Western Michigan, which led the MAC from wire to wire, won the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament,
But it wasn’t easy.
The Broncos took the first two sets Monday night against Bowling Green in the conference tournament final, then got completely overpowered by the Falcons in the next two before bouncing back to win the fifth.
Conference tournament play continues Tuesday.
In The Summit League, Omaha faces Kansas City for the league’s NCAA bid, and the Ohio Valley Conference and Missouri Valley conference play semifinals.
There’s a key Pac-12 match when Oregon, the No. 6 team in the VolleyballMag.com Super 16 Media Poll, plays AVCA No. 24 USC.
And in a non-conference match, High Point, which won the Big South and its NCAA bid and is No. 50 in the NCAA RPI, plays at the Big 12’s TCU, No. 46 in the RPI and holding out hope for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. The Horned Frogs finish conference play Saturday against AVCA No 16 BYU.
There’s also been another NCAA Division I women’s volleyball coaching change.
For the complete schedule with viewing links to every match, go to the VolleyballMag.com TV & Streaming Listings.
MAC: Top-seeded Western Michigan (30-2) not only won its 20th match in a row, the Broncos defeated sixth-seeded Bowling Green (19-13) in an up-and-down final 25-16, 25-21, 14-25, 15-25, 15-7.
Western Michigan, riding the program’s longest winning streak since 1983, has been to the NCAA Tournament 12 times, the last in 2014. Against Bowling Green, Keona Salesman led with 18 kills, hitting .300 after having three errors in 50 attacks. She had a solo block and a dig. Maggie King had 15 kills, two aces, five digs and four blocks. Logan Case had two kills in four errorless tries, 44 assists, an ace, a block and six digs. Andelyn Simkins had 20 digs, three assists and two aces.
Bowling Green’s Lauryn Hovey had 21 kills, two assists, 12 digs and three blocks, one solo. Mia Tyler added 17 kills, a block and five digs. Alex Laboy had 25 digs, five assists and an ace and Jaden Walz had four kills, 48 assists, two aces, four blocks and three digs.
Chuck Curti featured Western Michigan in September when the Broncos were 12-2 at the time:
After disappointing 2022, Western Michigan (12-2) rediscovered its mojo overseas
OVC: The Ohio Valley Conference semifinals pit…
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