Broncos advance to Sweet 16

By Mark Rudi
Western Herald

(Robert Youngs/Western Herald) The Bronco volleyball team is presented the MAC championship trophy by Athletics Director Kathy Beauregard during a recent mens’ basketball contest. The Broncos advanced to the Sweet Sixteen with wins over Dayton and Tulane over the weekend.

A week ago, the Western Michigan University volleyball team wasn’t even sure if they would be in the NCAA Tournament. Now, they find themselves in the Sweet 16.

The Broncos (28-6) defeated the University of Dayton 3-1 (21-25, 26-24, 25-23, 25-18) in the first round Friday and had a comeback victory to upset No. 16 Tulane University (20-25, 25-21, 13-25, 25-19, 15-12) in the second round Saturday night.

The Broncos had a tough task ahead of them Friday night. WMU entered a hostile environment at the Frericks Center in Dayton, Ohio. The Flyers had a huge home court advantage and were a very experienced veteran squad. But despite all that, the Broncos prevailed.

Sophomore outside hitter Allyson Doyle led WMU with 15 kills and 17 digs. Junior outside hitter Katie Eberling had 15 kills and 14 digs, with junior outside hitter Michelle Moore chipping in with 10 kills. Junior libero Caitlin Strimel led the defense with 28 digs, with sophomore middle blockers Jaime Gotham and Kate Corbett recording three blocks each. Junior setter Jillian Mitchell quarterbacked the offense with 53 assists.
WMU also hit .205 for the match with 58 kills and 24 errors, holding Dayton’s powerful offense to only a .139 hitting percentage. Sophomore middle blocker Lindsay Fletemier and senior outside hitter/libero Nicole Bateman led Dayton with 17 and 10 kills respectively.

The Broncos and Flyers showed why they were evenly matched teams in the opening set. The Broncos built an early 13-10 lead, but the Flyers came storming back. With the set tied at 19, UD put together 6-2 run behind two kills from Bateman to win the set.

The two squads were neck-and-neck throughout set two, with 11 ties and five lead changes. With the set at 24, The Broncos won the final two rallies in extra points with a Mitchell ace and a Doyle kill.

The two teams were neck-and-neck again in the third set, but the Broncos dominated the later part. After a Mitchell attack error gave Dayton the 16-15 lead, Western Michigan went a 9-3 run behind four kills from Eberling to get on set point. However, once on set point, the Broncos had to hold off a late run by UD.

Two kills from senior middle blocker Bethany Akerhielm and kills from sophomore setter Kacie Hausfeld and sophomore outside hitter Tiffany Gaerke brought Dayton back to cut the lead to one. However, it was too little too late for the Flyers, as a Micthell kill gave the Broncos the set and the 2-1 match lead.

Dayton then jumped out to an early 12-7 lead in set four, but the Broncos came back and tied the set at 18. WMU then ended the set on a 7-0 run behind two kills from Eberling and a kill from Doyle. Bateman also had three attack errors during the final WMU run to give the Broncos the set and match win.

The win over Dayton was the Broncos’ first NCAA Tournament win since beating the University of Oklahoma in 1987. However, Saturday night would be much a tougher test against the 16th seeded Green Wave.

However, the Broncos prevailed in its toughest test of the season in comeback fashion. Five Broncos recorded double-digits in kills against Tulane. Eberling had 15 kills, with Moore, Doyle, Mitchell and Corbett contributing 14, 12, 11 and 10 kills each.

Senior outside hitter Sara Radosevic led the Green Wave with 25 kills. The Broncos hit .333 for the match with 63 kills and 12 errors. Tulane hit .307 with 68 kills and 18 errors.

The Broncos hung with the Conference USA Champions for much of the opening set. However, Tulane would come through at the end, going on a 5-0 run behind two kills from junior right side Ksenija Vlaskovic and a kill from Radosevic to win the set 25-20.

However, WMU came storming back in the second and dominated the end of the set. The Broncos built an 11-7 run to win the second set behind a flawless offense. WMU hit .459 with 17 kills and no errors in the set.
However, the Green Wave made major adjustments at the 10-minute break and dominated the third set. Tulane won the set 25-13, hitting .538 with 16 kills and two errors. The Green Wave also held WMU to only nine kills and four errors, with a .192 hitting percentage.

But the Broncos would do something they have done all season: build a comeback. WMU dominated the fourth set, going up 14-9 and winning the set 25-19 to tie the match at two. The Broncos hit .400 in the fourth set with 14 kills and only two errors.

It came down to the critical fifth set for the right to go to the Sweet 16 and WMU prevailed. The Broncos jumped out to a 10-5 lead behind four kills by Eberling. The Green Wave would attempt a comeback and cut the Bronco lead to two with the Brown and Gold on match point. But Mitchell saved the day and ended the match with a kill, giving the Broncos the 3-2 win and a trip to the Sweet 16.

This is the first time since 1987 the Broncos have made the Sweet 16, but have a giant task in front of them. WMU will take on No. 1 Penn State University and will look to do something nobody has done against the Nittany Lions this season: win a set. Penn State (34-0) defeated Long Island University 3-0 Friday and Yale University 3-0 Saturday to qualify for the Sweet 16. The Broncos and Nittany Lions will meet Friday night on Penn State’s home floor in University Park, Pa.

The Broncos are also the only Mid-American Confernece team left in the tournament. Ohio University was defeated by Yale 3-2 Friday night and Miami University of Ohio was defeated by Middle Tennessee State University 3-2 Friday.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Dec 7 2008. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com