Indianapolis – The Butler volleyball team fell to Western Michigan (13-25, 23-25, 15-25) in the final match of the Bulldog Brawl Saturday night. The Bulldogs conclude nonconference play with a 6-7 record before starting BIG EAST play on Friday. The Broncos improved to 7-4 after splitting their two matches this weekend.

Set 1: Western Michigan 25-13
Western Michigan started the set with a 5-0 run thanks to two kills from Meredith Phillips. A later 4-0 run punctuated with back-to-back kills by Madison Merz gave the Broncos an 11-3 lead, and they would lead by at least seven the rest of the opening frame. Mariah Grunze led the Bulldogs with four kills while adding two digs in the first set, and Marissa McKelvey contributed an ace.

Set 2: Western Michigan 25-23
A kill from Melody Davidson followed by a Jillian Ziemba ace put Butler out in front 5-4. A later 5-0 run for the Bulldogs highlighted by two aces and a kill by Grunze extended their lead to 14-9. The Broncos responded with two separate 3-0 runs, the last of which pulled the set even at 19-all. After another Grunze kill, Western Michigan won 6 of 9 points to clinch it. Davidson led Butler with four kills in the second frame.

Set 3: Western Michigan 25-15
A 3-0 Butler run including kills from Davidson and Brittany Robinson tied it at 5-5 early. The Broncos methodically built a lead from there and cruised to win the clinching set. Davidson contributed four kills in the final frame for the Bulldogs.

Stat of the Match
The close second set included 11 ties and six lead changes.

Inside the Box Score
-Davidson tallied 11 kills, two block assists and a dig.
-Grunze recorded eight kills, nine digs, two aces and a block assist.
-Amina Shackelford added seven kills and two digs.
-McKelvey provided a spark off the bench with four assists, four digs and an ace.

Up Next
Butler begins BIG EAST Conference play this Friday at 6 p.m. when it will host nationally-ranked Creighton at Hinkle Fieldhouse.