KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team heads to Chicago this weekend for a pair of matches at the UIC-DePaul Invitational. 

WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Match One: Saturday, Sept. 12 | 5 pm | WMU at DePaul | WATCH LIVE | LIVE STATS
Match Two: Sunday, Sept. 13 | 3 pm | WMU at UIC | WATCH LIVE | LIVE STATS

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WEEKEND IN THE WINDY CITY
Western Michigan continues its stretch of 10 consecutive matches away from home this weekend with a pair of contests at the UIC-DePaul Invitational in Chicago. The Brown and Gold face DePaul on Saturday before taking on UIC on Sunday.

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos are coming off of their first loss of the season on Tuesday night after falling 3-0 at Michigan State. Leah Richmond handed out 24 assists in the contest, while Izzy Swiercz put down a team-high eight kills. Elana Erickson spearheaded the defensive effort with nine digs. 

THE OPPONENTS
DePaul enters the weekend at 4-2, having dropped its last two contests to ranked Big Ten opponents after starting the campaign with four straight wins. The Broncos and Blue Demons are meeting for the second straight year, with DePaul having won in Kalamazoo last August. WMU owns an 11-3 advantage in the all-time series. UIC comes into tournament play at 1-5 so far in 2026. The Broncos have dominated the all-time series against the Flames, owning a 12-1 record and winning each of the last eight encounters. 

SETTING THE TABLE
An All-MAC First Team and MAC All-Freshman Team selection in 2025, setter Leah Richmond continues to fuel the Western Michigan attack, leading the MAC and ranking 31st in the nation at 10.32 assists per set. Richmond's distrubution has helped the Brown and Gold hit over .300 twice, and has them ranked fourth in the league and 46th in NCAA Division I with a .263 team hitting percentage. 

DEFENSE GETTING IT DONE
After leading the nation in total digs, ranking fourth nationally in digs per set and 35th nationally in opposing hitting percentage last year, the WMU defense has picked up right where it left off. Through the first seven matches of 2026, the Brown and Gold are 61st in NCAA DI in digs per set (14.72) and 75th in blocks per set (2.32), which has helped them post the 29th-lowest opposing hitting percentage in the country at .151. Both Carley Piercefield and Elana Erickson rank inside the top-10 in the MAC in total digs, while Gabby Weihe enters the weekend fourth in the conference in total blocks (29) and fifth in blocks per set (1.16).

BALANCED BRONCOS
Western Michigan has used a balanced offensive attack through the season's first few weeks, with four different Broncos having recorded double-digit kills at least once in 2026. The trio of Annalise Patchett, Izzy Swiercz and Gabby Weihe are all above 2.50 kills per set, with Weihe ranked second in the league and 26th nationally with a .442 hitting percentage.