TOLEDO, Ohio – The Western Michigan volleyball team dropped a pair of close sets to begin the evening, but rallied to take the next three in a 3-2 win (24-26, 22-25, 25-22, 25-18, 15-9) over Toledo on Friday at Savage Arena. WMU's win keeps the Broncos a half game ahead of Ball State in the MAC West Division standings.
 
Maggie King equaled her career high with 25 kills to lead the attack for Western Michigan (14-5, 7-1). The junior also collected 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the campaign. Meredith Phillips and Madison Merz added 11 and 10 kills, respectively, for the Broncos.
 
Logan Case registered her team-leading 10th double-double of the season, as she handed out a match-high 58 assists and tallied 12 digs. It was the sixth 50+ assist performance of the season for Case, and third in WMU's last four contests. Mairead Boyle topped Western Michigan with 19 digs, while Andelyn Simkins chipped in 17.
 
The Rockets (14-5, 5-2) took six of the first eight points of the evening to jump ahead, 6-2. WMU cut the margin to 6-5, but another four straight Toledo points gave the hosts a 10-5 edge. Trailing 13-9, the Broncos ripped off seven in a row to move in front, 16-13. Another 4-1 spurt helped Western Michigan build its advantage to 20-15. With WMU on top 21-18, the Rockets reeled off six straight to regain the lead, 24-21. The Broncos fought back to tie it up, 24-24, but Toledo took the final two points to grab the first frame, 26-24.
 
Toledo took a 7-2 advantage at the start of the second set, but the Broncos quickly got back even at 9-9. The Rockets regained the lead and opened up a 15-11 margin. Western Michigan countered with a 5-0 run to grab a 16-15 edge. From there, the two teams remained within a point of each other until Toledo broke a 22-22 deadlock with three straight points to grab the set and a 2-0 lead in the contest.
 
After the Rockets built an early 8-2 advantage in the third set, WMU used 5-0 and 6-0 runs to take a 13-9 lead. Western Michigan remained in front until a 3-0 spurt brought Toledo level at 19-19. A 4-1 run got the Broncos back ahead, 24-21, and Abi Wilcoxson then clinched the third frame for WMU with a kill.
 
WMU kept the momentum going into the fourth set, and turned an 8-5 lead into 16-5 with an 8-0 surge. The Broncos cruised from there, maintaining an advantage of no fewer than six on their way to evening the match at 2-2.
 
Again it was Western Michigan who seized an early lead in the fifth frame, as the Broncos charged out to a 6-1 advantage. The Rockets drew within two, 7-5, but WMU responded with four straight to stretch the margin back to 11-5. Toledo got as close as 12-8, but three of the final four points went to Western Michigan, with King sealing the comeback with her 25th kill of the night.
 
The Broncos and Rockets conclude their series at 3 pm on Saturday afternoon. The match will be streamed live on ESPN3.