Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Northwestern
Volleyball Beats Northwestern 3-0
11/24/2000 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 24, 2000
Michigan State defeated Northwestern 3-0 (15-3, 15-11, 15-1) on Saturday night in Jenison Field House to improve its record to 17-11 overall, 10-9 in the Big Ten. Northwestern falls to 5-24 overall, 2-17 in the conference. The win means MSU is one step closer to its seventh-straight NCAA bid.
Junior outside hitter Erin Hartley led the Spartans with 16 kills to go with 10 digs, seven blocks and six assists. Freshman outside hitter Jenny Rood contributed 13 kills and 13 digs, while senior middle Sarah Gustin tallied six kills, five digs and seven blocks.
Carmen Burbach led the Wildcats with 17 kills and 1 digs. Erika Lange had 10 kills and three blocks.
The Spartans hit .383 for the match while holding Northwestern to .147. MSU also outblocked the Wildcats 12-3. The third game score of 15-1 was the third time this season MSU has held an opponent to just one point in a game, and the 28th time in school history.
Michigan State got off to the early 1-0 lead in the first game. Northwestern tied it at one but that was the last time the game was tied. MSU was in control the rest of the way and up 4-3, knocked off 11 straight points for the win. Rood led the way for State with four kills and six blocks while Gustin noched two kills and three blocks.
The second game started like the first with MSU dominating. Up 6-0, however, State found the Wildcats rallying. At 7-6, the Spartans called a timeout and sided out to score two points. The game was close the rest of the way. With MSU up 13-8, NU scored three points to get within two at 13-11 before the Spartans closed out the game with Hartley hitting a kill over the middle for the game winner. Hartley had eight kills, six digs and three blocks in the game. Rood added five kills while Angela Morley had four kills and two of her four blocks for the match in the game.
Game three was never in question as the Spartan offense clicked all the way around, winning 15-1. MSU had no hitting errors in the game (17-0-34) and hit .500. Hartley tallied five more kills, three digs and three blocks in the game.
MSU closes out its home season Saturday, Nov. 25 against No. 5 Wisconsin in Jenison Field House at 7 p.m.
