ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team split a difficult pair of matches on Friday, winning a wild 3-2 (25-23, 17-25, 25-22, 16-25, 15-9) decision over Dartmouth in the early afternoon before falling 3-0 (11-25, 20-25, 21-25) to the 13th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes at the Golden Grizzlies Invitational. WMU's record is now 3-11, and the team will conclude their stay in Rochester with a match against Eastern Illinois on Saturday.
A number of Broncos played key parts in the win over the Big Green. Olivia Kofie recorded 14 kills on 30 swings with three errors for a .367 hitting percentage while also adding eight digs, three blocks and two aces. Sydney LeMay posted a team-high 16 kills and also recorded three blocks, and Bailey Schnell had a career-high 10 kills in the victory. Five players recorded double-digit digs, led by 21 from freshman libero Hailey Knecht.
The first set was tight from the get-go, with WMU taking the lead at 6-5 off a kill by Nicole Kinser. The Broncos didn't trail for the remainder of the set, with LeMay winning the race to 10 with a kill and Kofie forcing the Big Green into a timeout after a kill at 12-8. LeMay made it 15-11 with a kill, and Kinser and Mary Murphy combined for a block of Paige Caridi to force Dartmouth into their final timeout at 18-15. The closest the Big Green got the rest of the was when Molly Kornfeind tied it at 23-all with a block, but Kofie snapped that stalemate with a kill and Kinser wrapped the set with a blast on set point.
Dartmouth countered by winning a close second set and took a big lead early in the third, but the Broncos stormed back to retake the advantage. The Big Green opened the set on a 7-3 run but Kofie put WMU ahead 10-9 with aces on back-to-back points. Kinser and LeMay blocked Caridi again to cap a 9-2 run and force Dartmouth into a timeout. Kinser and Alysia Baznik blocked Caridi to put the Broncos ahead 18-12, and Baznik put the Broncos ahead 20-14 with a kill. Kinser finished off the Big Green with a kill at 25-22 to put WMU ahead 2-1 in the set.
After Dartmouth claimed the fourth set to force decisive fifth, the Broncos got the best of their opponents early and held on for the win. LeMay broke a 3-3 tie with a kill and the Broncos raced out to an 8-5 lead. The sophomore middle posted the final two points of the set for WMU, recording kills on back-to-back points for the 15-9 win.
The nationally-ranked Buckeyes provided a stern test for the Broncos, with WMU pulling close in two of the three sets but unable to get over the hump to a victory. The Broncos dropped the first set and trailed in the second early but pulled to within six points after a kill by Kinser made it 23-17, with the junior middle recording blocks on back-to-back points to make it just 23-19. The Buckeyes finished it off, though, scoring two of the final three points to win the set and go up 2-0. OSU went up 9-0 to start the third set but WMU again battled back, going on a 7-1 run at one point and pulling to within 22-18 on a kill by Mikaela Ryshytylo. The Buckeyes again rallied, though, winning 25-21 and taking the match.
