GREELEY, Colo. – The Western Michigan volleyball team jumped out to a quick lead on the road but was unable to maintain it, falling 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 13-25, 19-25) to the Northern Colorado Bears at the CSU/UNC Tournament on Friday. With the loss, the Broncos' record is now 1-4 on the season.
Sierra Hubbard-Neil recorded her second straight match with a double-digit kills total, recording 12 kills on 32 swings with just three errors for a .281 hitting percentage. Olivia Kofie authored a solid effort with nine kills and a team-best .350 hitting percentage, and middles Sydney LeMay and Nicole Kinser both also contributed nine kills. Alysia Baznik had a team-high 16 digs, while freshman libero Hailey Knecht had 15 digs.
The Broncos jumped out to a commanding lead in the first set against the Bears, starting with a kill by Baznik and eventually going up 5-0 after a service ace by Knecht. The lead increased to 7-1 after Hubbard-Neil added her first kill of the night, and the sophomore outside hitter made it 9-2 with another blast. Setter Mary Murphy gave the Broncos a double-digit lead for the first time in the set, tipping one over the net to make it 12-2. Kofie helped the Broncos win the race to 15 just a few points later, blocking Ashley Guthrie one-on-one to make it 15-5. Murphy tipped another to make it 20-7 but the Bears stormed back, scoring eight straight to cut the Bronco lead to 20-15 before LeMay stopped the bleeding with a kill. Kinser put the set away for the Broncos, recording a kill at the end to make it 25-20.
Northern Colorado took a back-and-forth affair in the second set, coming back from a deficit to take the lead for good. WMU took a 15-10 lead after a kill by Kofie, but the Bears scored seven of the next nine points to tie the set at 17-all. Katie Champion launched a kill to put her team ahead 20-18, and Alex Kloehn put it away with a kill at 25-20.
The Bears dominated the third set, jumping out to a 10-1 run to start and eventually winning 25-13. They trailed only very briefly in the fourth set before taking a 15-10 lead. The Broncos would cut it to four points after a block from Murphy and Kinser made it 23-19, but the Bears finished it off for the 3-1 win.
