MUNCIE, Ind. – The Western Michigan volleyball team closed out the regular season with a five-set victory (25-18, 21-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-9) at Ball State on Saturday evening. The win was WMU's first over the Cardinals in Muncie since 2015.
 
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 3, Ball State 2
LOCATION: Worthen Arena (Muncie, Ind.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (17-12, 13-5 MAC) | Ball State (20-9, 13-5)
 
Logan Case narrowly missed a double-double, handing out 63 assists and collecting nine digs for the Broncos. Case's distribution set up four teammates four double-digit kills, led by Keona Salesman's 16. Anna Calcagno and Julia Marr tallied 14 kills apiece, and Madison Merz hit a blistering .550 to add 12 to the cause. Western Michigan also had eight service aces for the evening, with Merz tying her career high with four and Elana Erickson equaling her career-best with three.
 
Andelyn Simkins paced the defensive effort with a match-high 23 digs, while Carley Piercefield chipped in nine. Merz registered a team-high four blocks.
 
An 8-1 run helped Western Michigan get out to an 11-5 advantage in the first set. The Cardinals closed the gap to five several times, including at 19-14, but WMU used a three-point burst to extend its cushion to 22-14, which put the frame beyond reach.
 
Ball State got out to an 8-3 advantage in the early stages of the second stanza. Western Michigan countered with six straight points to move ahead, 9-8. With the Broncos leading 20-18, the Cardinals rattled off five in a row to begin a 7-1 run which gave the set to BSU, 25-21, and evened the contest at one apiece.
 
WMU had a 7-6 edge in the third wiped out by a five-point burst which put Ball State in front, 11-7. Trailing 13-10, the Broncos put together a 5-1 stretch to regain the lead, 15-14. The two teams went back and forth until a five-point BSU run put the hosts up 23-19. Western Michigan fought off a pair of set points, but the Cardinals held on, 25-22, to take a 2-1 advantage into the fourth.
 
The Broncos grabbed the first four points of the fourth set on the way to a 9-3 start. At 10-5, Ball State reeled off seven in a row to take a 12-10 advantage. Western Michigan immediately came back with four straight of its own to regain the lead, 14-12. The Cardinals worked their way back even, 17-17, but the Brown and Gold used another four-point spurt to move back ahead, 21-17. Kills by Calcagno and Marr sealed the deal for WMU and sent the contest into a decisive fifth frame.
 
With the fifth knotted up at 3-3, Western Michigan rattled off five consecutive points to take an 8-3 edge as the teams flipped sides. BSU trimmed the gap to four on several occasions, but the Broncos closed it out with three of the final four points of the evening, with Case and Merz combining at the net for the match-sealing block.  
 
Next up for Western Michigan is the 2024 Mid-American Conference Volleyball Championship. The seedings and bracket for the tournament are set be announced following the conclusion of the final regular season matches around the league later Saturday evening.