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MACOMB - Junior Brooke Stittleburg had a season-high 17 kills, freshman setter Heather Smith recorded her first career double-double (41 assists and 21 digs) and the Western Illinois volleyball team topped Summit League foe IPFW 3-1 (17-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-18) Friday night at Brophy Hall.

The Fighting Leathernecks (5-5, 2-1 Summit League) dropped the first set, but captured the next three sets from the Mastodons to win their second straight match.

"Tonight was a lot of fun," Western Illinois head coach Kym McKay said. "The coaches are so proud of how hard the team worked tonight and we enjoyed every minute. Our fans were very vocal and the pep band gave us momentum throughout the match. When it gets that loud in here, it's hard to find a better atmosphere for volleyball and the team fed off that energy tonight."

IPFW, the 2009 Summit League Champions, recorded a .412 attack percentage in the first set and captured a 25-17 win. In the second set, Western ran out to an 11-5 lead behind Krissy Bergquist's strong serving and hit .343 in a 25-20 win.

Western fell into an early 10-2 hole in the third set but fought back to tie the score at 17-17 before taking the set 25-20. The Leathernecks were able to climb back into the set by holding the Mastodons to a .000 hitting percentage. Western's defense was even stronger in the final set as the Leathernecks held IPFW to a -.054 attack percentage and recorded five total blocks in an easy 25-18 victory.

"We put a lot of hours into blocking at practice this week and it was wonderful to see that pay off." McKay said. "Our middle blockers (Cait Egan and Katie Hosteng) worked a lot on their slides during the week and their improvement showed tonight."

Stittleburg led the Leathernecks in kills for the second consecutive match and finished with a team-high .469 attack percentage. Stittleburg, who had six kills in both the second and third sets, added 10 digs and three block assists.

"Brooke is a phenomenal athlete and showed that to everybody in attendance tonight," McKay said. "We put her in a lot of great opportunities and she was very aggressive. She was having a lot of fun on the court and the team fed off her energy and enthusiasm."

Smith's 21 digs were a career-best and a season-high effort for the Leathernecks. The LaSalle, Ill. native collected her third 40-plus assist performance this season and also added three kills. Junior Allison Gilbert, Western's kills leader this season, had 11 kills and sophomore middle hitter Katie Hosteng added 10 kills and eight block assists.

Western finished with a .257 attack percentage and allowed IPFW to hit just .102. Defensively, sophomore Bridget Murphy had 16 digs and the Leathernecks tied a season-high with 11 total blocks.

Western Illinois is back in action tomorrow night at 5 p.m. when the Leathernecks host Summit League foe Oakland at Brophy Hall. Oakland swept IUPUI on the road Friday night.