Western Michigan Tops NIU in Straight Sets

Western Michigan Tops NIU in Straight Sets

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Thursday's Volleyball Results
Bowling Green 3, Miami 2
Western Michigan 3, Northern Illinois 0

Courtesy of MAC Sport Information Departments

Bowling Green 3, Miami 2
Box Score
Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball program outlasted the Miami RedHawks Thursday night (Nov. 14) with a 3-2 victory, taking the second, fourth and fifth sets. The win moves the Falcons record 10-5 within the conference and 16-11 on the season while the RedHawks fall to 11-4 in the MAC and 16-10 overall. With one match left in the regular season, the Orange and Brown need a win and a Miami loss on Saturday (Nov. 16) to claim a share of the MAC East Regular Season title. The Falcons will host Northern Illinois while Miami will return to Oxford to face Western Michigan. 

Set Scores
Set 1 - Miami 25, Bowling Green 20
Set 2 - Bowling Green 26, Miami 24
Set 3 - Miami 25, Bowling Green 20
Set 4 - Bowling Green 25, Miami 18
Set 5 - Bowling Green 15, Miami 11

Play-By-Play Notes
  • Bowling Green jumped out to a 10-6 lead early in the first set on the back of three team aces before Miami called a timeout. 
  • Miami would rally back to tie the set at 10-10, setting up a back-and-forth match for much of the set before Miami took a 17-14 lead with a 3-0 run, ended with a BGSU timeout. 
  • The cushion for Miami would stick before the Falcons called another timeout late in the set. 
  • The RedHawks would claim the first set 25-20 to take the early match advantage. 
  • In the second set, the Falcons again jumped out in front, 6-2, before Miami took a quick timeout. 
  • The run would continue past the timeout for Bowling Green, extending to 4-0 and an 8-2 lead, but Miami would answer with a 5-0 run to bring the score to 8-7 BGSU with the Falcons calling a timeout. 
  • The set would remain close, but the Falcons would stay in front with the action being paused by a Miami timeout with the score at 20-17 Bowling Green. 
  • Out of the timeout, the RedHawks went on a 3-0 run to tie the set at 20-20 with the Falcons calling a timeout of their own. 
  • The set would remain close with the Falcons edging out the RedHawks in extra points with a 26-24 set win. 
  • The third set would start out close with Miami holding a small lead for most of the set up until the first stoppage, coming via BGSU timeout with the score at 12-9 RedHawks. 
  • The action would continue until another Falcon timeout with the score at 19-13. 
  • The score moved closer with Miami taking a timeout of their own with a 22-17 lead. 
  • Miami's next timeout would come with the score at 24-20 RedHawks as the Falcons continued to close the gap. 
  • The RedHawks landed their final point of the set immediately out of the timeout to take a 2-1 lead in the match. 
  • In the third set, the Falcons opened out on top with an 11-8 lead before the first stop in the action, coming from a Miami timeout. 
  • The lead would increase for the Falcons with another timeout coming from the Miami bench with the score reading 18-12 BGSU. 
  • The lead would roll into a set win for Bowling Green, forcing a fifth set at the Stroh. 
  • To begin the fifth set, the RedHawks lept to a 5-2 lead with the Falcons taking a timeout. 
  • Out of the timeout, the Falcons utilized a 4-0 run to take a 6-5 lead and force the RedHawks to call a timeout of their own. 
  • Miami would go on to take the lead, but a 3-0 run would swing the score back to the Falcons, 11-9 forcing Miami to burn the final timeout of the match. 
  • From there, the Falcons would close the door on the match, winning 15-11.
Strong Individual Performances 
  • A well-rounded team effort for the Falcons, three players registered double-digit kills, being Katie Kidwell (14), Katelyn Meyer (11) and Jacqueline Askin (11). Kidwell's 14 was a season-high.
  • The team also totaled 14 blocks, five solo and nine assists. Lexi Sauber led the way with two solo and five assists while Isabelle Marciniak had five of her own, one solo and four assists. Kidwell logged four assists, moving her up to eighth all-time for career block assists with 324. Similarly, Meyer also had two assists, giving her 33 total blocks on the season, which is a single season career high, topping her 32 from last season. 
  • For digs, Julia Walz had 33, moving her season total to 550, which moves her up to eighth on the all-time list for single season digs, needing just nine more to move to seventh and 19 for sixth. 
  • Staying in the dig category, Paulina Iacobelli had 13 digs, matching her season-high, while Yelianiz Torres had 10 to set a new career-high. As a team, everyone who saw action for Bowling Green tallied at least one dig in the match. 
  • Marciniak not only had five blocks, but led the team in assists with 36 while also having three kills.
  • As a team, the Falcons had nine service aces, three of which belonged to Jessi Holly with both Torres and Hanna Laube having two apiece. Marciniak and Walz supplied one each as well. 

