Courtesy of MAC Sport Information Departments
Akron 0, Wright State 3
Box Score
The Akron volleyball team dropped its final match of the Xavier Tournament, losing in straight sets to Wright State, 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-19).
The Zips fell to 2-4, while Wright State improves to 4-1.
"Unfortunately, we weren't able to capitalize on some strong passing early on and find a way to score against an incredibly scrappy Wright State defense. We're excited to get back in the gym on Monday and get better" said head coach Tom Hanna.
Leading the way for the Zips offensively were Ashley Richardson (Doylestown, Ohio), Megan Kelly (Batavia, Ill.), and Shelby Fulmer (Perrysburg, Ohio), who all finished with 6 kills. Junior Alexis Adleta (Mentor, Ohio) also contributed on both ends, totaling 5 killls and finishing with a team-high 11 digs. Junior setter Emily Weigand dished out 24 assists.
In the first set, Akron started strong, opening the set with a 4-0 run, which included 2 blocks, both by Richardson and Fulmer. After a side-out by Wright State, Akron went on another 4-1 run, forcing the Raiders to call its first timeout.
The Zips continued its dominance out of the timeout, winning four of the next six points, pushing the score to 12-4. From there, the Raiders began to turn the tide, going on an eight-point run, decreasing the deficit to one, 12-11.
A bit of back-and-forth scoring kept the match close, but with the Zips ahead 17-16, Wright State proceeded to win 9 of 10 points, including a 6-point run to win the set, 25-18.
The Raiders were able to carry its momentum into the second set, gaining an early 10-5 lead over Akron and not looking back, as the Zips struggled to find its groove. A four and three-point run by the Raiders propelled them to win the second set, 25-13.
The third set saw an improved performance by the Zips from the previous set, however, still struggled to keep up with Raiders' offense. An early 10-4 lead forced Akron to call its first timeout of the set. The Zips were able to capitalize, thanks to a kill by Richardson, followed by a block by Richardson and Weigand.
Wright State were able to respond with two points of its own, and continue to overpower the Zips for the remainder of the, as they went on to take the final set, 25-19, and ultimately the match.
Ball State 0, Gonzaga 3
Box Score
Freshman middle Marie Plittregistered 10 kills and hit a career-best .643 (10-1-14), but it was not enough to lift the Ball State women's volleyball team to a victory over Gonzaga Saturday afternoon in its final match of the Gonzaga Invitational.
After opening the tournament with a pair of wins Friday, the Cardinals (3-3) entered the day with a chance to clinch the invitational title outright. Unfortunately, the host Bulldogs (4-1) were able to recover from their Friday night loss and pull out a 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-21) sweep of Ball State.
While Plitt provided almost a third of the Cardinals' offense Saturday, the team as a whole managed to hit .244 (36-14-90) which is its second-best effort of the young season.
Unfortunately, Gonzaga countered with a .370 (45-11-92) rate of success and served up eight aces to pull out the victory. The Zags also out-blocked the Cardinals 4-to-2, while Ball State held a slim 35-to-34 advantage in digs.
Ball State's top attacker from Friday, freshman outside Natalie Risi, added eight kills to go along with seven digs. Classmates Allison Hamaker and Natalie Mitchem followed with six kills apiece and each added a block assist. In the backcourt, senior libero Kate Avila was credited with a team-high 14 digs.
The Cardinals still have a shot at earning the tournament title depending on how today's other two matches play out. In addition, all-tournament selections will be announced after the final match of the tournament which is slated for 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
Bowling Green 3, Cleveland State 1
Box Score
The Bowling Green State University volleyball program picked up another win on Saturday topping Cleveland State 3-1 to improve to 3-0 at the Stroh Center this season. The Falcons now sport a 4-2 record on the year, having competed in two tournaments on the schedule.
Set Scores
Set 1 - Bowling Green 25, Cleveland State 21
Set 2 - Bowling Green 25, Cleveland State 18
Set 3 - Cleveland State 25, Bowling Green 21
Set 4 - Bowling Green 25, Cleveland State 21
Hampton Inn Bowling Green Invitational MVP
Isabelle Marciniak was named the MVP of the tournament following its conclusion. Over the three matches, Marciniak totaled 121 assists, averaging just over 40 a match. Marciniak also added 11 kills, 33 digs, five block assists and one block solo to her line.
