 set victory. In the first, the Broncos held the Great Danes to a .030 attack percentage while hitting .243. Albany closed the gap to six late in the set before WMU rattled off three straight points for the set victory.

The defense held strong once again in the second set as the Broncos held Albany to a -.071 attack percentage to win the second, 25-17. Albany and WMU were deadlocked at 5-5 early in the second before a 3-0 run by the Broncos gave them an early advantage. From that point the Broncos ran away with the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Albany jumped out to an early lead in the third set thanks in large part to a 5-0 run to hold a 6-3 advantage. The Broncos roared back to tie the set at 12-12 after a block by Bontrager and sophomore Jordan White. The Broncos and Great Danes went back and forth down the stretch before WMU held a 21-19 lead that forced Albany to call a timeout.

Out of the timeout in the third, Western Michigan went on a 4-0 run with two kills from White along with a block to earn the third set victory and win their fourth match in a row.

Match vs. Michigan State
The Broncos saw its winning streak come to an end at the hands of one of the hottest teams in the NCAA as WMU fell to Michigan State in four sets (19-25, 22-25, 25-14, 20-25) on Saturday night.

Western Michigan saw its four-match win streak come to an end while Michigan State has won 11 straight matches, the longest streak in the country. WMU now has an overall record of 10-4.

Against the Spartans, WMU was led by sophomore Rachel Bontrager who registered 14 kills to go along with eight digs and two assists. Redshirt freshman Janell Williams ranked second on the team with seven kills and a .545 attack percentage.
Senior Mary Murphy guided the Broncos with 25 assists and seven digs while junior Kathleen Reilly led Western Michigan with 12 digs. At the net, junior Kate Carey registered four blocks while Williams ranked second with three.

The Broncos had a .139 attack percentage in the first set compared to MSU's .265. The two programs went back and forth early in the set before MSU rattled off three straight points to force WMU to call a timeout. However, the Spartans pulled away late
for the 25-19 first set victory.

After a Bontrager kill the Broncos and Spartans were knotted up at 22-22 in the second before Michigan State scored the final three points to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Bontrager neared a double-double in the second set alone with five kills and six digs. The Spartans dominated at the net in the second, recording five blocks to WMU's one.

It was all Western Michigan in the third set as the Broncos raced out to an 8-3 lead and never looked back en route to a 25-14 set victory. As a team in the third, WMU hit .375 with Bontrager once again leading the way with five kills. Reilly propelled the Broncos to the third set victory as well with three assists, three digs and two service aces.

Late in the fourth set, the Broncos cut the Spartan lead down to three before the Spartans recorded a kill and a service ace to end the match and earn the four-set victory. Neither team was dominant in the fourth set as WMU hit .067 compared to Michigan State's, .062.