Michigan State University Athletics
Volleyball Falls to No. 2 Penn State
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
November 20, 1998
EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 2 Penn State ended No. 14 Michigan State's nine-match winning streak, 15-6, 15-7, 15-13, in Jenison Field House on Friday night. The crowd of 3,523 was the fifth-largest in school history.
Penn State dominated both game one and game two. The Spartans came back in game three and went up 6-0. Michigan State played tough and increased its lead to 12-7. Then, Penn State began its comeback. The Nittany Lions stepped up its play and went on to tie the score at 12 and then moved into its first lead of the match at 13-12. Up 14-12 the Lions gave up one more point to MSU before closing out the game and the match. Penn State hit .351 to the Spartans' .194 and outdug the Spartans 48-42.
Jenna Wrobel led the Spartans with 17 kills while Sarah Gustin tallied 13 kills on .370 hitting to go along with four blocks. Setter Christie Landry tallied 44 assists, four kills on .444 hitting, eight digs and four blocks. Michigan State was outblocked for only the third time all season, 9-8.
Lindsay Anderson led Penn State with a match-high 19 kills as one three Nittany Lion hitters in double digits. Lauren Cacciamani and Carrie Schonveld each had 10. Setter Bonnie Bremner ended the match with nine kills on .533 hitting with 46 assists, five digs and two blocks.
"What a great tribute to women's volleyball and what they are achieving as ambassadors for women's sports," said MSU head coach Chuck Erbe on the crowd and television coverage (the match was carried by Fox Sports Chicago).
"I thought our team really stepped up today," said Erbe. "Our challenge was to be the third team in the nation to take a game off of Penn State and we came close tonight."
Michigan State falls to 21-5 on the season, 13-4 in the Big Ten. Penn State continues its undefeated season at 27-0 overall, 17-0 in the conference.
The Spartans return to action on Sunday, Nov. 22 at 1:30 p.m. as ESPN2 televises the action live between Michigan State and the visiting Ohio State Buckeyes. Sunday is also senior day for the Spartans as Jenna Wrobel, Kelly Penney and Jennifer Stroffe play their last regular season home match in Jenison Field House.
-MSU-