Hampton Inn Bowling Green Invitational All-Tournament Team
Katelyn Meyer and Petra Indrova were both named to the All-Tournament team following the conclusion of the invitational. Meyer totaled 35 kills over the three matches, including a team high 17 against Butler. As for Indrova, she added 42 kills during the tournament along with 20 digs. Indrova registered career highs in kills, total points and digs against Cleveland State.
Play-By-Play Notes
To begin the first set of the day for the Falcons, BGSU went on a 4-0 run, forcing a quick Cleveland State timeout.
After falling behind, Bowling Green used a 5-0 run to retake the lead 18-14, eventually capturing the first set 25-21.
The Orange and Brown showed dominance in the second set with just one tie and one lead change throughout the set, resulting in a 2-0 Falcon lead.
The third set ended in favor of Cleveland State, but was close the entire duration of the set, seeing four lead changes and 10 tied scores.
Similar to the third set, the fourth set saw a handful of tied scores and a couple lead changes, but BGSU was able to claim the victory at the conclusion.
Strong Individual Performances
Freshman Petra Indrova exploded for 22 kills during the match, a career high and the highest mark by a Falcon so far this season and was also the first time a BGSU player surpassed 20 kills this year.
For the third time this season, Isabelle Marciniak logged 40+ assists, notching 42 in the win over Cleveland State. Marciniak also contributed a season-high 17 digs.
Matching her career high, Julia Walz had 31 digs for the second time this season. She had 31 against La Salle as well.
Marciniak and Indrova both had double-doubles for the Falcons. Marciniak had her aforementioned 42 assists and 17 digs with Indrova having 22 kills and 14 digs.
Buffalo 3, College of Charleston 2
Box Score
The University at Buffalo volleyball team ended the weekend on a high note as the Bulls defeated College of Charleston 3-2 in the final match of the UNIWYO Invite. The victory improves Buffalo to 2-4 on the season.
The Bulls took the marathon contest 25-19, 27-29, 25-22, 20-25, 16-14 despite being outhit narrowly by the Cougars. UB led early in the first set 7-4, when the Bulls went on a 7-1 run to take an 11-8 advantage. With the set tied at 17-17, Buffalo rattled off seven straight points to take control of the set. The Bulls got a pair of kills during the run from redshirt sophomore Monika Simkova, who would end up clinching the set for UB with another kill.
Buffalo would race out to a 17-10 lead in the second set, but Charleston would come all the way back to take it in extra time, 29-27, tying the match up at 1-1. Back to back service aces from Simkova gave Buffalo a 16-12 lead in the third and even though Charleston would tie it at 22-22 late, the Bulls scored the final three points to take the set, capped off on a kill from senior Rachel Sanks.
The Bulls trailed 16-12 in the fourth set when UB went on a 6-1 run to take an 18-17 lead following a block from freshman Abby Leigh and senior Kristina Nieves. An 8-2 Cougars run though would give Charleston the set and send the match to five.
Buffalo trailed 10-7 in the fifth before scoring three straight tie it up at 10-10. The two teams traded the lead back and forth before Charleston had the first match point at 14-13. A kill from Simkova fought it off and then back-to-back kills by Sanks clinched the set and the match.
Simkova and senior Polina Prokudina each led the Bulls with 14 kills. Simkova added five service aces, six digs, and four blocks as she was named to the All-Tournament team. Junior Lexi Nordmann had nine kills and just one error as she hit .444 for the match.
Sanks added eight kills, while Nieves had seven and Leigh finished with six. Senior Scout McLerran dished out 31 assists as she became just the sixth player in school history to go over 3,000 for her career. Freshman Emma Puzausky added 16 assists, and sophomore libero Paige Beck had seven.
The Bulls had 10 service aces as a team, paced by the five from Simkova. Prokudina and Nordmann each finished with two aces and Leigh had one.
Prokudina completed her double-double with a team-high 12 digs, followed by 11 from Beck. Simkova and freshman Jenna Sonnenberg each added six. Buffalo had 9.0 blocks as a unit led by four each from Nieves and Simkova.
Central Michigan 0, UIC 3
Box Score
The Central Michigan volleyball team dropped its final game of the Chippewa Invitational when it fell to Illinois-Chicago on Saturday, 27-25, 25-15, 25-16, at McGuirk Arena.
It was the first loss of the season for the Chippewas, 5-1, who opened the tournament on Friday with wins over Eastern Illinois and North Dakota State.
