MILWAUKEE – The Western Michigan volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 deficit to claim a reverse sweep victory (17-25, 23-25, 25-13, 25-19, 15-10) over Milwaukee on Saturday evening.
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 3, Milwaukee 2
LOCATION: Klotsche Center (Milwaukee, Wis.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (8-3) | Milwaukee (5-5)
Western Michigan's comeback was keyed by a third set which featured seven of the team's season-high 13 service aces. It was the most aces served up by the Broncos in more than a decade.
Elana Erickson tallied a career-high five service aces, while
Annalise Patchett added a career-high four.
Leah Richmond collected her second consecutive double-double, tallying 48 assists and 12 digs. The redshirt sophomore set up three Broncos for double-digit kills, led by Patchett's season-high 18.
Izzy Swiercz also picked up a double-double for the second straight day after notching 15 kills to go with a career-high 13 digs.
Bri Zimmerman chipped in 11 kills for the Brown and Gold.
Joining the double-double duo of Richmond and Swiercz in double-digit digs were
Carley Piercefield, who recorded a team-high 16, and Erickson, who collected 14. Zimmerman registered a team-leading five blocks.
Holding an 8-7 edge in the first set, Milwaukee used an 11-2 surge to open up a 19-9 lead on the way taking the frame, 25-17.
Western Michigan broke a 5-5 tie with a three-point burst early in the second. With the margin at 10-9, the Broncos put together a 7-2 stretch to extend their advantage to 17-11. Milwaukee fought back, getting the frame back to even at 18-18. WMU crept back in front at 22-21, but the Panthers countered with four of the next five to claim the set and take a 2-0 edge into the break.
The Brown and Gold started fast in the third, picking up six of the frame's first eight points on the way to a 10-4 advantage. At 17-13, WMU ran off eight consecutive points to close out the set and extend the match to a fourth.
Western Michigan ran out to a 12-4 lead in the fourth set. With the margin at 16-9, the Broncos notched three straight points to extend the margin to double-digits, 19-9, which put the frame beyond reach and pushed the match into a decisive fifth set.
WMU picked up three straight points to grab a 7-5 edge in the fifth. After Milwaukee closed the gap to 8-7, the Brown and Gold ran off four in a row to build their cushion to 12-7. The Panthers worked their way back to within three, 13-10, before Swiercz put down a kill and then combined with
Gabby Weihe on a block to complete the comeback victory for Western Michigan.
The Broncos begin MAC play next weekend with a pair of contests at Ball State. Friday's series opener is set for 6 pm on
ESPN+.
