ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team completed its weekend at the Golden Grizzlies Invitational with another wild five-set victory, taking down the Eastern Illinois Panthers 3-2 (25-16, 25-20, 24-26, 25-27, 15-9) in Rochester on Saturday. The Broncos will enter Mid-American Conference play next weekend with a 4-11 overall record but with improved play over the last two weeks.
Olivia Kofie was named to the All-Tournament team after another sensational showing, finishing with 11 kills on 22 swings with four errors for a .318 hitting percentage. The sophomore also provided a defensive front, tying for the team-high with five blocks against the Panthers. Sydney LeMay had a team-high 18 kills against EIU, hitting .270 for the match and also contributing five blocks, and Mikaela Ryshytylo finished with 11 kills, a team-best .357 hitting percentage and six digs. Hailey Knecht recorded a career-high 32 digs to lead a Bronco effort that totaled 82 digs on the afternoon. Mary Murphy finished with the double-double, adding 47 assists and 12 digs.
The two teams split the first four sets of the match, needing a decisive fifth to determine a victory. Alysia Baznik opened the proceedings with an ace and LeMay forced the Panthers into a timeout with a kill to cap a 6-2 run. Baznik fired off another kill to make it 11-6, and Ryshytylo clinched the match with one final kill.
It was a near-runaway for the Broncos in the first set as WMU opened on a 7-2 lead, forcing the Panthers into an early timeout not long after Ryshytylo launched her third kill of the set. LeMay pounded a kill to double-up the Panthers at 10-5 and later teamed with Bailey Schnell to block Taylor Smith, which made it a 16-9 advantage for the Broncos. The Panthers inched closer and got as close as 20-16 on an error by Kofie, but the Broncos took five straight points to end the set and take the early match advantage.
The Panthers rallied in the second set but the Broncos were not deterred, coming back from a 14-8 deficit to take the second set. LeMay and Schnell notched blocks on back-to-back points, rejecting Smith and Josie Winner to cut the EIU lead to 16-13 and force the Panthers into a timeout. Knecht issued the equalizer at 18-all, acing Stephanie Wallace to tie the set, and Kofie buried a kill on the next point to give WMU the advantage. Kofie and Baznik wrapped the 4-0 run with a block of Abby Saalfrank, and Kofie recorded kills on two of the final four points of the set to make it 25-20. That gave the Broncos a 2-0 advantage in the match, and though EIU fought hard in sets three and four to tie the match, WMU finished things off with the fifth-set win.
