YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team earned a 3-0 victory (25-17, 25-14, 25-21) at Eastern Michigan on Friday night for its first Mid-American Conference road victory of the season.
 
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 3, Eastern Michigan 0
LOCATION: Gervin GameAbove Center (Ypsilanti, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (8-11, 4-4 MAC) | Eastern Michigan (12-11, 6-3)
 
Logan Case handed out 40 assists to help Western Michigan hit .266 as a team for the night. Anna Calcagno (.292) and Madison Merz (.375) paced WMU's attack with 11 kills apiece, while Keona Salesman contributed nine kills on a .318 hitting percentage.
 
Defensively, the Brown and Gold held Eastern Michigan to a .029 hitting percentage, the lowest an opponent has hit against the Broncos thus far in 2024. Andelyn Simkins anchored the defensive effort with a match-high 15 digs, while Carley Piercefield added 11 digs. Merz and Julia Marr shared the team lead with four blocks apiece.
 
The two teams traded the lead back and forth in the opening frame until Western Michigan used a 7-1 run to open up a 19-14 advantage. Eastern Michigan worked its way back to within three, 19-16, but the Broncos notched six of the final seven points to take the first stanza.
 
A 6-2 stretch helped WMU get out to a 7-4 advantage in the early stages of the second set. At 11-9, the Broncos ripped off six in a row to boost the margin to 17-9. Western Michigan cruised to a 2-0 match lead from there after hitting a sizzling .485 (17-1-33) in the second frame.
 
WMU kept its momentum going in the third as it grabbed seven of the first 10 points. The Broncos got their lead as high as five a few times, including at 20-15, before Eastern Michigan began to mount a charge. The Eagles rattled off four in a row to close the gap to one, 20-19. A key kill by Case on a setter dump to the back corner halted the run and made it 21-19. With the margin back down to one again at 22-21, the Brown and Gold got the final three points of the night to finish off the straight-set victory, their 12th consecutive win over EMU.
 
The Broncos return to University Arena on Tuesday evening as they welcome in Northern Illinois for a 6 pm first serve. For tickets to any WMU volleyball home match, visit wmubroncos.com/tickets.