KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team had four players record 12 or more kills and hit a season-high .393 in a 3-1 win (25-20, 20-25, 25-15, 25-22) at Akron on Thursday evening.
 
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 3, Akron 1
LOCATION: James A. Rhodes Arena (Akron, Ohio)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (10-11, 6-4 MAC) | Akron (8-15, 4-7)
 
Logan Case fueled the WMU attack with a season-high tying 55 assists. Anna Calcagno paced the four Broncos in double-figures with a season-high 16 kills on a .467 hitting percentage. Keona Salesman added 15 kills without an error and hit .395. Mary Clare Brusek and Madison Merz tallied 12 kills apiece while hitting .556 and .550, respectively.  
 
Andelyn Simkins registered a team-high 15 digs to anchor Western Michigan's back line, and was joined in double-figures by Reeghan Boyer, who recorded 12 digs. Case came within one dig of a double-double, and Elana Erickson chipped in eight.
 
With the first set back and forth early, Western Michigan used a 7-1 run to open up a 17-12 advantage. Calcagno tallied three kills over a stretch of four points to help the Broncos increase the margin to 21-15. Akron got no closer than four for the remainder of the set. WMU hit .438 in the opening stanza, led by Calcagno who had eight kills on nine swings (.889).
 
Akron got out to an early 10-6 advantage in the second set. The Broncos slowly chipped away and eventually tied it up at 19-19. Even again at 20-20, the Zips rattled off the final five points in a row to even the contest at one set apiece.
 
After Akron tallied the first point of the third set, Western Michigan ran off the next six to grab a 6-1 lead. With the margin at 10-5, the Brown and Gold reeled off another four straight to increase the cushion to 14-5. WMU kept the Zips at arm's length the rest of the way to regain the match lead at 2-1.  
 
With the fourth set tied at 7-7, the Broncos used a 5-1 run to open up a 12-8 edge. The Zips closed to within two, 13-11, but Western Michigan countered with a five-point burst to increase the advantage to 18-11. With WMU in front 23-16, Akron ran off four in a row and then fought off a pair of match points to close the gap to 24-22. The comeback was halted there, as the Brown and Gold took advantage of a miscue to seal the four-set victory.
 
Western Michigan and Akron meet again on Friday night. First serve is once again set for 6 pm on ESPN+.