How It Happened
CMU opened an 11-5 lead in the first set. The Flames responded, won the set, and rode the momentum to a straight-sets win.
"I don't think today was our best day," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "I think we started off pretty well, but I thought we took our foot off the gas pedal a little bit. Being aggressive was scoring us points and got us off to an early lead.
"I think we just allowed them to claw their way back into the first set. That [set] was back and forth, it didn't go our way, but I thought we outplayed [UIC] for a majority of that set, just to have them snatch it from us."
Gawlik said we would have liked to see his team be more aggressive because in volleyball, a team must score 25 points to win the set, as opposed to other sports, in which a team can simply run out the clock.
"I would have loved to see us be a little more aggressive," Gawlik said. "Teams sometimes can get caught looking at the scoreboard. Although we opened up an early lead, we got a little tentative with scoreboard watching, hoping that it would be enough to win set one instead of making sure we were aggressive."
Leaders
Kalina Smith had eight kills to lead CMU, while Kendall Braate posted 25 assists, Meg Kern had 13 digs, and Megan Sivertsen led the Chippewas with a .556 hitting percentage (five kills in nine attempts).
CMU junior middle blocker Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez was named to the all-tournament team. She finished with 23 kills and a .307 hitting percentage. She also had 10 digs and three aces.
Eastern Michigan 3, McNeese 0
Box Score
The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team bounced back to win its final match of the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic, taking down McNeese State in straight sets, 25-11, 25-20, 26-24, Saturday, Sept. 7.
Redshirt senior Cassie Haut (Monroe, Mich.-St. Mary's Catholic Central) led the way for the EMU offense on the day, finishing with 12 kills while hitting .400, and also added a season-high seven digs, and five total blocks. Junior Franki Strefling (Niles, Mich.-Buchanan) secured her sixth double-double in six games with an 11-kill, 16-dig performance.
The setting duo of senior Riley Taylor (Indianapolis, Ind.-Perry Meridian) and freshman Jayden Otto (Crystal Lake, Ill.-Prairie Ridge) had 17 and 15 assists, respectively, while Taylor also finished with nine digs and one kill. Strefling's 16 digs on the day set the high mark for the Eagles.
Freshman Alayna Jansky (Mukwonago, Wis.-Mukwonago) tied her career-high with eight kills, while Julia Fisher(Kailua, Hawaii-Le Jardin Academy) and April Houston (Minneapolis, Minn.-Southwest) each added six.
Kent State 3, Idaho State 1 // Box Score
Kent State 1, Robert Morris 3 // Box Score
Kent State lost to undefeated Robert Morris, 3-1 (17-25, 25-23, 17-25, 20-25), in the championship match of the Golden Flashes Classic on Saturday evening. The Golden Flashes beat Idaho State, 3-1 (25-16, 25-20, 20-25, 26-24), in the team's morning match at the M.A.C. Center.
Senior Ashley Makruski and sophomore Erin Gardnerearned spots on the all-tournament team. Makruski posted 27 kills and a solid .257 hitting percentage at the pin, while Gardner totaled 90 digs (6.92 per set) over the three-match weekend.
Match 1: Kent State 3, Idaho State 1 (25-16, 25-20, 20-25, 26-24)
Libero Erin Gardner led another stellar defensive performance with a career-high 37 digs. Gardner's total are the seventh-most in a match in school history and the fifth-most in a four-setter. Freshmen Savannah Matthews (16) and Carissa Reyes(16) and Gracey Jarecke (10) all added double-digit digs. The offense was led by another freshman, as Taylor Heberle posted a career-best 20 kills and a .326 hitting percentage in just her second start. Sophomore Melissa Kolurbasi also had a career-high with 16 kills, while redshirt sophomore Alex Haffner registered 52 assists.
Match 2: Robert Morris 3, Kent State 1 (17-25, 25-23, 17-25, 20-25)
Kent State's offense slowed in a championship match loss to the Colonials. The Golden Flashes hit a season-worst .179 in the loss. Senior Ashley Makruski led the way with 11 kills. Sophomore Danie Tyson and freshman Morgan Copley added 10 kills apiece. Redshirt sophomore Alex Haffner had 35 assists. The defense was led by sophomore Erin Gardner, who finished with a match-high 21 digs. Freshman Savannah Matthews added 18 digs. Tyson had a season-best six total blocks.
