OXFORD, Ohio – The Western Michigan volleyball team saw its four-match win streak come to an end on Thursday night falling in four sets (14-25, 19-25, 25-15, 24-26) at Miami inside Millett Hall.
The Broncos had three with double digit kills led by senior
Rachel Bontrager with 16 followed by freshman
Andelyn Simkins and redshirt junior
Janell Williams with 10. Bontrager nearly earned her third double-double of the season with nine digs to go along with .180 attack percentage. The senior outside hitter has now registered double digit kills in five straight matches.
Simkins recorded her first double-double as a Bronco with a career-high 10 kills and a career-high 14 digs. Simkins joined Bontrager and fellow freshman
Logan Case as the trio of Broncos to record a double-double this season. Simkins hit .147 on Thursday night and had two blocks and two service aces.
For the first time this season
Janell Williams posted double-digit kills (10) while recording a staggering .450 attack percentage. Williams also led the Broncos with five blocks, marking the third straight game with at least four blocks. Behind Williams, redshirt sophomore had her best match of the season with a season-high nine kills and a .286 attack percentage.
Defensively senior
Kaley Smith led the Broncos with 20 digs, marking the sixth straight match with double-digit digs. Smith is now just 29 digs away from becoming the 10
th player in school history to eclipse 1,000 career digs.
Freshman
Logan Case posted 42 assists against Miami to go along with two kills and a .333 attack percentage. The Maineville, Ohio native also had a career-high four blocks and seven digs.
The loss snapped WMU's four-match winning streak as the Brown & Gold now have an overall and Mid-American Conference record of 6-3. Western Michigan is back in action on Friday, Feb. 19 against Miami with first serve set for 6:00 p.m. on ESPN Plus.
First Set (WMU – 14, Miami – 25)
Early on in the first set the two teams went back and forth as WMU and Miami traded the first 11 points. Miami pulled away midway through the set thanks in large part to a 11-2 run to gain a 20-9 lead. Western Michigan rallied late after a block followed by a kill from
Meredith Phillips to trim the Redhawks lead down to 10. However, Miami pulled away down the stretch and took a 1-0 lead in the match. Western Michigan hit just .038 in the first set compared to Miami .409.
Second Set (WMU – 19, Miami – 25)
Western Michigan got out to an early lead at 6-3 after kills from Simkins, Bontrager and Williams. Miami rallied back and tied the match at 10 after two kills and a RedHawk service ace. Midway through the second the Broncos gained a 15-14 advantage after three straight kills from
Rachel Bontrager.
The match was tied at 17 late in the second set before the RedHawk offense got hot, ending the set on a 9-2 run to grab a 2-0 lead in the match.
Third Set (WMU – 25, Miami – 15)
It was a tightly contested set early between the Broncos and the RedHawks before three straight kills from Sammi Labolle propelled the Broncos to a 15-10 lead. After a block from Miami followed by a kill, the RedHawks cut the WMU lead down two midway through the third.
That was as close as Miami got in the third set as Western Michigan ended the set on a 9-1 run to win the third set 25-15. To end the 9-1 run the Broncos capitalized from behind the line as
Andelyn Simkins delivered two service aces during the final three points.
Fourth Set (WMU – 24, Miami – 26)
The fourth set was a battle once again as neither team led by more than four with both programs registering attack percentages over .300. Midway through the fourth the Redhawks had a 18-14 lead after Miami embarked on a 5-1 run. It was ultimately a 7-3 run for Miami to gain a 20-16 advantage late in the fourth.
Trailing 24-21 late in the fourth set the Broncos rallied back and tied the set at 24. WMU embarked on a 3-0 run late with two kills from
Janell Williams along with a kill from Bontrager. After a timeout, Miami countered with back-to-back kills to win the fourth set and the match.
