Michigan State University Athletics
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Ohio State
Spartan Volleyball Falls In Four Games At Ohio State
11/9/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 9, 2002
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The road woes of the Michigan State volleyball team continued Saturday night, as the squad finished a disappointing weekend by falling at Ohio State in four games, 30-25, 29-31, 30-17, 30-18. MSU, which is 9-1 at home, has lost six of its eight Big Ten road matches to slip to 15-9 overall and 7-7 in the league. Ohio State, which has won seven of its last nine matches, improved to 13-10 and 7-7.
Senior Kyla Smith (Comox, B.C.) had 13 kills and junior Jenny Rood (Ada) added 12, but it wasn't enough as MSU struggled offensively for the second straight night. MSU hit just .164 for the match, collecting just 51 kills in four games while committing 29 errors. Serving problems also keyed the OSU victory, as the Buckeyes had 12 service aces to just one for MSU, while the Spartans had 11 service errors and OSU had just six.
Sophomore Kim Schram (London, Ont.) had nine kills and senior Angela Morley (Holland) and redshirt freshman Megan Wallin (Sarasota, Fla.) had seven kills each for MSU. Morley added six total blocks, one shy of Rood's team-high seven blocks. Junior Emmy Miller (Okemos) had a team-best 12 digs for the Spartans, while junior Nikki Colson (Lincoln, Neb.) had 42 assists and eight digs.
"We were outplayed," said MSU head coach Chuck Erbe. "We've struggled on the road all season, especially in the Big Ten. We had 11 serve errors and 12 serve receive errors. We gave up 23 points on serve/pass. That was the problem."
In the opening game, four quick kills by Rood gave MSU a 5-3 lead when OSU scored six straight points and nine of the next ten to take a 12-6 lead. Four straight points including a pair of kills by Wallin cut the margin to 16-15, but the Buckeyes scored four of the next five points and MSU never got closer than two the rest of the game. MSU hit .235 with 16 kills in the game, including seven by Rood, but had three more attack errors than OSU and allowed four Buckeye service aces.
Game two was even through much of the early going, but with the score tied at 15, Rood sparked a Spartan surge with three kills and a solo block as part of a 7-2 run that put MSU on top, 22-17. From there the teams traded points until a string of five straight OSU points evened the score at 25. A block by Morley started a string of three straight points to put MSU up 28-25, but OSU answered with three points of its own. With the score tied at 29, a Rood kill was followed by a kill by Smith that sent the teams to the lockerroom tied at one game each. Colson assisted on 18 of MSU's 19 kills in the game, and the Spartans hit .227 and used five blocks in the game to hold the Buckeyes to an attack percentage of .191.
Game three was all but over early, as Ohio State scored the first six points on its way to a 14-3 lead. MSU never threatened, as nine points was as close as the Spartans could get the rest of the way. The 30-17 victory by Ohio State was the fewest points scored in a game by MSU all season. MSU had only seven kills in the game and eight errors for a -.034 hitting percentage.
In game four, Ohio State slowly pulled ahead, inching its way to an 11-5 lead. MSU did not score two straight points until trimming a 15-7 lead to 15-9. The lead grew to 22-13 before a 4-1 run sliced the lead to 23-17, but that was as close as MSU would get. The Spartans managed just nine kills in the game and hit .185, while OSU hit .313 in the frame with 16 kills.
MSU did own a 14-10 blocking edge in the game, as well as a slight 47-46 advantage in digs. But Ohio State had 63 kills to MSU's 51, and finished with a .230 hitting percentage. Ohio State was led by Stacey Gordon, who had 21 kills and 11 digs.
Michigan State returns home to battle Iowa Friday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m.