Miami 3, Indiana State 0
Box Score
The Miami University volleyball team got back on the winning track with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-23) victory over Indiana State to conclude play at the Auto Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational on Saturday. The RedHawks improve to 3-3 overall, while the Sycamores fall to 0-5.
Sophomore right side hitter Sophie Riemersma was the star for Miami, finishing with a season-high 13 kills. She made only one error in 22 attempts for an attack percentage of .545.
Service aces from senior libero Lindsay Dauch and junior defensive specialist Abigail Huser, along with several ISU attack errors helped Miami build an 8-3 lead to begin set one. The Sycamores closed to within one at 8-9, before back-to-back blocks by Riemersma and junior middle hitter Avarie Powell, started a 5-0 run that was punctuated by two straight kills from Powell. Leading 19-16, a kill and a block by Powell, along with a kill from Riemersma allowed Miami to pull away. A solo block by junior middle hitter Margaret Payne and a kill by junior right side hitter Sarah Wojick off an assist from junior setter Morgan Seamanfinished off a 25-18 win.
Two kills from Payne and a service ace by Huser were part of an 8-3 start for the RedHawks in set two. Two straight service aces by Harper and a Sycamore attack error increased the advantage to 11-3. Indiana State answered with an 11-3 run of its own to tie the score at 14. After falling behind 16-17, Miami scored four in a row to regain control. Riemersma had three kills to finish off a 9-2 run that gave the 'Hawks a 25-19 victory.
Trailing 5-8 in set three, a kill and a block by Wojick helped tie the score. Indiana State followed with a 10-4 run to take control at 18-12 before Miami began its comeback. Riemersma had two kills and a block as part of a 7-2 run that cut the deficit to one at 19-20. Trailing 21-22, it appeared Miami was going to go down by two, but head coach Carolyn Condit had a successful challenge that gave the kill to sophomore outside hitter Gaby Harper and tied the score. Another kill from Harper and one from Wojick gave the RedHawks set point. After a service error, a kill from Payne off an assist from sophomore setter Louise Comerford finished the 25-23 win and gave Miami a 3-0 victory in the match.
Harper and Payne recorded eight kills apiece for Miami. Powell assisted on six blocks. Seaman led the RedHawks with 15 assists, while Huser finished with a Miami-high 10 digs.
"With a different lineup we earned the win by outplaying Indiana State on the offensive and defensive side of the ball," said Condit. "Gaby and Sophie were real stabalizers at the left antenna."
NIU 1, Missouri 3
Box Score
The Northern Illinois University volleyball team wrapped up its play in the Dayton Invitational Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 (11-25, 25-22, 20-25, 17-25) loss to the Missouri Tigers at the Frericks Center.
"We just haven't been able to put it all together the way you need to against teams of this caliber," said head coach Ray Gooden. "At times we did some positive things. We got some good production from Brinley [Milbrath] and Peyton [Tilly]. We just weren't able to put it all together at the right times."
NIU (2-5) took an early 4-3 lead in the first set on kills by Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) and Peyton Tilly (Barrington, Ill./Barrington). Missouri came back with three of the next four points to take a 7-4 lead on a Dariana Hollingsworth-Santana kill. The Huskies closed to within one point at 7-6 on a kill and an ace from Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon), but Missouri rattled off a 14-4 run to take a 21-10 advantage. The Tigers clinched the opening set 25-11 on an Andrea Fuentes service ace.
Just as in the first, the Huskies held an early lead in the second set as kills by Brinley Milbrath (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/John F. Kennedy) and Kennedy Wallace (Kansas City, Kan./Piper) spotted NIU a 4-2 lead. The Tigers responded with an 8-1 run capped off by a Tyanna Omazic ace to go ahead 10-5. NIU chipped away at Missouri's advantage and tied the set at 13 on kills by Balensiefer and Tilly. Missouri broke an 18-18 tie with a Kylie Kuyava-Deberg kill and a Fuentes ace, but NIU won four of the next five points with a Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) ace giving the Huskies a 22-21 lead. After Missouri tied the set at 22, three straight kills from Milbrath, Tilly, and Wallace gave NIU the second set 25-22 to even the match at one set apiece.
"I thought we did a nice job of being opportunistic when we needed to be," Gooden said about the second set. "It was really nice to stay consistent and capitalize on our opportunities."
