KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team dropped a tight first set on Friday night, but bounced back to win the next three in a 3-1 victory (27-29, 25-21, 25-21, 25-19) over Ball State in front of a crowd of 1,024 at University Arena. The crowd was the largest for a Western Michigan home match since 2019.
 
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 3, Ball State 1
LOCATION: University Arena (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (24-2, 14-0 MAC) | Ball State (14-11, 11-3)
 
The victory extends WMU's winning streak to 14 in a row and puts the Broncos at 14-0 in Mid-American conference play, the first time they've won their first 14 league matches since going a perfect 16-0 in 1986.
 
Logan Case tied her season high with 56 assists and added 12 digs for her sixth double-double of the campaign. For the third consecutive contest, Case set up three teammates for double-digit kills. Mary Clare Brusek led the pack with a career-high 19 kills on a .531 hitting percentage. Joining Brusek in double-figures were Maggie King, whose 18 put her in double-figures for the fifth straight contest and 13th time in 14 MAC contests, and Keona Salesman, who put down 17, her sixth consecutive match with double-digit kills.
 
Leading the charge defensively was Andelyn Simkins, who dug up 26 balls, her fifth straight contest with 20 or more. Anna Calcagno recorded 20 digs for the night to match her career high, and Reeghan Boyer added 14 digs to the cause for the Broncos.
 
Western Michigan got off to a fast start, tallying five of the first six points of the evening. Ball State fought back to within one, but a 6-2 WMU response extended the margin back out to 15-10. The Brown and Gold led by as many as seven before the Cardinals charged to get back into it, eventually tying up the opening frame at 23-23. The Broncos got to set point at 24-23, but BSU won the next two points to flip the script and take a 25-24 edge. The two teams then traded points back and forth until the Cardinals eventually won back-to-back to take the first set, 29-27.
 
It was the visitors who grabbed an early lead in the second frame, as BSU jumped in front, 6-2. Trailing 12-10, the Broncos rattled off seven consecutive points to open up a 17-12 advantage. Ball State responded with seven of the next 10 to close the gap to 20-19. At 21-20, WMU tallied three in a row, and after the Cardinals fended off one set point, a Brusek kill closed out the frame and evened the contest at one set apiece.
 
The Broncos held a 6-3 edge early in the third frame, but a 7-1 run pushed the Cardinals into a 10-7 lead. Western Michigan answered with three in a row to draw level, 10-10. Another three-point run put Ball State back on top, 17-14. BSU remained ahead until 21-18, when the Brown and Gold ripped off seven consecutive points to take the set and seize control of the match, 2-1. King had four kills, including three in a row at one point, during the run.
 
Western Michigan used a 4-1 spurt to break a 6-6 tie in the fourth frame. The Cardinals countered with a 6-2 run to climb into the lead, 13-12. The Broncos then used a 5-1 stretch to wrestle the lead back, 18-15. BSU got to within two a couple of times, but WMU proceeded to notch five of the final six points of the night to seal its 14th consecutive victory.
 
The Broncos and Cardinals wrap up their weekend series on Saturday afternoon at University Arena. Saturday is Senior Day for Western Michigan, with Mairead Boyle and Maggie King set to be honored in a pre-match ceremony. First serve is then scheduled for 3 pm. For tickets to any WMU volleyball home match this season, visit wmubroncos.com/tickets, or call 1-888-4-WMU-TIX.