MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Western Michigan volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on the final day of the Pepsi Panther Invitational, falling 3-2 (17-25, 25-20, 26-24, 18-25, 13-15) to Missouri State in the early match and 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 20-25, 21-25) to Furman in the nightcap. With the losses, the Broncos fall to 0-3 on the season.
Alysia Baznik led the offensive for the Broncos, notching 25 total kills over the course of three matches by recording 12 against the Bears and 13 against the Paladins. Sydney LeMay was close behind with 23 total kills on the afternoon, posting 11 against Missouri State and 12 against Furman. Mary Murphy recorded 85 assists over two matches and set the Broncos to a .223 average, including a .308 mark against the Bears.
The Broncos jumped out to a 2-1 lead against Missouri State, taking the second and third sets to own the advantage. WMU opened up the second set on a 7-3 run, capping it with a service ace by Sierra Hubbard-Neil that forced a Bear timeout. The assault continued as the Broncos scored seven of the next 10 points as well, with Murphy delivering aces on back-to-back serves to make it 14-5. Lauren Boone eventually pulled Missouri State to within three points, recording a kill to make it 22-19, but Baznik halted the Bear run with a kill and Missouri State committed two straight errors to give WMU the set.
Missouri State opened the third set on a 9-3 run but the Broncos fired back, going on a 10-5 run and tying the set at 13-13 on a Baznik service ace. The Broncos took the lead at 15-14 on an error by Lynsey Wright and eventually jumped ahead 20-16 on another Missouri State miscue. The Bears went on a 5-1 run to tie it but Baznik took the lead back again with a kill. Hubbard-Neil broke a 23-all tie with a kill and Olivia Kofie put the Broncos in position to win the set with a kill that made it 25-24. LeMay and Murphy then combined to block Lily Johnson to provide the Broncos' set point at 26-24.
The Bears came back for a 25-18 decision in the fourth set, though, to force a decisive fifth set. The teams were even throughout, with WMU cutting the Bears' lead to 14-13 with a block by LeMay and Murphy. Missouri State got the final point they needed, though, with Johnson providing the match-winning kill on the next point.
The Broncos dropped the first set in the nightcap against the Paladins but responded with a decisive 25-17 victory in the second set to tie the match. WMU jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead on a kill by LeMay and the Broncos won the race to 10 on a service error by Caitlyn Scioscia. The Paladins cut the lead to 12-11 on a kill by Annie Bierman, but LeMay responded with a kill to halt the run and Baznik aced Meg DeMaar to make it 15-11 and force a Furman timeout. The Paladins never got closer than three points the rest of the way, with Izabella Porada posting another ace to open up a 21-14 lead. Baznik gave the Broncos their largest lead of the set with a kill at 24-16, and Hubbard-Neil shut the door with a kill on match point.
Furman rallied in the third set, though, overcoming a modest Bronco lead and eventually taking the set 25-20 on a Bronco attack error. The Paladins closed out the match with a post-to-post win in the fourth set, holding off a Bronco advance late in the set to win 25-21.
