Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Indiana
No. 16 Michigan State Volleyball Defeats Indiana In Four Games
10/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 11, 2003
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - No. 16 Michigan State volleyball took four games (26-30, 30-25, 30-26, 30-25) to defeat Indiana in Bloomington, Ind., Saturday, Oct. 11 on the Hoosiers' homecoming. The Spartans improve to 11-5 overall and 3-3 in the Big Ten. Indiana is now 9-8 overall, 2-4 in league play.
Megan Wallin and Brooke Langston each had 10-plus kills and hit better than .476. Langston had 11 kills on .500 hitting to go along with four assists, while Wallin added 13 kills (13K-3E-21TA) and had two block assists. Three players-Emmy Miller, Nikki Colson and Kim Schram-each contributed double-digit digs numbers, with 17, 11 and 10, respectively.
"I think it's a real plus that we were able to secure a win. Our passing was probably the best part of the game," said head coach Chuck Erbe. "Our attacking got stronger in games three and four. We had lots of opportunities. I felt our serving put them in difficult situations. But we have to find a way to get away from going 1-1 on the weekend."
MSU was unable to get the win in the first game, falling to the Hoosiers, 26-30. Despite leading by three points early, the Spartans were down by as many as eight before regrouping to make it a four-point game.
In the second of an eventual four games, Michigan State changed the tide, leading by as many as nine (28-19) before winning game two, 30-25. Although the Spartans started with an early 1-3 deficit, they gained the momentum on the basis of a service ace by Mickey Davis and didn't look back.
"We had the momentum after winning game two. I think the players definitely felt better, more confident," said Erbe. "I could tell we were more in control. The confidence of winning game two really helped us."
In game three, the Spartans took the lead early, leading by several points the majority of the game. The final game of the match was a back-and-forth battle as the teams searched for the points that would end the match for the Spartans with a Big Ten victory or take it to a fifth game for the Hoosiers to have another chance. But Michigan State's passing and attacking was enough to take the win in four games.
In three weekends of Big Ten play, the Spartans have dropped the first match of the weekend series, losing to Penn State (3-2) on Sept. 26, to Michigan (3-0) on Oct. 1 and to Purdue (3-0) on Oct. 10. Each weekend, MSU came back to win the second match of the series, as they defeated Ohio State (3-1) on Sept. 27, Wisconsin (3-1) on Oct. 3 and Indiana (3-1) Saturday.
Michigan State returns home to host Illinois on Oct. 17 and Northwestern on Oct. 18 at Jenison Fieldhouse. Both matches begin at 7 p.m.; the Northwestern match will be broadcast on espn2.