Missouri (4-0) used a 7-2 run early in the third set to take an 11-5 lead. NIU trailed 16-12 when a Kemp kill and a Tigers error made the score 16-14, forcing Missouri to call a timeout. The Huskies closed to within one when a Wallace kill made the score 19-18. The Tigers came back with five of the next six points to earn set point at 24-19 on an Omazic ace. NIU fought off one set point but a Leketor Member-Meneh kill gave Missouri the third set 25-20 and a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Huskies broke a 5-5 tie in the fourth with kills by Kemp and Tilly, as well as an ace from Kennedy Shelley (Burlington, Colo./Lewis-Palmer), to go up 9-5. Missouri battled back to tie the set at 11 on a Katie Turner ace. After an error put NIU up 12-11, the Tigers won seven of the next nine points to take an 18-14 lead. Missouri had three aces in that stretch. The Tigers' lead stretched to five points when back-to-back kills by Kuyava-Deberg and Omazic made the score 21-16. Those two kills sparked a 6-1 run that gave Missouri the set 25-17 and the match 3-1.
NIU hit .267 against Missouri, with the Tigers hitting .461. Tilly led NIU with 11 kills, hitting .381 for the match. Wallace added nine kills with Milbrath and Kemp adding eight kills each. Balensiefer had 36 assists as Karlen led the match with 16 digs.
Ohio 3, Winthrop 2
Box Score
The Ohio Volleyball team (3-4) took down Winthrop (3-3), 3-2 (21-25, 26-24, 20-25, 25-22, 15-8) on Saturday afternoon inside the Bender Arena in the final match of the American Volleyball Classic.
"I can't remember the last time we went to a tournament and played 15 sets in just over 24 hours," head coach Deane Webb said. "After playing this many close matches and sets, I believe we're a mentally tougher team now than we were a few days ago."
Senior outside hitter Lizzie Stephens (Dallas, Texas) led the way with a season-high 17 kills on 43 swings. Four Bobcats ended up in double figures with kills as junior outside hitter Maggie Nedoma (Brook Park, Ohio) had 16, redshirt sophomore middle blocker/opposite Dahlias Bouyer (Brownstown, Mich.) had a career high 15 terminations, and graduate transfer middle blocker Shayla Phillip (Columbia, S.C.) had 11. The Bobcats had 70 total kills and had 15 more than the Eagles.
"Shayla had a great day attacking including a couple of big kills late in the match," Webb said. "She also showed great emotional leadership at key moments."
Bouyer hit a hot .440 while Phillip hit .444. Nedoma had a .238 attacking clip while Stephens hit .233.
"Dahlias is improving rapidly," Webb added. "Even though she's been putting up good numbers already, the quality of hitting contact was an entirely different level today. That, combined with 15 blocks, is a tangible reminder on how far she has come in the last year. We're happy for her now, and excited for what can happen for her in the next three years."
"Any time you get this level of production from multiple middles we have to recognize that our back row is doing a great job getting us in system," Webb said.
Junior setter Vera Giacomazzi (San Vendemiano, Italy) guided the offense to a .229 hitting percentage with 59 assists. Giacomazzi added six digs and one kill.
Junior libero Macy Reihing (Lexington, Ky.) had 22 digs to lead the team. Stephens earned her fifth double-double of the season with a season-high 19 digs while senior defensive specialist Meredith Howe (Grand Rapids, Mich.) had 10. The Bobcats had 71 total digs while Winthrop had 74.
Bouyer had five blocks (one solo, four assisted) while Phillip and Nedoma each produced three assisted blocks. Stephens, Giacomazzi and freshman outside hitter Olivia Margolies (Galena, Ohio) had two blocks.
Stephens added five aces while Howe had three. Giacomazzi and Reihing had an ace each for a team total of nine.
Toledo 3, Norfolk State 0
Box Score
The University of Toledo volleyball team wrapped up its weekend at the Radford Invitational, sweeping Norfolk State on Saturday afternoon.
The Rockets hit a season-best .316 on their way to defeating the Spartans. Redshirt freshman Liz Beasley had a match-high seven kills and hit .538. Senior Zoe Birnbrichadded six kills while hitting .500, and freshman Ryann Jaqua also had six terminations. Junior Rhyen Neal led all comers with 16 digs and three service aces.
For the weekend, junior Chloee Kleespies led Toledo with 2.90 kills/set, Neal had a team-best 3.50 digs/set average, and both Birnbrich and freshman Olivia Vance averaged 0.75 blocks/set. Jaqua contributed 1.17 kills/set and 2.75 digs/set.
