Volleyball kicks off season 2-0 in Aquafina Invitational

By Mark Rudi

The Western Michigan University volleyball team tied for first place in the Aquafina Invitational at the University of Florida this past weekend, picking up two wins to start the 2008 season.

The Broncos started the trip off with a win over the University of the Pacific 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-22) Friday night at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla. They followed that up with a 3-0 victory (25-17, 25-16, 25-22) over the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

On Friday, junior outside hitter Michelle Moore led the way for the Broncos with 14 kills, while senior middle blocker Ashley Vogl chipped in with 10 kills.

The Bronco offense dominated the Tigers all night, racking up 42 kills to Pacific’s 17.

On defense, the Brown and Gold held Pacific to a -.022 attack percentage. The Bronco defense also had 49 digs, with junior outside hitter Katie Eberling and junior libero Caitlin Strimel recording 15 and 13 digs respectively.

The early part of set one saw both teams neck-and-neck. In the early going, there was five ties and five lead changes until WMU went on a 8-1 run, which was sparked by back-to-back kills from Vogl and Eberling that gave the Broncos the 14-8 lead.

The Tigers cut the Bronco lead down to three, but kills by Moore, Jaime Gotham and Allyson Doyle paved the way for a 5-0 run, which bumped the Bronco lead to 21-13. After a Tiger point, the Broncos scored the next four points to take set one.

Set two also started neck-and-neck with five ties early on. However, WMU went on a 6-0 run, which put the Broncos up 12-8. Following that, WMU grabbed another 9-2 run, giving them the 19-10 advantage. Pacific never threatened again, giving the Broncos a quick victory in set two.

Set three saw WMU jump out early to a 3-0 lead, but the Tigers quickly answered by tying the score at three. The Broncos then went ahead 10-6, but the Tigers kicked off a 10-3 run, giving them the 16-13 lead and forcing head coach Colleen Munson to call a time out. The Broncos would start to creep back after the time out, when kills from Moore and Eberling put WMU back in the lead, 20-19.

After the Tigers tied the set at 20, the Broncos never looked back from there. A kill from Moore, a service ace from Strimel and an error from the Tigers put the Broncos up 24-21. A block from Gotham and junior setter Jillian Mitchell sealed the set and match for the Broncos.

In Saturday’s match with UAB, Mitchell had 40 assists, capping off a weekend that saw her average 11.67 assists per game. Eberling, who is tied second all-time at WMU in double-doubles, was one kill shy of her 32nd career double-double with nine kills and 10 digs. Eberling also led the Broncos with 4.17 digs per game for the weekend.

WMU opened up set one with UAB with a 2-0 lead. However, the Blazers would not let the Broncos get away and tied the game at five. WMU countered with an 11-4 run, putting the Brown and Gold up 16-9.
UAB tried to generate some offense, but back-to-back kills from Eberling and Doyle pushed the Bronco lead to 19-11 late in the set. WMU never looked back, picking up the match opener with a 25-17 win. The Broncos recorded a season high 18 kills in set one while UAB hit just .065 in set one.

The Blazers started out set two with an early lead, eventually going up 10-7. After each team shared points, the match soon ended up at a 14-14 tie. The Broncos then went on a 7-0 run that built the Bronco lead to 21-14. WMU would finish the set on a 11-2 run, giving them a 25-17 victory in set two.

UAB built an early lead again in set three, going up 7-2. WMU tied the game at 13, but the Blazers took the lead again, going up 17-14. After kills from Doyle and Vogl, the Broncos tied the game at 19.
UAB then used a time out, but Vogl responded by adding a kill, putting WMU up 20-19. The Blazers took the next point to tie the set once again at 20, but two straight kills by Vogl and Moore put the Broncos up 22-20. The momentum on the Brown and Gold’s side was too much for UAB, as Western Michigan took the 25-22 win and the match.

The Broncos finished the weekend in a first place tie with No. 8 Florida, the host school. Mitchell and Eberling were named to the All-Tournament team.

The Broncos will continue their 11-match road trip this weekend in the Redbird Invitational, which will be hosted by Illinois State University. The Broncos will face Oakland University Friday, followed by matches with Western Carolina University and the host Redbirds on Saturday.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Sep 2 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
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