KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team took care of business quickly on Tuesday night inside University Arena, blanking Northern Illinois (25-13, 25-18, 25-23) to complete the season sweep of the Huskies.

Western Michigan never trailed until the first point of the third set and registered a stellar .376 hitting percentage to NIU's .211. The Broncos had six players earn at least two kills and two record double-digit kills.

With the win the Broncos have now won nine of their last 10 matches and clinched the No.2 seed in the upcoming Mid-American Conference Tournament. The MAC West champions have an overall and MAC record of 15-4 this season, tied for the fourth most MAC wins in school history and the most since 2015.

Leading the way for the Broncos with her ninth match in a row in double figures was sophomore Maggie King with 13 kills. King also had a .250 hitting percentage against the Huskies to go along with one dig and one block.

Behind King was senior Rachel Bontrager with 12 kills and a .370 hitting percentage. Bontrager has registered double digit kills in 16 straight matches while adding six digs, two blocks and one service ace. Junior Meredith Phillips ranked third on WMU with eight kills and a team-high .500 hitting percentage.

Defensively WMU was led by senior Kaley Smith who tallied a team-high 10 digs. Along with her 10 digs Smith recorded three assists and one service ace. Reigning three-time MAC West Setter of the Week Logan Case paced the Broncos with 40 assists to go along with eight digs and one block. It's the seventh straight match for Case with at least 40 assists.

Rounding out the kills for WMU was Charley Andrews with seven, Cassandra Smigiel with six and Case with three.  At the net the Broncos registered four blocks while behind the line WMU had five service aces to NIU's one.

Western Michigan concludes its regular season at home this weekend, March 26-27 against Kent State. WMU will then head to the MAC Tournament hosted by Bowling Green, April 2-3.

Set One (WMU – 25, NIU – 13)
It was a quick start out of the gate for the Broncos who embarked on an early 3-0 run to gain a 6-3 advantage. An NIU kill trimmed the Bronco lead down to 11-9 but that was the closest the Huskies got in the first set. From that point on it was all WMU as the Brown & Gold embarked on a 10-2 run to take a 21-11 lead.

Western Michigan scored the final three points to take a 1-0 lead in the match. In the first set, WMU hit a staggering .481 while holding NIU to a .080 hitting percentage.

Set Two (WMU – 25, NIU – 18)
The Broncos carried their momentum over into the second set as WMU never trailed in the set and registered a .378 hitting percentage. WMU gained an early lead and continued to grow the lead midway through the set after kills from Bontrager and King made it 15-9 in favor of the Broncos.

Northern Illinois looked to close the gap late with a 3-0 run but once again the Broncos scored the final three points with two kills coming from King to give WMU a 2-0 lead in the match.

Set Three (WMU – 25, NIU – 23)
The third set proved to be a battle between the Broncos and Huskies as neither team led by more than three. Both team went back and forth to begin the set and were knotted at 14-14 midway through. NIU went on a 3-0 run to gain a 17-14 lead before the Broncos rallied back with four straight points to take a one-point lead.

A Northern Illinois service error tied the set at 22 prior to a kill from Charley Andrews and a NIU attack error sparked a 3-0 run for WMU and gave the Broncos a 24-22 advantage. NIU gained another kill before Meredith Phillips ended the set and the match with her eighth kill of the night.