Box Score

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OXFORD, Ohio ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃÆ'¢'¬" The Miami University volleyball team put up a tough fight, but ultimately fell to Western Michigan, 1-3 (25-20, 23-25, 34-36, 19-25) Saturday evening. The RedHawks fall to 9-6 overall and 1-1 in the Mid-American Conference. The Broncos improve to 9-4 overall and 2-0 in the MAC.

"This was a match that we let get away from us offensively," said head coach Carolyn Condit. "But beyond that statistics were very close with us outplaying Western slightly on defense. I don't think we played as much as a team in this match with the offense we had to run. I did love the effort we showed this week as we learned a lot. We will head into next week with a lot of positivity."

The RedHawks recorded a season-high 102 digs on Saturday. Ultimately they were hurt by 30 attack errors and 14 service errors in a match that lasted two hours and 22 minutes. Miami held Western Michigan to only a .150 attack percentage, but the Red and White finished with an .115 attack percentage of its own.

Once again serving as the team's only setter in a 5-1 attack due to redshirt junior Mackenzie Zielinski's injury, freshman setter Morgan Seaman put forth a strong effort. She had a double-double, setting career highs with 42 assists and 23 digs. She also finished with five kills and assisted on two blocks. Miami came out strong in set one. Tied at five, a block by Seaman and sophomore middle hitter Margaret Payne, followed by a solo block from junior outside hitter Stela Kukoc, a kill from Payne and a Bronco attack error gave the RedHawks a 9-5 lead. WMU pulled to within one at 8-9, but MU answered with a 5-1 run to make it 14-9. The teams traded several side outs as the Red and White would not allow the Broncos to cut into the lead. With the score 23-20, a kill from senior middle hitter Meredith Stutz and a Western Michigan attack error gave Miami a 25-20 victory.

Trailing 5-8 early in set two, the RedHawks went on a 5-0 run capped by a Kukoc kill to take a 10-8 lead. Kukoc put down two service aces to help build that advantage to 15-12 and force a WMU timeout. Out of the break, the teams traded side outs until it was 19-16. The Broncos went on a 4-1 run to tie the score at 20. With the score tied at 23, WMU recorded a kill and a block to take a 25-23 win and tie the match at one.

Set three was one of the longest sets the RedHawks have played in years. The Broncos were ahead the majority of their first half of the set, eventually building a lead of five at 21-16 and forcing a Miami timeout. Out of the break, WMU scored two more in a row to build the advantage to 23-16. The RedHawks fought back, scoring the next six in a row to pull within one at 22-23. The Broncos scored next to create set point, but back-to-back kills from Stutz and senior right side hitter Katie Tomasic successfully fought it off and tied the score at 24. Tomasic recorded another kill to give MU a chance to win the set, but a service error tied the score at 25. Western Michigan scored next to get another set point, but the RedHawks preceded to trade side outs over the next 11 points until the score was tied at 31. An attack error by the Broncos gave Miami set point at 32-31, but Western answered with a kill. Tomasic and senior outside hitter Olivia Rusek each had kills, but each time the Broncos fought back. Tied at 34, WMU was able to score two in a row to take a marathon 36-34 victory.

Momentum seemed to shift to the Broncos as they built a 10-4 lead to begin set four. Payne recorded a pair of kills, but Western Michigan pushed the advantage to seven at 16-9. Trailing 13-21, Miami did not give up as it scored five in a row to pull within three. That would be as close as it could get as the Broncos closed on a 4-1 run to take a 25-19 win and the match in four sets.

Tomasic led Miami with 15 kills. She just missed a double-double with nine digs. Payne finished with 12 kills, while Kukoc had eight to go along with 16 digs. Senior libero Maeve McDonald recorded 15 digs, while freshman defensive specialist Abigail Huser set a new career high with 14 digs.

The RedHawks return to action on Friday when they travel to Ohio for the "Battle of the Bricks." First serve is at 7 p.m.