MACOMB, Ill. - Freshman Sarah Trimpe became Western Illinois? all-time freshman assists leader after collecting a match-high 45 assists in Western?s 3-2 (27-30, 30-28, 30-27, 24-30, 6-15) loss to Bradley Tuesday night. Trimpe now has 939 assists on the season, marking the most by a Western freshman since Vicki King tallied 903 during her freshman season in 1997.Western (14-12, 8-3 Mid-Con) started off slow in game one and fell to a ten-point deficit before forcing a 6-1 rally to trail Bradley 26-27. The Braves then capitalized on two Western errors and clinched the opening game with an ace to lead the match 1-0. Western and Bradley fought closely in a game two that saw 12 tied scores and eight lead changes. The two teams fought point-for-point at the very end before Western kills by sophomore Mary Olson and Trimpe gave Western a 30-28 victory.Sophomore Ashley Baker gave Western the boost it needed in game three with her game-high six kills for a 30-27 win. Western trailed by four points at the 19-23 mark but came back with eight kills from six different players for the win. The Braves tallied 20 kills in the game to Western?s 17, but Western hit a team-high .217 to its opponents team-low .141 en route to the game win.Game four started off much like the first as Bradley (14-12, 7-5 Missouri Valley) climbed to a 25-19 lead. Western pulled back within four points at 22-26, but the Braves forced a fifth game after the 30-24 win.Bradley held Western to a match-low .000 in the final game while hitting a match-high .304 for the 15-6 win. The Braves started off on a 4-0 run before Western answered back with a 4-0 rally of its own to decrease Bradley?s lead to 6-5. The Braves went on their biggest rally of the night and collected nine points for the win while allowing Western just one.Western trailed Bradley?s .190 hitting percentage with .166, and collected 63 kills to the Braves? 71. Bradley also had 105 digs to Western?s 96, and 11 aces to the Purple and Gold?s five.?Overall it was an exciting match. You saw the good, the bad and the ugly of both teams,? said fourth-year head coach Kym McKay. ?We started off every game slow and found ourselves in a hole at the beginning of each game. However, we fought back in all four of those situations, yet we struggled finishing games one and four. We had solid play and solid contribution from every player on the court, but the match result just didn?t go our way because we couldn?t bring all of our contributions together.?Trimpe was one of three Western players to finish the match with double-digit kills. She notched a career-high 10 kills in her record setting night, and sophomore Ashley Baker matched her season-high 19 kills in the loss. Senior Jenna Yurs added 11 kills and a match-high six blocks. Sophomore Amy Sauerwein and junior Jennifer Alexander each recorded 28 digs, and freshman Monique Houston collected 23 digs.Lindsay Stalzer led Bradley with 24 kills and four aces. Ashley Vance dished out 43 assists, and Gillian Falknor added 29 digs in Bradley?s defensive efforts. ?This was our second home match in a row with a great turnout from the crowd and an exciting atmosphere that the Western Illinois band brings to the home court. Our home season has just one match remaining, and we?ll all be looking forward to coming home to this volleyball environment,? added McKay.Western will return to Mid-Con action with a Saturday evening visit to Mid-Con opponent UMKC. Match time is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Swinney Gymnasium in Kansas City, Mo.