WMU News

Volleyball Broncos are 11-0 MAC with two Homecoming wins

Oct. 23, 1999

KALAMAZOO -- The WMU volleyball Broncos (19-3 overall, 11-0 MAC) remained the lone undefeated team in the Mid-American Conference with a 3-1 victory over Marshall on Friday (Oct. 22) and a 3-0 win versus Ohio on Saturday (Oct. 23). Both matches were played in University Arena.

Saturday's contest was played before an appreciative Homecoming crowd of 1,051 fans. It was the first time the Broncos topped the 1,000 mark in attendance since Oct. 9, 1997, when they hosted nationally-ranked Hawaii.

During the Homecoming weekend contests, senior Traci Morin notched the 1,000th kill of her career, and junior Kelly Kuharski passed the 500 mark in career digs.

Saturday, Oct. 23, vs Ohio

It took the Broncos only 67 minutes to dispose of Ohio, 15-12, 15-11, 15-5. Of the Broncos' 11 conference wins, eight have been 3-0 sweeps. The other three were 3-1 victories. WMU has now gone 22 matches without going to a five-game set.

Traci Morin led all players with 15 kills and a .583 (15-1-24) hitting percentage. She also had seven block assists for WMU, which both out-hit and out-blocked Ohio. Zakiya Pope had six blocks, including two solos. Mandy Whitfield had 11 kills and hit .333 for the match. Monyka Paul had seven kills and a .500 hitting percentage.

In game three of the contest, WMU had eight kills in 15 attempts with no errors for a staggering .533 team attack percentage. For the match, the Broncos hit .344 and held Ohio to just .082 hitting.

Friday, Oct. 22, vs Marshall

WMU cruised through games one and two (15-5, 15-3), lost game three (7-15), and rallied in game four, breaking a 7-7 tie to win, 15-7. Match point was scored on a service ace by freshman Cindy Kizer, giving her 20 aces for the season.

Coach Cathy George employed 10 Broncos in the four-game match. Senior Traci Morin had 12 kills (.375) and 12 digs for her first double-double of the season. Morin also contributed two solo blocks and one service ace. Senior Mandy Whitfield led all players with 13 kills and had 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. Whitfield, who leads the Broncos in services aces, added four more in the match versus Marshall.

Monyka Paul and Zakiya Pope each contributed 10 kills. Alberta Griffin had seven kills and hit .333 for the match. Defensive specialist Kelly Kuharski had five digs and two services aces.

WMU travels to Eastern Michigan on Friday, Oct. 29, and to Toledo on Saturday, Oct. 30. The Broncos return to University Arena Nov. 5 and 6 for their final home matches of the regular season versus Akron and Miami.

Media contact: Geoff Brown; 616 387-4138; geoffrey.brown@wmich.edu


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