TOLEDO, Ohio – The Western Michigan volleyball team claimed its first Mid-American Conference road win of the year with a complete effort on Friday, as the Broncos defeated the Toledo Rockets 3-1 (13-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-18) at Savage Arena. WMU improves to 6-12 overall, 2-1 in the MAC with the victory.
It was a balanced offensive effort for the Broncos, with Olivia Kofie leading the way with a team-high 10 kills. She was dominant on the net as well, posting a match-high eight blocks. The back row load was distributed as well, with Alysia Baznik recording a career-high 19 digs, Hailey Knecht 18 digs, and Izabella Porada finishing with 10. Knecht also recorded a match-high two aces.
The Rockets claimed the first set thanks to an explosive offensive effort but the Broncos settled down and controlled the remainder of the match. Sydney Cheatham broke a 5-5 stalemate when she bumped a ball over the net for a kill, and the duo of Sydney LeMay and Mikaela Ryshytylo blocked Mary O'Connor on back-to-back points to put the Broncos ahead 10-7. Kofie won the race to 15 with a kill, and Cheatham posted her second kill of the set to make it 17-12 and force Toledo into a timeout. The Rockets scored eight of the next 10 points to go ahead 20-19 but WMU fought back, re-taking the lead 22-21 on an error by Rachel Vidourek. Baznik wrapped the set with an ace, winning it for the Broncos 25-21 and tying the match.
The Broncos rebounded from another early deficit in the third set, coming back from a 4-2 hole to take a 12-7 lead on a kill by Kofie. An error by Toledo's Gracey Tuifua gave the Broncos the race to 15, and Bailey Schnell slammed a kill two points later to make it 17-11 and force the Rockets into a timeout. Kofie made it 20-15 with a kill, and LeMay pushed the advantage to 23-18 with a kill of her own. Ryshytylo forced set point with a kill, and the duo of Kofie and Ryshytylo blocked a Rocket on the next point to take the third set 25-19.
Now in control of the match, WMU went post-to-post in the fourth set, opening on a 6-1 run and never letting go. Baznik opened the set with a kill and Knecht made it 5-1 with an ace. Schnell wrapped up the run with a kill of her own and later combined with Kofie to block Vidourek to make it 10-4. LeMay put the Broncos ahead 15-10 with a kill, and Kofie finished off the race to 20 with a her last kill of the match. Schnell forced set point at 24-18 with a solo block of Carly Townsend, and an error by Vidourek on the next point gave WMU the match win.
