Michigan State University Athletics
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No. 22 Michigan State Volleyball Defeats Iowa, 3-1
10/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 24, 2003
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Michigan State volleyball defeated Iowa, 3-1, in Iowa City Friday (30-14, 30-21, 27-30, 30-21). Kim Schram led the Spartans with 23 kills on .353 hitting and added two service aces, eight digs and a block solo. State, ranked No. 22 in the nation, moves to 13-6 overall and 5-4 in the Big Ten, while Iowa drops to 5-14 overall, 0-9 in the conference play.
Senior Emmy Miller posted a career-best 23 digs in the match for the Spartans. Senior Jenny Rood and sophomore Megan Wallin each contributed 10 kills in the four-game match, with attack percentages of .444 and .348, respectively. Nikki Colson had 57 assists, nine digs, two kills and a service ace. Sarah Villwock was the fourth Spartan to contribute double-digit kills, with 16.
"Our attacking in the first two games was solid tonight," said MSU head coach Chuck Erbe. "We need to improve our blocking and cut down on our service errors, and that must happen before we play at Minnesota tomorrow night. We must become more consistent overall in order to compete in a more intense atmosphere tomorrow night."
In game one, the Spartans hit .424 (16K-2E-44TA) to Iowa's -.081, and took the game, 30-14. The win marked the largest single-game margin of victory for the Spartans since defeating Villanova by the same score in the first game of the first match of the year. MSU trailed just once, at 1-0. The Spartans built a 10-point lead at 19-9 and the Hawkeyes never got closer than seven from there. Kim Schram hit .400 with six kills to lead MSU, while Nikki Colson had 14 assists to go along with a dig and a kill. Schram added a service ace and three digs.
The Hawkeyes hung around in the second game, and kept the match as close as two points with an 18-16 Spartan lead. From there, though, MSU would hang on to win the game, 30-21. In addition to 16 more assists, Colson had a six-point service run in the game, leading MSU to the win. The Spartans hit .500 in the second game, with 19 kills and an error on 36 attacks. Jenny Rood contributed four kills in the game, and was hitting .545 after two games with a service ace, three digs and one block assist.
The third game saw the Hawkeyes jump out to a seven-point lead at 11-4, and Iowa lead by six as late as 18-12. The Spartans battled back throughout the next five Iowa points, and tied the game at 24 before falling, 30-27. State had 15 kills and eight attack errors on 44 attacks in the game, for a .159 attack percentage, its worst of the night. Sara Villwock added six kills, while Emmy Miller had seven digs in the game.
Game four saw MSU take a two-point lead at 10-8 and never looked back. The Spartans went on a four-point run to make the score 24-14 when Iowa called a timeout. From there, MSU built a 12-point lead at 29-18 and finally pulled out the win at 30-21.
"Kim Schram is attacking well from all points and our passing is allowing our middles to get into the offense," Erbe said. "Brooke Langston is doing well switching back to her original position of middle. Emmy Miller had a strong night defensively with 23 digs."
Michigan State's win Friday marked the first time this season the Spartans won the first of the two-match Big Ten weekend series. The four-game match also marked the first time in the 2003 Big Ten season Iowa was not swept for a 3-0 loss.
The Spartans travel to Minnesota Saturday for a 7 p.m. CDT match. They host Indiana Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. in Jenison Field House.
No. 22 Michigan State, IowaMSU K E TA Pct.Game 1 16 2 33 .424Game 2 19 1 36 .500Game 3 15 8 44 .159Game 4 17 6 35 .314Total 67 17 148 .338
Iowa K E TA Pct.Game 1 6 9 37 .081Game 2 17 7 44 .227Game 3 18 7 44 .250Game 4 11 9 36 .056Total 52 32 161 .124#MSU#
