Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Illinois
No. 25 MSU Volleyball Wins Marathon Match Versus Illinois
10/26/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 26, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - In one of the longest and most dramatic matches in MSU volleyball history, No. 25 Michigan State outlasted Illinois, 38-40, 30-22, 30-21, 25-30, 16-14, Saturday afternoon in Jenison Field House. The Spartans' third-straight victory improved their record to 14-6 and 6-4 in the Big Ten at the halfway point of the conference season, and moved MSU into a tie for third in the Big Ten. Illinois slipped to 9-10 overall and 3-7 in the league.
On the night when senior Angela Morley (Holland) became the school's all-time leader in blocks, other records fell as well. Morley had 11 block assists, giving her 589 total blocks during her career, surpassing All-American Dana Cooke who had 581 from 1993-96. Morley's 11 blocks also helped MSU set a school record for total blocks in a match, as the Spartans collected 24.5 blocks, surpassing the previous record of 24 set twice previously. Morley's 11 block assists tied the school record for most block assists in a five-game match.
In addition to blocking records, records were also set for length of match. The opening game score of 40-38 was easily the longest game in terms of points scored in MSU history, and the Spartans' total of 139 points scored during the match smashed the previous high of 126 set during a five-game win against Ohio State earlier this season.
With a 3 p.m. start time that started only 17 hours after last night's match ended, both teams looked tired at times as the miscues piled up. Illinois had 45 attack errors on its way to a .156 hitting percentage, while MSU did not fare much better, hitting .191 with 72 kills but 35 errors.
"We were flat," stated head coach Chuck Erbe. "We played pretty close to peak performance Friday night, and neither team had 24 hours. Illinois was not sharp, we were not sharp. We were very, very fortunate to win this match. I'm just happy to get a "W" on this one."
Senior Kyla Smith (Comox, B.C.) nearly pulled off a triple-double, recording a team-high 18 kills, 10 digs and a career-high eight blocks. Redshirt freshman Megan Wallin (Sarasota, Fla.) was also a solid all-around contributor, collecting a career-high 13 kills, eight blocks, four digs and two service aces while hitting .393. Morley added 12 kills to go with her 11 blocks.
Also putting up big numbers for MSU was junior Jenny Rood (Ada), who had 15 kills and seven blocks, sophomore Kim Schram (London, Ont.), who pounded 12 kills and added five blocks, and junior Nikki Colson (Lincoln, Neb.), who tallied 59 assists and 11 digs for her team-leading 10th double-double. Defensively, junior Emmy Miller (Okemos) had a team-best 16 digs while redshirt freshman Marley Bellwood (Battle Creek) added 10.
In the record-setting opening game, Illinois led 21-16 before MSU mounted a comeback. The Spartans scored seven of the next nine points to square the match at 23, and then the back-and-forth game really got underway. After a tie at 28, Illinois took a 29-28 lead and had a game point. From there, the teams traded the next 20 points, as Michigan State would even the match before Illinois would take a one-point lead. The Fighting Illini had 11 game points before they finally converted one while leading 39-38 to win the opening game.
MSU rebounded to dominate much of the next two games. In game two, MSU scored seven straight points early to take an 11-4 lead and never looked back. The lead grew to 22-12 as MSU cruised to the victory, blocking five shots while limiting Illinois to an attack percentage of .095. The third game was much of the same as the Spartans stuffed eight shots and forced Illinois into a -.079 hitting percentage. MSU never trailed in the game and led by as many as 27-13.
Illinois rebounded in game four, scoring the first five points and keeping MSU off balance. MSU did rally to take a 17-15 lead after a pair of Illinois errors, but the Illini answered right back by scoring six of the next seven points. The lead grew to as many as six points on three occassions as Illinois hit .233 in the match compared to .067 for MSU to send the match to a fifth game.
In the final game, Illinois took a 10-6 lead before a serving error stopped the Illini momentum. A Rood kill was followed by a Colson ace to pull MSU within 10-9. After an Illinois point, Smith and Morley recorded back-to-back kills to even the match at 11. Illinois jumped back in front 13-11, but Smith pounded another kill and Wallin and Schram blocked an Illini shot to even the score at 13. Illinois earned a match point by taking a 14-13 lead, but Schram slammed another kill and Sue Webber attacked the ball wide to give the Spartans match point. MSU did not pass up the opportunity, as Schram tipped the ball of an Illinois block to give the Spartans the victory.
MSU, which improved to 8-0 at home this year, had season-highs in kills (72), attacks (194), assists (68) total blocks (24.5), block assists (37) while tying the season-high with 72 digs.
The Spartans continue a four-match homestand on Wednesday, Oct. 30, when Michigan visits Jenison Field House at 7 p.m.
