Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Northwestern
Win Streak Reaches Five For MSU Volleyball
11/9/2001 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 9, 2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State volleyball team (16-6, 9-6 Big Ten) won its fifth straight match, defeating Northwestern (8-14, 4-11), 30-26, 30-21, 26-30, 30-20, Friday night in Jenison Field House.
Freshman Kim Schram (London, Ont.) led four Spartans with double digit kills, pounding 19, while senior Erin Hartley (Midland, Mich.) had her sixth double-double of the season, slamming 15 kills and adding 10 digs, four total blocks, three aces and three assists.
Junior Kyla Smith (Comox, B.C.) also had 15 kills for MSU, and added seven digs and four aces, while sophomore Jenny Rood (Ada, Mich.) had 11 digs, with six coming in the fourth game. Sophomore Nikki Colson also had a double-double with 57 assists and 10 digs.
Michigan State hit .296 for the match, but much of that was due to the fourth game, when the Spartans pounded the ball at a .543 clip. MSU had only hit .222 through the first three games. Similarly, Northwestern hit just .187 through three games, but improved to .387 in the fourth game to finish at .232. The Spartans outdug Northwestern, 52-42, but the Wildcats outblocked MSU, 11-7.
Michigan State started slow, trailing 16-12 in game one, before turning it up a notch. Schram had two kills during a 5-0 run that gave MSU the lead, and the Spartans continued to stretch the advantage. Back-to-back aces from Smith increased the margin to 28-21, finishing the run at 16-5, and MSU held on to win game one. Schram had six kills in the opening game, while Smith added five, and sophomore Emmy Miller (Okemos, Mich.) added five digs.
Game two was much of the same, as the teams had seven ties through the early going, the last being at 14-14. Two Northwestern errors and a kill by Colson gave Michigan State a 17-14 lead, and the Spartans never trailed again. Hartley pounded six kills in the game for MSU, which hit .314.
MSU lost its chance at a fourth straight sweep by dropping the third game, which was tied on 15 occasions until a late Northwestern surge. The last tie was at 21-21 before Northwestern scored seven of the next eight points to build a comfortable lead at 28-22. Kills by Hartley and junior Angela Morley (Holland, Mich.), followed by a block by Hartley and Morley, made it interesting at 28-25, but the Spartans would get no closer.
In game four, MSU slammed 22 kills while making just three attack errors to put the match away. Four Spartans (Rood, Smith, Hartley and Schram) had at least four kills each in the game, while Colson had 17 assists. The game was tight early, as MSU trailed 9-8, before the Spartans scored eight of the next nine points to take control at 16-10. Northwestern never got closer than five points the rest of the way, and MSU finished off the match with a kill by Hartley.
Michigan State showed improved serving, collecting nine aces to even out their nine service errors. Northwestern had only six aces and 10 errors. The Spartans collected 71 kills to 54 for the Wildcats, and MSU had a 67-50 advantage in assists.
MSU will seek its sixth straight victory when the Spartans host No. 6 Wisconsin Saturday night at 8 p.m. at Jenison Field House. The first-place Badgers escaped Ann Arbor with a five-game victory Friday night against Michigan.
