KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team took down first-place Toledo in four sets (26-24, 25-21, 14-25, 25-23) on Friday night to hand the visitors their first conference loss of the season.
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 3, Toledo 1
LOCATION: University Arena (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (12-6, 4-3 MAC) | Toledo (14-3, 6-1)
Leah Richmond narrowly missed out on her fifth straight double-double, notching 42 assists and nine digs. The redshirt sophomore set up a trio of teammates for double-digit kills, with
Gabby Weihe's 16 kills on a .361 hitting percentage leading the way.
Annalise Patchett registered a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs, while
Izzy Swiercz totaled 10 kills and eight digs.
Carley Piercefield anchored WMU's backline with 19 digs and
Elana Erickson contributed 17 digs.
Western Michigan built a 10-6 edge in the early stages of the first set. Toledo countered with five of the next six points to draw level at 11-11. With the Rockets holding an 18-17 advantage, WMU reeled off four straight to move back in front, 21-18. Again the visitors got back even at 21-21. Tied once more at 24-24, Toledo made a service error and then Swiercz and Weihe combined at the net for a block to clinch the frame for the Broncos, 26-24.
The Brown and Gold were hot of the gates in the second, claiming nine of the frame's first 11 points. A three-point burst then helped WMU extend the margin to eight, 14-6. Toledo closed the gap to two a couple of times, including 23-21, but the Broncos got a kill from Weihe and a service ace from Patchett to take a 2-0 match advantage into the break.
The third set was tied nine different times early, including at 12-12. The Rockets then proceeded to rattle off 13 of the next 15 points, including the final nine in a row, to keep the match going into a fourth frame.
Toledo used a 5-1 spurt to break an 11-11 tie and grab a 16-12 advantage in the fourth. At 19-14, the Broncos put together an 8-3 stretch to get back even at 22-22. The Rockets notched the next point, but Western Michigan tallied the final three points of the evening, putting the match away on a kill by Erickson.
The Broncos and Rockets match up again on Saturday afternoon, with first serve slated for 4 pm at University Arena. For tickets to any WMU volleyball home match, visit
wmubroncos.com/tickets.
