Broncos Notch Second Sweep of Day, Beat Delaware

EVANSTON, Ill. - The Western Michigan volleyball team collected their second sweep of the day, as the Broncos defeated Delaware 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 26-24) in their second match of the Northwestern Wildcat Classic. With the win, the Broncos improve to 7-4 on the season, and have won two straight matches. They will face Northwestern in the finale on Sunday.

Jessica Brown and Ali Gossen each recorded the match-high with 14 kills in the match, and setter Terin Norris recorded her second double-double of the day with 43 assists and 10 digs. The Broncos had a stellar defensive effort in the match as well, out-digging the Blue Hens 60-46; Lena Oliver had the match-high with 23 digs in just three sets of play.

The Broncos were on fire to start the first set, but had to show the resilience to dig deep to close the period. The Broncos scored the first six points of the first set, with three of those points coming on kills from Gossen. The Broncos would maintain some semblance of that six-point lead for most of the set; Gillian Asque would re-establish it with a kill to make it 14-8, and would do so again to give the Broncos an 18-12 edge. Norris would record a kill one point later to give the Broncos a seven-point advantage and force a Delaware timeout, but the Blue Hens would storm back and briefly take the lead in the set. An attack error by Delaware would tie the set at 24-24, and Gossen would give the Broncos the lead with a kill. Brown would seal the first set victory with a kill to make it 26-24.

WMU would break things open early in the second set, breaking an 8-8 tie and leading the rest of the way. Gossen would snap the stalemate with a kill to make it 9-8, and Brown would record a kill to make it 11-8 and force a Delaware timeout. The Broncos would build the lead to six points when Gossen recorded a service ace to make it 15-9, and the Broncos would eventually take a nine-point lead when Gossen and Richelle Ranney combined for a block at 21-12. The Broncos wrapped the dominant effort when Gossen recorded the set-winning kill at 25-15.

The third set would prove to be the toughest test for the Broncos, as they had to recover from an early deficit to take the win. WMU trailed for much of the third set, falling behind 5-2 early, and were forced to make up ground in crunch time. Trailing 13-7, the Broncos went on an 8-0 run and took the lead on a kill from Asque. The teams would trade points back and forth, but the Broncos would take the lead for good when Gossen recorded a kill to make it 21-20. Delaware would tie the set at 24-24, but Norris broke the tie with a kill, and Carlee Berland sealed the match with with a kill to make it 26-24.