Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Indiana
MSU Volleyball Uses Balanced Attack To Sweep Indiana
10/5/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 5, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The No. 22 Michigan State volleyball team won its third straight match, defeating Indiana, 31-29, 30-25, 30-18, Saturday night at Jenison Field House. The Spartans improved to 11-3 and 3-1 in the Big Ten, while Indiana slipped to 11-5 and 1-3 in the Conference.
MSU featured a balanced offense, with four players recording between 15 and 12 kills. Senior Angela Morley (Holland) had a team-high 15 kills while hitting .542 and notching six blocks, while junior Jenny Rood (Ada) pounded 14 kills and hit .600 (14-2-20). Senior Kyla Smith (Comox, B.C.) added 13 kills and seven digs, and sophomore Kim Schram (London, Ont.) had 12 kills for MSU.
The Spartans did not suffer a let-down one night after a grueling five-game victory against No. 16 Ohio State. The Spartans hit .378 and pounded 58 kills in the three games. MSU also held advantages in digs (41 to 32), blocks (10 to seven), assists (56 to 47) and service aces (three to two).
"I don't think there was any dropoff in terms of intensity tonight," said MSU head coach Chuck Erbe. "We were aware than Indiana is a good team. Our kids came in wanting to play a lot better and more consistent than last night."
Junior Nikki Colson (Lincoln, Neb.) posted a double-double for the Spartans, collecting 52 assists while digging a team-best 11 balls. Colson's 52 assists moved her into sole possession of fifth-place on the MSU career assists chart with 2,097.
Indiana played near perfect volleyball early on, claiming a 24-19 lead. MSU scored four straight points capped by a Morley kill to close within one, before IU opened a 27-24 edge. Back-to-back kills from Smith helped the Spartans square the score at 27, before a block by Smith and Morley put MSU in front. With the teams tied at 29, Indiana made a pair of errors that gave the Spartans the first game. MSU hit .341 in the game, while Indiana attacked at a .349 clip and pounded 21 kills.
In game two, the Hoosiers again took command early, leading by as many as four points at 7-3. Trailing 14-12, the Spartans scored four straight points and never trailed again. MSU slowly pulled away, using six kills from Schram and three blocks from Morley to take a two-games-to-none lead. MSU hit only .268 in the game but held IU to a .195 percentage.
The Spartans played nearly flawless in the third game, slamming 21 kills on 29 tries with four errors for a .586 attack percentage. Colson served five straight points to start the game and MSU never looked back. The lead quickly grew to 14-5 on a block by Colson and Morley, and IU never got closer than seven points from there. MSU scored five straight points to close the match, with Rood pounding back-to-back kills to end the contest.
Michigan State will open a four-match road stretch when it visits Michigan at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 9. The Spartans and Wolverines are both 3-1 in the Big Ten.
