BOWLING GREEN, OHIO – The Western Michigan volleyball team saw its remarkable season come to an end on Saturday night falling to No.1 seed Bowling Green in four sets (17-25, 25-16, 22-25, 20-25) in the Mid-American Conference Volleyball Championship Match.

Western Michigan's season comes to an end after posting an overall record of 18-5 and 17-4 in conference play. WMU's 17 MAC wins this season was tied for the second most in a single-season in school history and the most since 2000.

The Broncos went down swinging in the championship match as WMU hit .236 as a team with four players earning double-digit kills. For the second straight match senior outside hitter Rachel Bontrager and freshman setter Logan Case posted double-doubles as three different Broncos had double-digit digs.

The MAC Player of the Year Bontrager registered a match-high 21 kills to go along with 11 digs for her 11^th double-double of the season. The Valparaiso, Ind., native also had a .245 hitting percentage with two blocks. Bontrager ends the season having recorded double-digit kills in the final 20 matches of the season.

For the seventh match this season MAC Freshman & Setter of the Year Logan Case recorded a double-double with 54 assists and 13 digs. Case's 54 assists marked the 10th match this season with at least 50 assists.

With both players recording double-doubles in both matches at the MAC Volleyball Tournament, Rachel Bontrager and Logan Case were named to the MAC All-Tournament team.

Junior Meredith Phillips ranked second on the Broncos with 17 kills against the Falcons and hit .289. Behind Phillips was the duo of Charley Andrews and Maggie King with 11 kills each. Along with the 11 kills, Andrews had three digs and three blocks.

Senior libero/defensive specialist Kaley Smith led the Broncos on Saturday night with 24 digs to go along with one service ace and five assists. As a team WMU registered four blocks while BGSU had 11 blocks to go along with four service aces.

Set One (Western Michigan – 17, Bowling Green – 25)
The MAC Regular Season Champions got off to a fast start in the first set, scoring the first five points to force a Bronco timeout. WMU cut its deficit down to five before the Falcons went on a 3-0 run to gain a 13-5 lead at the midway point of the first set. Late in the first BGSU embarked on a 5-0 run to earn a 20-10 advantage.

Western Michigan rallied and cut the Falcon lead down to six thanks in large part to a 5-1 run with two kills from Meredith Phillips. However, that was as close as the Broncos got as a BGSU kill ended the set and gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead in the match.

Set Two (Western Michigan – 25, Bowling Green – 16)
It was a back and forth affair to begin the second set as WMU and BGSU were all knotted at 10 through the first 20 points. Out of the tie Wester Michigan embarked on a 5-0 run with kills from Charley Andrews, Maggie King and Rachel Bontrager to give WMU a 15-10 lead.

Western Michigan was the first to 20 in the second set thanks to a 4-0 run with back-to-back kills from Meredith Phillips. Down the stretch the Broncos dominated scoring nine of the final 12 points to win the second set 25-16 and tie the match at 1-1.

Set Three (Western Michigan – 22, Bowling Green – 25)
To begin the third set it was once again a back and forth battle between the Broncos and Falcons. Back-to-back kills from Meredith Phillips cut the Bronco deficit down to one before BGSU went on a 5-0 run to gain a 12-6 lead at the midway point of the third.

The two teams traded points before the Bronco offense responded, scoring nine of the last 10 points to take a 17-16 lead. The 9-1 run for WMU was highlighted by three kills from senior outside hitter Rachel Bontrager.

Late in the third set the two teams were tied at 20 before BGSU went on a pivotal 3-0 run to gain a 23-20 advantage. The Falcons ended the set scoring six of the final eight points to earn a 2-1 lead in the match.

Set Four (Western Michigan – 20, Bowling Green – 25)
Bowling Green got off to the fast start in the fourth set embarking on a 4-0 run to earn a 10-6 lead early on.  The Broncos rallied back with a 4-1 run to cut their deficit down to one as Bontrager registered three straight kills.

Midway through the set the Broncos and Falcons were knotted at 14 after a Western Michigan block. WMU was unable to gain the lead late in the fourth set as BGSU went on a 4-0 run late in the fourth to earn a 22-16 advantage. Down the stretch Western Michigan got kills from Bontrager and Phillips but was not enough as BGSU earned the final kill to win the MAC Championship.