Broncos Overtake the Huskies

Thursday evening the Western Michigan University volleyball team was in action at University Arena. Taking on the Northern Illinois Huskies, the Broncos spotted them a 2-0 lead before rallying in the third game and taking the next two games to win the match.

Heading into the contest the Broncos and Huskies had met in 29 other occasions with the Broncos holding an 18-11 advantage. Meeting only one time last season the Broncos swept that match 3-0.

In the first game the Huskies nearly doubled up the Broncos winning 30-16 while recording 23 kills compared to the Broncos 13 kills. The Broncos registered just 13 kills in game two but the Huskies amount of kills dropped by more than half to 10. The Broncos lost the second game 30-19.

Following the 10 minute intermission the Broncos came out on the attack being led by Shaylen Jackson, Shannon Jackson and Kathryn Babcock. The Broncos recorded 18 kills each in games 3 and 4 while the Huskies recorded 19 and 8 respectively.

The Broncos didn’t put game three away until late because the Huskies kept coming back but finally succumbed to the Broncos before losing the game 30-26. The fourth game went a little smoother for the Broncos as they pulled away to a 30-21 game four win.

The deciding game, game five, went a lot smoother for the Broncos as they pulled out to an insurmountable lead before cruising to a 15-6 victory. The Broncos converted just 8 kills while limiting the Huskies to just 4.

The Huskies Kate McCullagh had a match high 24 kills and Shaylen Jackson led all Broncos with 21. Katy Duffy had a game high 2 service aces. Kathryn Babcock recorded 18 defensive digs for the Broncos while Gina Guide had 19 for the Huskies. Shaylen also recorded 6 blocks (3 solo, 3 assist).

Jackson’s 21 kills raised her career total to 1,013 making her just the 13th Bronco to reach the 1,000-kill club. She also needs just 21 more blocks to overtake Melissa Hansen who holds the school record with 515 which she set in 1996.

The Broncos (9-4, 2-1 MAC) travel to Oxford, Ohio to take on the Miami RedHawks this Saturday at 7:00pm.