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Western Michigan
Volleyball comes up short against Western Michigan in three sets
October 18 | Women's Volleyball
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AKRON, Ohio – Tori Lanzillotti registered a career-high 17 digs and Akron tied its season-high with 10 total blocks, but the Zips were unable to use either to rally past Western Michigan in three sets Friday night at James A. Rhodes Arena (25-17, 25-15, 25-22).
UA (6-12, 0-7) was led on the offensive end by Alex Cocklin with eight kills, Mary Delich with seven and Julia Smagacz with six. Ashley Holder and Karley Kusan shared duties at setter, posting 16 and 13 assists, respectively.
Western Michigan (11-9, 4-3) used an evenly spread attack and a strong defensive performance from Lena Oliver with a match-high 18 digs for the sweep.
After a slow-going first set in which the Zips tied the score four times before they reached five points, then trailed the rest of the way, they found some new life halfway through the second set.
Western was in the midst of a 7-1 run until Akron called a timeout with the score at 16-7. Alex Wiederholt came in off the bench and brought a spark to the lineup as the Zips shelled out four unanswered points. The senior served for just the third time this season, capturing her first ace of the year and bringing UA back to within five at 16-11.
That would be as close as Akron would come in the second stanza however, before the Broncos used a 9-4 run to take the set and a 2-0 lead.
Akron came out of the break firing away, making the most of a 6-1 run to build its largest lead of the night at 15-10. Back-to-back blocks from Amanda Bedell and Kelsey Wilson left the Broncos in Akron's wake heading into a timeout.
WMU wasted no time in its counter attack out of the huddle, scoring five straight points to lock the score at 15-all. Consecutive kills at the hands of Wilson and Delich tied it up again at 19, and a Bronco service error would even it again at 20.
The Zips held off Western on its first attempt at match point at 24-21, but they got caught up on the next play and were called for four hits to close out the night.
Akron turns around to host Northern Illinois on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the JAR. The Huskies (11-10, 3-4) lost in five sets to Buffalo on the road Friday night.