Up Next
The Orange and Brown will conclude the regular season on Saturday night (Nov. 16), taking on Northern Illinois for a 5 p.m. first serve. The match will be both Senior Night and Frozen Night with one fan winning tickets to see Frozen 2 in theaters. 

Western Michigan 3, Northern Illinois 0
Box Score
DEKALB, Ill.  – On the road Thursday night the Western Michigan volleyball defeated Northern Illinois in straight sets (25-18, 25-20, 25-17) to secure its fifth sweep of the season.

The Broncos were guided by a stellar offensive performance, registering a .267 attack percentage while holding the Huskies to a .067 attack percentage. WMU also had five service aces and 10 blocks compared to NIU's four. The Huskies on the night posted 24 attack errors.

Offensively WMU was led by freshman Maggie King with 10 kills to go along with a .241 attack percentage and six digs. King was the lone Bronco on the night to record double-digit kills. It's the fourth straight match King has recorded double-digit kills.

Redshirt sophomore Charley Andrews, sophomore Meredith Phillips and senior Willow Martin each recorded seven kills with Andrews earning a .312 attack percentage. Junior Rachel Bontrager ended her streak of 17 straight matches with double-digit kills, posting six kills to go along with 14 digs and five blocks.

Freshman Rose Duffy led the Broncos with 20 assists followed by junior Mary Marzo with 17. Senior Kathleen Reillyguided the Brown & Gold with 16 digs against the Huskies.

With the win Western Michigan improves its overall record to 14-13 and 5-10 in Mid-American Conference play. The Broncos conclude their regular season on the road on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 5:00 p.m. against Miami.

Set One (WMU – 25, NIU – 18)
The Broncos got off to a fast start in the first set against the Huskies, jumping out to a 9-3 lead before NIU rallied back with three straight points to make it 9-6. After a Bontrager kill, WMU jumped out to a 14-8 lead thanks in large part to seven attack errors from the Huskies.

Western Michigan was the first to 20 in set one after a 4-0 run highlighted by a block and a kill from Bontrager. To end the set, the Brown & Gold got kills from Williams and sophomore Meredith Phillips to take the set, 25-18.

Set Two (WMU – 25, NIU – 20)
The Broncos got off to a similar start in the second set, jumping out to an 8-3 lead before the Huskies rallied back  later in the set with a 4-0 run to tie the match at 9-9. NIU grabbed its first lead of the match midway through after embarking on a 6-1 run to grab an 11-10 advantage.

Trailing by one, WMU stormed back scoring three straight points to regain its lead at 13-11. The two teams traded points midway through the set before WMU went on a 3-0 run to earn a 23-17 lead. After NIU cut the lead down to four before a Phillips kill gave WMU the 25-20 set victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.

Set Three (WMU – 25, NIU – 17)
In the third and final set the Broncos recorded a staggering .500 attack percentage en route to the 25-17 set three victory. Once again WMU recorded a fast start, taking an 8-3 lead before embarking on a 5-0 run midway through the set to gain a 15-10 advantage.

Northern Illinois looked to make a comeback late in the third set, going on a 3-0 run to cut WMU's lead down to 19-15 before a kill from redshirt sophomore Charley Andrews propelled the Broncos to 20. To end the match, WMU embarked on a 4-0 run highlighted by a block from Williams and Bontrager to secure the sweep over the Huskies.