Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
South Carolina
MSU Volleyball Rallies To Win Coca-Cola/MSU Volleyball Classic
8/31/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 31, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The No. 15 Michigan State volleyball team bounced back from a disappointing first game and a large deficit in game two to upend South Carolina, 20-30, 31-29, 33-31, 34-32, Saturday night to win the Coca-Cola/MSU Volleyball Classic and improve to 3-0. Junior Sara Villwock earned tournament MVP honors after collecting 14 kills and a team-best 18 digs for MSU, while senior Angela Morley and junior Nikki Colson both were named to the all-tournament team.
Sophomore Kim Schram led five Spartans with double-digit kills, collecting 17. Junior Jenny Rood totaled 12 kills and seven blocks, senior Kyla Smith had 11 kills and 12 digs, and senior Angela Morley contributed 10 kills and five blocks for MSU.
After dropping the first game, MSU was faced with a 19-11 deficit in game two, but rallied late to even the match at one game each. The Spartans fought off two game-points in the third game, and another in game four, winning each of the last three games in extra points.
"That's one of the great competitive matches I've been in," said Michigan State head coach Chuck Erbe. "It was a war between two evenly matched teams. We were mentally strong. We were able to overcome our own deficiencies and that's the sign of a great team."
South Carolina, which slipped to 2-1 and narrowly missed being nationally-ranked in the preseason Top 25 poll, was the squad that looked like a great team early on. The Gamecocks hit .419 in the opening game while holding Michigan State to a .118 attack percentage. MSU fell behind 11-5 early and never recovered.
Game two was much of the same until the Spartans started their comeback from the 19-11 hole. MSU inched within 24-18, then six errors by South Carolina in the next seven points put MSU back in contention. State finally pulled ahead at 28-27 on back-to-back kills by Schram, and after USC evened the score at 29, a Gamecock error followed by a Morley kill closed out the game. MSU's block was a key to the rally, as the Spartans scored seven points off of blocks during a stretch that cut a 21-14 lead to 27-26.
Michigan State jumped to a 10-5 lead in game three, and later led by as many as six before South Carolina demonstrated its ability to rally. A 9-3 run tied the score at 19, and 10 more ties would follow. South Carolina had game-points at 30-29 and 31-30, but MSU closed the game with a Smith kill, a block by Morley and Villwock, and a kill by Morley.
In game four, USC built an 18-14 lead before MSU answered with a 7-1 run to take a 21-19 edge. USC evened the score at 21 when the teams began another back-and-forth barrage. The score was tied at every point from 21-21 until 32-32. The Spartans took a 33-32 lead on a Rood kill, and Villwock followed with a service ace to end the match. Villwock finished with eight kills in the final game.
Michigan State was narrowly outhit, .209 to .204, but owned a slim 15-12 edge in blocks. South Carolina collected 81 digs while the Spartans had 67. Senior Emily Engel and junior Emmy Miller both had 10 digs for MSU, and Colson had 55 assists and eight digs.
Sam Alban and Berna Dwyer both had 17 kills for South Carolina, while Cally Plummer had 15 kills and a match-high 20 digs.
Joining the three Spartans on the all-tournament team were Plummer, Dwyer and Megan Hosp from South Carolina and Lauren Warner from Georgetown.
Michigan State will return to action when the Spartans visit Western Michigan for a tournament next Friday and Saturday. In addition to MSU and the host Broncos, the Spartans will battle Wright State and DePaul.
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