KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Despite sophomore Rachel Bontrager collecting her sixth double-double of the season, Western Michigan volleyball fell to preseason Mid-American Conference West Division favorite Ball State in four sets (25-17, 17-25, 25-19, 26-24) on Friday night inside University Arena.  

Three Broncos reached double digit kills against the Cardinals with Bontrager leading the way with 17. Bontrager also led the team with 16 digs, just one shy of her career-high. Junior Kate Carey and freshman Meredith Phillips each registered 10 kills with Carey recording a team-high .286 attack percentage.

Sophomore Emma Yarber recorded double digit assists for the third time this season with 19 while also having three digs and one block. Senior Mary Murphy led WMU for the 14^th time this season with 21 assists.

Four Broncos earned double digit digs on Friday night as Bontrager led the way with 16. Junior Kathleen Reilly collected 15 digs while freshman Illyria Kalaj had 14 and sophomore Kaley Smith had 11.

As a team WMU hit just .164 compared to Ball State's, .175. Defensively, Ball State recorded 12 blocks compared to WMU's, seven.

The Broncos now have an overall record of 10-5 and are 0-1 in conference play. WMU seeks its first MAC win of the season on Saturday, Sept. 22, hosting Toledo inside University Arena. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN Plus.

First Set:
Battling back and forth early in the first set, the Broncos raced out to an 11-7 lead after a 4-0 run highlighted by kills by redshirt freshman Janell Williams and junior Kate Carey. Down the stretch, the Broncos scored six of the final seven points to take the first set, 25-17.

In the first, Bontrager led the way with five kills and had a staggering .385 attack percentage. As a team, WMU hit .222 and held Ball State to a .026 attack percentage. Williams along with Carey also added three kills for the Brown & Gold.

Second Set:
Once again the Broncos and Cardinals were deadlocked at 7-7 before Ball State inched ahead leading 15-11 at the media timeout. A 3-0 run late extended the BSU lead and propelled the Cardinals to a 25-17 second set victory.

The script was flipped in the second set as Ball State had a .256 attack percentage compared to WMU's, .098. BSU had six players earn a kill in the second set and held a 3-1 advantage in blocks.

Third Set:
It was a slow start for the Broncos in the third set as Ball State quickly jumped out to an 11-2 lead. However, WMU clawed its way back midway through the set to cut the Cardinal lead to five at 20-15. Late in the set the two teams traded points before Ball State came away with the 25-19 set victory.

Bontrager was dominant for WMU in the third collecting five kills along with four digs and two blocks.

Fourth Set:
Western Michigan went on a 3-0 run and an 8-2 run early in the fourth set to hold a 16-10 advantage midway through. The Cardinals came soaring back to tie the match at 20-20 thanks to a 4-1 run with three points coming by way of kills.

Ball State led 23-21 late before a Bontrager kill and a BSU attack error knotted the set back up at 23 all. A BSU kill and a kill by Phillips tied the set once again at 24-24 before back-to-back kills by BSU's Sydnee Vanbeek ended the set and the match.