KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team looks to complete an unbeaten run through the Mid-American Conference regular season on Wednesday night as it wraps up regular season play at Northern Illinois.
WMU (27-2, 17-0 MAC) at NIU (8-21, 6-11)
Wednesday, Nov. 15 | 7 pm |
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THE FIRST SERVE
Western Michigan wraps up its regular season on Wednesday at NIU. The Broncos have won 17 in a row, their longest winning streak since 2000, when they won 19 straight. WMU has the chance to go undefeated in conference play for the seventh time in program history. Western Michigan went undefeated in league play each year from 1983-1988, including going 18-0 in 1983, 1984 and 1985.
LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos are coming off of a weekend sweep at Toledo to run their winning streak up to 17. Western Michigan dropped the first set to the Rockets in Friday's series opener and then proceeded to win the next six sets to improve to 11-1 on the road this season. Having already sealed at least a share of the MAC regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the MAC Volleyball Championship, Friday's win sealed the outright regular season title.
MAC TOURNAMENT ON THE HORIZON
As the regular season champions, Western Michigan will be the No. 1 seed and host the MAC Tournament, which begins on Saturday. The Broncos will be hosting the tournament for the first time since 2000. As the No. 1 seed, WMU has a bye into Sunday's semifinals.
CASE NABS 10TH SETTER OF THE WEEK
Logan Case earned her 10th MAC West Setter of the Week award after fueling the Western Michigan offense with 86 assists (12.29/set) as the Broncos hit a combined .295 against Toledo. On Friday, the senior posted her third consecutive double-double, handing out 44 assists and collecting 11 digs. She followed that up with 42 assists on Saturday to help WMU hit .339 in a straight-set victory.
SETTING THE TABLE
Logan Case enters Wednesday leading NCAA DI in assists (1,220) and is second in assists/set (11.96). Fueled by the senior's setting prowess, the Broncos lead the MAC in assists/set (13.57, 3rd in DI) and kills/set (14.45, 4th). WMU is second in the league and 28th in DI with a .271 hitting percentage.
DIGGING IN DEFENSIVELY
Led by senior libero
Andelyn Simkins, WMU is atop the conference and 34th nationally with 16.26 digs/set. Individually, Simkins is second in the league and 26th in the nation at 4.91 digs/set.
SERIES HISTORY
Western Michigan leads the all-time series against NIU, 38-29, including a straight-set victory over the Huskies in Kalamazoo back on Oct. 17.
