Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Drops Western Michigan, Ends Six Match Drought Against Broncos
10/18/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Marshall Drops Western Michigan, Ends Six Match Drought Against Broncos
10/18/2002
HUNTINGTON, W. Va.?The streaks over the Marshall Thundering Herd volleyball team by MAC opponents are officially over as Marshall (15-5, 6-1 MAC) cruised to a 3-0 (30-25, 30-25, 30-25) victory over the Western Michigan University Broncos (8-11, 3-4 MAC) Friday night at the Henderson Center. Marshall had never beaten WMU heading into Friday?s contest, and with last week?s win over Northern Illinois, Herd volleyball has now defeated two teams that were undefeated against them in the career series.
?We hung tough and got a huge win,? said Marshall coach Mitch Jacobs. ?Tonight was a match that we prepared hard for, being that it was our only match of the week. Western is just so athletic.?
In games one and two the Thundering Herd never trailed. In the first game with the score tied at four, Isabell Anderer (Sinsheim, Germany) served Marshall to seven consecutive points and much needed momentum for the game. Western Michigan never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
Game two was much of the same for Marshall, as the Herd defended their way to the win. WMU hit negative for the match (12-14-44, -.041), while MU hit .175 (12-5-40). With the game close at 27-25, Katie Stein (Sussex, Wis.) served out the game with three straight points.
Western Michigan hung tough in the third game, as both teams engaged in a see-saw battle. The Broncos took their first lead of the match at 3-2 on a Nicole Michal (Lousville, Ky.) attack error, but the Herd quickly responded, scoring eight out of the next ten points (11-4). WMU rallied back and eventually took the lead again 15-14 on a Heather Lippert service ace. That was the last lead for Western as the Herd put together a rally of their own to close out the match.
Michal led all players with 12 kills. Jodi Fick (Fremont, Ohio) led Marshall with 17 digs, while Heidi Kuethe (Normal, Ill.) had nine kills and 14 digs.
Western Michigan was led by Carmen Malone, who had the only double-digit kill performance with ten kills. Katy Duffy led the Broncos on defense with 16 digs.
Marshall returns to action next Friday when they go on the road to take on the Miami RedHawks for the second time. The Herd also play Ball State on Saturday. Both matches start at 7 p.m.
