Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Northwestern
No. 23 MSU Volleyball Thumps Northwestern In Four Games
10/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 19, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - The No. 23 Michigan State volleyball team snapped a three-match losing streak, defeating Northwestern in four games, 30-26, 29-31, 30-19, 30-17. Michigan State, which has played six of its eight conference matches on the road, improved to 12-6 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten, while the surprising Wildcats fell to 12-8 and 5-3 in the Conference.
Senior Kyla Smith (Comox, B.C.) led the Spartan offense with 17 kills while hitting .424, and sophomore Kim Schram (London, Ont.) pounded 15 kills. Meanwhile, senior Angela Morley (Holland) had 10 kills, but more importantly added five blocks to set a new school record with 498 career block assists. Redshirt freshman Megan Wallin (Sarasota, Fla.) outblocked Morley on the evening, however, collecting a career-best nine total blocks (one solo, eight assists).
Morley moved past former MSU All-American Dana Cooke, who had 494 block assists from 1993-96. Morley, whose block assist total is fourth best in Big Ten history, also moved into 10th place in Big Ten history with 571 career blocks, which is only 10 shy of the school record and is tied for ninth in Big Ten history
Junior Emmy Miller (Okemos) had a team-best 13 digs for MSU, while senior Emily Engel (Bay City) added 11 digs for the second straight night. Junior Nikki Colson (Lincoln, Neb.) had 43 assists and added five blocks and three service aces.
"It was a much, much needed win," said head coach Chuck Erbe. "The key was we knew we had to win tonight. We had to come off this trip 1-1. There was a calm about this team tonight. The key was Kyla got untracked after being in a slump, and now we can go pin-to-pin.
"We served tactically well and attacked for a high percentage," added Erbe. "We put too much pressure on their hitters that weren't used to carrying a game, and that was our strategy - to serve so they couldn't use their middles."
MSU started well in game one, taking a 9-4 lead after back-to-back kills by Schram. But Northwestern answered, evening the score at 14 before taking its first lead of the game at 16-15. The Spartans managed a tie at 19 on a Morley kill, but the Wildcats scored the next three points. MSU answered with four straight of its own, capped by two service aces from Colson, to regain a 23-22 edge. With the score tied at 24, the Spartans scored four straight points including kills from Schram and Smith to take a 28-24 edge and closed out game one four points later. The Spartans hit .286 in the game on 16 kills, while Northwestern had a .268 attack percentage.
Northwestern grabbed an early 6-1 lead in game two and MSU spent the rest of the game trying to dig out of the hole. The Spartans managed to close within one point on five occasions and finally tied the score at 29 after two straight kills by Schram. But Northwestern answered with two points of its own to even the match at one game each. Neither team hit as well in game two, as the Spartans' 10 errors offset 18 kills and led to a .163 attack percentage, while Northwestern hit .174 while collecting 15 kills.
MSU trailed 9-8 in game three when the Spartans reeled off five straight points punctuated by a Rood kill to grab a 13-9 lead. The lead grew to 23-14 on an ace by redshirt freshman Marley Bellwood (Battle Creek) and a pair of Wildcat errors, and the Spartans cruised home from there. MSU hit .310 in the game, and was aided by 12 Northwestern attack errors which led to a -.029 attack percentage.
MSU looked to put the Wildcats away early in game four, scoring nine straight points to claim an 11-1 lead. Morley had a pair of aces during the stretch and Colson and Wallin combined for a pair of blocks. Northwestern never got closer than seven points the rest of the game, as the Spartans blocked their way to victory in game four with 8 blocks. MSU again stymied Northwestern's offense, holding the Wildcats to a .026 percentage while posting a .276 hitting percentage.
MSU outhit Northwestern, .248 to .119 and outblocked the Wildcats (16.5 to seven). The Spartans also had nine service aces and only six service errors, while Northwestern had seven aces and 11 errors.
Michigan State will return home to play Purdue next Friday, Oct. 25, at 8 p.m.
