KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team heads out west this weekend for the LMU Invitational to take on three other squads which participated in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
TOURNAMENT INFO
Match One: Thursday, Sept. 11 | 6:30 pm | WMU at LMU |
LIVE VIDEO |
LIVE STATS
Match Two: Friday, Sept. 12 | 6:30 pm | WMU vs. #16 USC |
LIVE STATS
Match Three: Saturday, Sept. 13 | 3 pm | WMU vs. #19 BYU |
LIVE STATS
FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUVolleyball
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Western Michigan begins a stretch of six in a row away from home to close out non-conference play this week with three matches in three days at the LMU Invitational. The Broncos start tournament play with host LMU on Thursday, get #16 USC on Friday and then face #19 BYU in Saturday's finale.
LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos are coming off of a four-set loss to Michigan State on Monday night at University Arena. WMU claimed the opening set, but the Spartans bounced back to take the next three.
Molly Brown paced the Brown and Gold in kills for the evening with 12, while
Leah Richmond totaled 35 assists and contributed seven digs.
THE OPPONENTS
Like Western Michigan, each of the other three teams in this weekend's LMU Invitational made the NCAA Tournament last season. The Broncos played LMU in 2024, defeating the Lions in last year's season opener in Kalamazoo, to even the all-time series up at one apiece. Both USC and BYU enter the weekend ranked inside the top-20 of this week's AVCA Coaches Poll. WMU has met up with the Trojans just once prior to this weekend, with that lone encounter coming at a tournament hosted by Hawaii in 2005. Western Michigan owns an 0-2 all-time record against the Cougars, including facing them in the 1982 NCAA Tournament, which was the Brown and Gold's first-ever appearance in the Big Dance.
WMU VS RANKED FOES
USC and BYU serve as the first top-25 foes Western Michigan has faced in 2025. The Broncos had four regular season games against ranked opponents last season, and won at #24 Marquette in four sets to pick up their first win over a top-25 opponent since defeating #18 Ohio State in 2003.
LEAGUE LEADING LIBERO
Elana Erickson has excelled in the libero role for WMU in the first couple weeks of the season. The sophomore leads the conference in total digs (126), which ranks 14th in NCAA Division I. She is also the league leader in digs per set, tallying 4.67 per frame, which is 35th-best in the nation.
SETTING THE TABLE
Redshirt freshman setter
Leah Richmond has been among the MAC's best as well, ranking second in the league (and 10th nationally) in total assists with 253. Her 9.37 assists per set mark are ranked third in the conference. The Indianapolis native has also been racking up the digs, leading her to a team-best four double-doubles in seven contests.
