Friday, October 9th, 2009 | Posted by HeraldAdmin

Eberling records school record 37 digs in 3-1 win over EMU

By Emma Luther
Western Herald

(Thomas Doherty/Western Herald) Western Michigan University's Michelle Moore set for a kill against Eastern Michigan University. The Broncos beat the Eagles 3-1 Friday night.

The Brown and Gold rallied through a tough match against Eastern Michigan University with a season-high 1,027 fans at University arena Friday night.

Western Michigan University ended up taking the win in four sets to keep them undefeated in the Mid-American Conference.

Katie Eberling lead the Broncos with a career high of 37 digs in a four set match to give the Broncos their nineth straight win in a row. The first set the Broncos took the lead right out of the gate until the Eagles fought back to tie the score at 11. There were nine tie scores in the first set but WMU ended it with a close 25-23 victory.

Western Michigan’s solid defense and consistent offense dominated the second game with the score of 25-14.

“We were really focusing on our side of the court,” head coach Colleen Munson said.

The Broncos overtook Eastern Michigan’s offense with a .267 hitting percentage compared to the .049 percent of the Eagles. Michelle Moore continued to climb up the rankings in the amount of kills she has in her career. She hit 11 in games one and two alone.

The third set wasn’t as easy for the Brown and Gold as the Eagles came back strong playing their game and took the third set. The score went back and forth towards the beginning of the set until finally the Eagles broke away and captured the win at 25-17.

“We weren’t really establishing our system. Nothing fazed them [Eastern Michigan],” Munson said. “We were letting things effect us.”

EMU had a .359 hitting percentage compared to the Broncos’ .122 percentage. Jennifer Swartz of the Eagles controlled the net with a hitting percentage of .556 in the third set.

“I think that when things were going well, we were taking care of the ball, and communicating really well,” Eberling said. “It got a little sloppy in the middle, and I think that contributed to not taking care of things.”

After a deep breathe, the Broncos retaliated with dominate force of swift transitioning defense and a powerful offense to take the final set 25-21. Freshman Jessica Brown sparked WMU’s momentum with a huge block early in the set. Smart placement by the setter, Jillian Mitchell, also racked up the points for WMU in the last set. The set was close and EMU was almost overtaking a comeback until Ashley Turnage ended the match point with a solo block.

“As far as we go, we’re going to keep working on our side and our attitude,” Munson said about playing Central Michigan University tomorrow night.

WMU takes on the Chippewas Saturday at 7 p.m. at University Arena. Central has a 3-1 record in the MAC and a 10-4 total record.