KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team hits the road for the first time in 2024 this weekend as it travels to Milwaukee to take on a pair of ranked foes in #13 Kansas and #24 Marquette.
WEEKEND INFO
Match One: Saturday, Sept. 7 | 2 pm | WMU vs. #13 Kansas |
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Match Two: Sunday, Sept. 8 | 2 pm | WMU at #24 Marquette |
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FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUVolleyball
THE FIRST SERVE
Western Michigan hits the road for the first time in 2024 this weekend as it heads to Milwaukee for matchups against #13 Kansas and #24 Marquette. The Broncos were 12-2 in true road matches in 2023 and 5-1 at neutral sites.
THE OPPONENTS
Kansas enters the weekend 4-0 and has dropped just one set over its first four matches. WMU is 1-3 all-time against the Jayhawks, with the last meeting coming in 2000. Marquette comes into the weekend 1-1 after falling to #5 Stanford on Wednesday. Western Michigan owns a 5-4 edge in the all-time series, with MU taking the most recent encounter in 2012. The Jayhawks and Golden Eagles meet on Friday night to open the weekend.
WMU VS BIG COMPETITION
Western Michigan hasn't faced a team from the Big 12 since playing Oklahoma back in 2013. The Broncos have won their last three matches against Big East foes, including a four-set win over Villanova last year. WMU has a pair of opportunities to pick up its first win over a ranked foe since winning at #18 Ohio State on September 5, 2003.
OPENING WEEKEND RECAP
The Broncos opened the season by going 2-1 at their annual home tournament, knocking off LMU and Loyola Chicago in four sets before dropping the finale to Clemson in four on Sunday. Setter
Logan Case (12.00 assists/set) and libero
Andelyn Simkins (4.75 digs/set) were Western Michigan's representatives on the weekend's All-Tournament Team.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After earning 11 MAC weekly honors a season ago on the way to winning the conference Player and Setter of the Year awards,
Logan Case picked up right where she left off, averaging 12.00 assists per set and registering a pair of double-doubles to take home the league's first Setter of the Week award.
SETTING THE STANDARD
Logan Case led the nation in total assists in 2023 and is currently the NCAA's active leader in career assists with 5,241. The Maineville, Ohio, native is nearly 1,000 ahead of Colorado State's Emery Herman, who is second among active DI setters. Already WMU's all-time leader, Case currently ranks seventh in Mid-American Conference history.
