KALAMAZOO, Mich.  – On Saturday the Western Michigan volleyball team fell to defending Mid-American Conference regular season champion Bowling Green in three sets (22-25, 19-25, 13-25) inside University Arena.

Junior Rachel Bontrager was the lone Bronco to record double digit kills with 11, improving her streak of nine straight matches with double digit kills. The Valparaiso, Ind., native leads the team with 262 kills this season, averaging 3.80 per set.

Behind Bontrager was redshirt sophomore Janell Williams with nine kill to go along with a .316 attack percentage. Williams nine kills was the second most in a match this season and the most since having 10 back on Aug. 30 against Purdue Fort Wayne.

Freshman Rose Duffy recorded her fourth straight double digit assist match with 26 while also having two kills, one service ace and five digs. Senior Kathleen Reilly led the Broncos with 19 digs and has posted double-digit digs in every match this season.

As a team the Broncos were held to a .093 attack percentage while BGSU recorded a .286 attack percentage. At the net the Broncos had just two blocks to BGSU's five and from beyond the line registered one service ace to Bowling Green's four.

Western Michigan now has an overall record of 11-7 and 2-4 in MAC play. The Broncos are on the road next weekend for a pair of matches at Buffalo on Friday, Oct. 18 and at Akron on Saturday, Oct. 19. The Brown & Gold return home, Oct. 25-26 for match-ups against Ohio and Kent State.

First set (WMU – 22, BGSU – 25)
The Broncos and Falcons clashed in the first set as neither team led by more than four through the first 20 points. WMU trailed 15-11 midway through the first before a kill from Williams along with a block from senior Willow Martin and redshirt sophomore Charley Andrews cut the Bronco deficit down to two.

Late in the set the Broncos embarked on a 4-0 run to gain a 20-19 advantage and force BGSU to call a timeout. Out of the timeout the Falcons rallied with four straight points to regain the lead as WMU called its final timeout. Ultimately BGSU went on a 6-2 run to clinch the first set, 25-22.

Second Set (WMU – 19, BGSU – 25)
BGSU stormed out of the gate to begin the second set, posting a 7-2 run to gain a 12-7 lead. WMU battled back and cut its deficit down to three after a Williams kill before the Falcons rattled off six of the next eight points to gain a 22-15 advantage.

Down the stretch, WMU looked to make a comeback after back-to-back BGSU errors prior to a WMU service error helped the Falcons gain a 2-0 lead in the match.

Third Set (WMU – 13, BGSU – 25)
In the third set the Falcons once again got off to a fast start, going on a 7-2 run to take an early 11-3 lead.  After the two teams traded points, BGSU embarked on a 3-0 run midway through the set to grab a 15-5 lead.

Late in the third, the Broncos got two kills from sophomore Meredith Phillips to cut into the BGSU lead before a Falcon kill followed by a WMU attack error helped BGSU clinch the set and the match.