ATHENS, Ohio – The Western Michigan volleyball team engaged in a defensive battle with the Miami RedHawks for the second week in a row but the Broncos were unable to overcome them in falling 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 19-25, 19-25) at the 2015 Mid-American Conference Tournament.

Hailey Knecht finished with 28 digs to reach 694 on the season, the second-highest single-season total in program history and placing her just six away from breaking the program record. Bailey Schnell finished with a match-high 15 kills and hit .250 on the evening while Olivia Kofie recorded her first career Kill-Dig double-double with 11 kills and 14 digs. Five Broncos in total reached double-digits in digs: Knecht, Caroline Rose (15), Kofie (14), Mikaela Ryshytylo (13) and Alysia Baznik (10). Baznik recorded an Assist-Dig double-double with 49 assists.

The Broncos finished with 96 team digs, giving them a total of 217 in the two matches they played at the Tournament and 304 in their last three matches.  The RedHawks controlled hte net, however, recording 9.0 team blocks.

The RedHawks claimed the first set 25-23, holding off a late charge from the Broncos as Schnell ripped kills on back-to-back points to make it 24-23. Paige Hill finished it off with a kill to put Miami ahead in the overall match, but the Broncos countered with a dominant second-set win. WMU opened the set on a 10-3 run that included two kills by Schnell and an ace by Baznik. Kofie made it 17-9 with a kill that forced Miami into their second timeout of the set. The Broncos won the race to 20 on an error by Maris Below and closed out the win 25-16 on a tip kill by Baznik.

Miami came out of the break strong, however, taking a 19-11 lead in the third set en route to a 25-19 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The four set started out tight, with Schnell and Sydney LeMay cut the RedHawks' lead to one point with a kill at 10-9, but Miami took the set 25-19 and won the match.