KALAMAZOO, Mich. – On day one of the Delta Hotel by Marriott Kalamazoo Conference Center Tournament, Western Michigan volleyball split its pair of matches sweeping Milwaukee (25-22, 25-18, 25-19) in the morning before falling to Loyola-Chicago in three sets (22-25, 20-25, 24-26) in the nightcap.

With the split, Western Michigan now has an overall record of 6-3. WMU will continue tournament play Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. against Canisius College. The Broncos then play Utah State in the final game of the tournament at 7:00 p.m. inside University Arena.

On the day WMU as a team hit .271 while holding its opponents to a .246 attack percentage. Junior Kate Carey in two matches registered 23 kills, averaging 3.83 per set to rank second on the team. Reining MAC West Offensive Player of the Week Rachel Bontrager led the Broncos with 28 kills, averaging 4.67 per set.

Senior Mary Murphy performed well on day one of the Broncos' home tournament collecting 71 assists, 13 digs and a team-high five blocks. Murphy finished the day averaging 11.83 assists per set.

The Broncos had four players earn double digit digs on day one with junior Kathleen Reilly leading the way with 40 digs. Freshman Illyria Kalaj recorded 21 digs with 10 coming in the sweep over Milwaukee. Murphy along with sophomore Kaley Smith each had 13 digs.

Match One vs. Milwaukee
In the first match of the Delta Hotel by Marriott Kalamazoo Conference Center Tournament the Broncos were dominant recording an attack percentage of .394 en route to a sweep over Milwaukee (25-22, 25-18, 25-19).

With the win, WMU extended its win streak to six and improved its overall record to 6-2. The Brown & Gold offense was led by junior Kate Carey with a match-high 12 kills. Carey had a staggering .550 attack percentage and was two kills shy of her career-high.

Reigning MAC West Offensive Player of the Week Rachel Bontrager was second on the team with 11 kills to go along with four digs and one block. Freshman Sammi Labolle was one kill shy of her career-high, recording seven kills and hitting .636 against the Panthers.

Senior Mary Murphy had an all-around performance against Milwaukee with 37 assists, seven digs, three blocks and one service ace. Junior Kathleen Reilly led the Broncos with 14 digs and has had double-digit digs in every match this season.
As a team the Broncos hit a staggering .394 compared to Milwaukee's, 216. At the net, WMU dominated with eight blocks compared to zero for Milwaukee.

In the first WMU jumped out to an early 11-7 lead after a 5-0 run highlighted by kills from sophomore Janell Williams and junior Willow Martin. The Panthers rallied back with a 3-0 ru to cut the WMU lead down to one before a block error and a kill by Williams extended the Bronco lead. Later in the set, Milwaukee tied it up 22-22 thanks to a 3-0 run before WMU scored the final three points to earn the 25-22 set victory.

Sophomore Kate Carey was integral for the Broncos in the second set, recording six kills with a .714 attack percentage to propel WMU to a 25-18 set victory. WMU trailed just once in the second set and hit .500 compared to Milwaukee's, .222. WMU used a 4-0 run to end the set with two of the final three kills coming from Bontrager.

The third set saw the Broncos race out to a 13-9 lead thanks to a 4-0 run that forced Milwaukee to call a timeout. WMU continued to extend its lead midway through and held a 20-14 advantage after a kill by Bontrager. The sophomore outside hitter was dominant down the stretch, registering two of her six kills in the set in the final three points to give WMU a 25-19 set and match victory.

Second Match vs. Loyola-Chicago
WMU saw its six game winning streak come to an end in the final game of day one at the Delta Hotel by Marriott Kalamazoo Conference Center Tournament, falling to Loyola-Chicago in three sets (22-25, 20-25, 24-26).

It was another double digit kill performance for Carey, who recorded 11 kills with a .375 attack percentage. Sophomore Rachel Bontrager led the Broncos with 17 kills while sophomore Janell Williams was third on the team with four.

Murphy continued her solid play with 34 assists to go along with six digs and two blocks. Sophomore Kaley Smith reach double digit digs for the fourth time this season with 11 while junior Kathleen Reilly led WMU with 26 digs.

It was a back and forth first set as the Broncos jumped out to an early 12-9 lead after a 3-0 run. WMU used another 3-0 run to extend its lead to three before Loyola-Chicago roared back to tie the match at 18-18. Tied at 21-21 late in the first, the Ramblers scored four of the final five points to earn the 25-22 set victory.

The Ramblers jumped out to a quick 7-4 lead in the second set and never looked back, defeating the Broncos in the second 25-20. As a team Loyola had a .300 attack percentage compared to WMU's .194.

Late in the third set the Broncos and Ramblers were tied at 17-17 before the Brown & Gold scored seven of the next eight points to take a 23-18 lead. Loyola responded back with a 5-0 run of its own to tie the match at 23-23. Both teams traded points before a WMU attack error and a Loyola kill by Morgan Gresham lifted Loyola to a 26-24 set victory and it's second win of the tournament.