Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Wisconsin
No. 23 MSU Volleyball Downed By No. 18 Wisconsin
10/18/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 18, 2002
MADISON, Wis. - The No. 23 Michigan State volleyball team dropped its third straight match Friday night at Wisconsin, falling to the No. 18 Badgers in four games, 30-25, 33-35, 30-23, 30-25. The loss drops Michigan State to 11-7overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten, while Wisconsin improved to 13-5 and 4-3 in the Conference.
Junior Jenny Rood (Ada) had 19 kills and eight digs to pace the Spartans, while senior Angela Morley (Holland) had 13 kills while hitting .379. Sophomore Kim Schram (London, Ont.) added 11 kills for MSU, while redshirt freshman Megan Wallin (Sarasota, Fla.) collected 10 kills. Junior Nikki Colson (Lincoln, Neb.) had 50 assists and added 12 digs to share team-high honors in digs with junior Emmy Miller (Okemos). Senior Emily Engel (Bay City) added 11 digs for the Spartans.
With junior outside hitter Sara Villwock (Colorado Springs, Colo.) still out of the lineup with a foot injury, the Spartans shuffled their lineup, and it seemed to provide a bit of a spark. Rood switched back to outside hitter where she last played as a freshman, and Wallin moved into the starting lineup in the middle. But it wasn't enough to overcome several key miscues.
"Too many errors," said head coach Chuck Erbe. "Both teams are young and were trying to find the right lineup. The biggest letdown was our right sides. We had no offense from our right side."
MSU started well in game one, opening a slim 7-4 lead on a Rood kill. The teams traded leads, four times after that, with the Spartans taking their last lead at 18-17 on Rood's third kill of the game. But Wisconsin answered with an 8-2 run to take a 25-20 leadand MSU never recovered. The Spartans managed just 12 kills in the opening game and hit .194. Wisconsin didn't fare much better, hitting .229, but the Badgers had six service aces to just one for MSU.
In game two, Wallin served five straight points to give MSU another 7-4 lead. The Spartans stretched the lead to four points on four occasions, continually holding off Wisconsin surges. But UW eventually scored three straight points to knot the match at 22-22, earning its first tie since 4-4. Wallin pounded a kill and assisted on a block to give MSU a two-point edge, but the Badgers later tied the score at 27. MSU had two game points after taking a 29-27 lead, but didn't convert. The Spartans had game points at 30-29 and 31-30, but still couldn't finish off UW. The Badgers rallied to earn game points twice, but committed service errors both times. After the second service error tied the score at 33, Morley pounded a kill, then UW's Erin Byrd attacked the ball wide, evening the match at 1-1. MSU had 17 kills in the second game while hitting .220. Wisconsin had 21 kills, but committed 12 errors and hit only .143.
MSU went kill-crazy early in game three. After a Wisconsin service error to start the game, MSU's next 11 points all came via kills. Leading 10-9, the Spartans went on a 5-1 run to take a 15-10 advantage. The Spartans led 16-11 when Wisconsin scored six straight points to take a 17-16 lead. MSU responded with three straight of its own, the last two of which included block assists by Morley, to go ahead 19-17. MSU held a 22-21 lead, but only managed one point thereafter as Wisconsin ended the third game on a 9-1 run. MSU ended the game with 15 kills and hit .184 while the Badgers had 20 kills while hitting .366.
In the fourth game, MSU trailed only 7-6, before nine straight Wisconsin points gave the Badgers control with a 16-6 lead. The Spartans showed resolve, going on a 11-2 run to close within one at 18-17, but MSU would never get all the way back even. Wisconsin scored five of the next six points and cruised home from there. MSU hit .233 in the game, but allowed Wisconsin to hit .300.
Wisconsin ended the match with 79 kills and a .249 attack percentage, while MSU hit .210 while collecting 60 kills. The Badgers had a 10-2 edge in service aces, a 65-60 advantage in digs and a 10-8 lead in blocks.
Rood went over 750 career kills in the match, and now has 767 in three seasons, while Schram went over the 500 kill mark for her career, and now has 506 career kills in her first two seasons. Both players are on pace to become the 11th and 12th Spartans to surpass 1,000 career kills.
Michigan State has now lost seven straight times at Wisconsin dating back to 1996, and the Spartans' all-time record at Wisconsin in now 2-19.
Michigan State plays its fourth straight road match when the Spartans visit Northwestern Saturday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m. CT.