"I'm really proud of the way we played this weekend," head coach Jason Oliver said. "We were able to produce positive results and win a match on someone else's floor, which isn't an easy thing to do. Winning a tournament like this is something we haven't done in a long time, so overall it was a successful weekend for us."
The Rockets went 3-0 in a weekend tournament for the first time since the 2011 season.
Toledo heads to Wright State next weekend for a tournament featuring the Raiders as well as Western Illinois and Indiana State.
Set 1 (Toledo, 25-17)
Norfolk State started off the day hot and took a 10-5 lead. The Rockets used five straight points to tie it up at 10-10, capitalizing on multiple NSU miscues. Toledo ended up putting together a 14-2 run that put the score at 19-12, and did not look back. Kleespies and junior Emma Swope both had three kills in the first set.
Set 2 (Toledo, 25-22)
The closest set of the day, Toledo and Norfolk State swapped leads eight times and were entangled in 13 ties scores. The Spartans led as late as 22-21 and appeared to be in position to tie the match at 1-1. The Rockets, though, closed out the game with four straight points to win, 25-22, and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. Wilcox registered a kill to bring about set point, then a block off the hands of Birnbrich and Jaqua ended the second set.
Set 3 (Toledo, 25-11)
Toledo saved its most dominant set of the weekend for last, trouncing the Spartans by a score of 25-11. The Rockets hit .464 in the third set and held Norfolk State to a -.040 hitting percentage. UT scored points in bunches, jumping out to an 8-2 lead that quickly grew to double digits. Liz Beasley tallied five kills in the final frame, with Birnbrich and Jaqua added three apiece.
Western Michigan 3, Loyola Chicago 1
Box Score
For the second weekend in a row the Western Michigan volleyball team will return to Kalamazoo as tournament champions, defeating Loyola-Chicago in four sets (25-21, 11-25, 25-17, 25-21) on Saturday to capture the 2019 Hampton Inn Rambler Challenge championship.
The Broncos earned its second straight non-conference tournament title after defeating Montana State and Loyola-Maryland on Friday before defeating the host school Loyola-Chicago. Western Michigan begins the season 6-0 for the first time since 1996.
Junior Rachel Bontrager and freshman Maggie King earned All-Tournament team honors with Bontrager earning tournament MVP. Bontrager earned tournament MVP honors for the second time this season after achieving the MVP nod last weekend at the Purdue Fort Wayne Invitational.
WMU had four register double-digit kills with freshman Maggie King and senior Willow Martin leading the way with 12 each. King earned a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs while Martin also had 12 kills with a staggering .476 attack percentage.
Bontrager ranked second on the team with 11 kills to go along with five digs and four assists. Rounding out the double digit kills was sophomore Meredith Phillips with 10 kills and a .292 attack percentage.
The setting duo of freshman Rose Duffy and Mary Marzo combined for 40 of WMU's 53 assists in the match while senior Kathleen Reilly led the Brown & Gold with 15 digs. As a team the Broncos hit just .231 but was dominant at the net with five blocks along with 10 service aces.
WMU hits the road next weekend for its final non-conference tournament, Sept. 13-14 in Milwaukee, Wisc., for the Panther Invitational. The Broncos square off with Butler and Southeast Missouri on Friday, Sept. 13 before a match-up with host school Milwaukee on Saturday, Sept. 14.
The Broncos were dominant in the first set racing out to a 6-0 lead and forcing Loyola-Chicago to call a timeout. The Ramblers responded winning the next seven points to regain the lead before a kill from Bontrager tied the set back up at 7-7. Loyola-Chicago got to within one of the Broncos late in the set before WMU won six of the final eight points for the 25-21 set one victory.
The second set was a much different story for WMU who hit just .250 compared to Loyola-Chicago's .500 attack percentage to grab the second set 25-11.
In the third set, WMU trailed for just two points en route to a 25-17 set victory and a 2-1 lead in the match. WMU grabbed an early 7-3 lead thanks to a service ace by Duffy and propelled its advantage to 11-5 midway through the set as the Ramblers called a timeout. To end the set, WMU got a kill from Martin followed by a service ace from Bontrager.
Loyola-Chicago got off to a quick start in the fourth set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead before the Broncos rallied with five straight points to regain the lead. The Broncos pulled away midway through the set thanks in large part to three straight service aces from junior Kaley Smith. WMU cruised the rest of the set, resulting in a 25-21 set victory and taking the match, 3-1.
