MUNCIE, Ind. – The Western Michigan volleyball team was eliminated in the semifinal round of the Mid-American Conference Championship after a 3-1 loss (25-23, 21-25, 25-18, 25-11) to top-seeded Ball State on Monday at BSU's Worthen Arena.
WMU's season ends with a 19-12 overall record, while Ball State improves to 28-3 and advances to Wednesday's championship match against the winner of Monday's second semifinal between the two seed Bowling Green and the three seed Ohio.
For the second straight match, both
Julia Marr and
Meredith Phillips led the Western Michigan attack with 15 kills apiece. Marr finished her freshman campaign with double-digit kills in each of WMU's final six matches.
Maggie King chipped in 10 kills for the Broncos.
Logan Case registered her team-leading 16th double-double of the season after handing out 47 assists and collecting 13 digs.
Andelyn Simkins led Western Michigan with 24 digs, while
Maddie Arundel added 12.
Sammi LaBolle tallied six kills and a team-high four blocks. Monday marked the final match as Broncos for both LaBolle and Phillips.
Neither team led by more than two points throughout a first set which featured 18 ties. Ball Stated nudged out ahead, 20-18, but the Broncos drew back even at 20-20. From there, the two teams traded points until the Cardinals broke a 23-23 deadlock with back-to-back points to claim the opening stanza, 25-23.
In the second frame, WMU broke a 5-5 tie with an 8-2 surge to open up a 13-7 advantage. Marr recorded a pair of blocks and a kill during the run. With the Broncos on top 15-10, the Cardinals put together a 7-1 stretch to move in front, 17-16. Western Michigan countered with six of the next seven to regain control, 22-18, and held on from there to even the match at 1-1. The Broncos hit .421 during the second set.
The two teams were level at 5-5 again in the third set before a 4-1 Ball State run put the hosts up, 9-6. With BSU in front 12-10, the Cardinals used an 8-2 surge to build a 20-12 cushion. WMU tallied the next three to get the margin down to 20-15, but Ball State answered with four of the next five to put the set beyond reach.
Ball State jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the fourth frame. At 8-4, the Cardinals tallied five consecutive points to push the margin to 13-4. Western Michigan drew no closer than eight the rest of the way.
