Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Ohio State
Volleyball Defeats Ohio State Friday For Fifth Consecutive Win
11/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 14, 2003
COLUMBUS, Ohio - For the sixth time in the last seven matches, Kim Schram had 22 kills and led Michigan State volleyball to a 3-1 win Friday in Columbus, Ohio. Game scores in the match were 30-28, 23-30, 30-26, 32-30. The Spartans move to 18-7 on the year and 10-5 in Big Ten play, while Ohio State is now 10-13 overall and 4-11 in the league.
Nikki Colson finished the night with 55 assists, two block assists and nine digs. Libero Marley Bellwood added 12 digs in the match, and Jenny Rood and Sara Villwock each had five blocks in the match. Michelle Kopka posted three kills on 1.000 hitting to go along with a dig and two blocks in her first match since Sept. 27. Rood and Villwock had 11 and 13 kills each, respectively, while Megan Wallin added 10.
"We had to adjust to a new lineup tonight with the loss of Brooke Langston (broken finger) and we did that well in the first game," said head coach Chuck Erbe. "The errors in the second and third games obviously are something we need to manage. It was good to see us bounce back and get the win in game four. We had a balanced offensive attack tonight, with four players with 10 or more kills."
In the first game, MSU pulled ahead by three early, 14-11, and didn't trail again, taking the game, 30-28. Villwock led the Spartans with five kills in the game, hitting .571, and contributing a service ace and four digs. Schram added four kills, while Bellwood had two bump kills in the game to go along with four digs. Colson had 12 assists, and Schram, Wallin and Rood each added a block solo each. The Spartans hit .345 (15K-5E-29TA) in the game, while Ohio State hit .270 (16K-6E637TA). Stacey Gordon led OSU with nine kills on .615 hitting.
The Buckeyes jumped out to a 7-0 lead at the start of game two on a Rebecca Kastein serving run that included two service aces. From there, the Spartans could get no closer than three (24-21), and OSU won game two, 30-23. OSU out-hit MSU, .229 to .103 in the second game, and out-blocked the Spartans, five to three. Schram had six kills for the Spartans in the second game, and Colson contributed 11 more assists. Ohio State's Gordon added four kills to her offensive numbers, while teammate Amanda Miller had five in the game.
The third game saw MSU pull out a 30-26 victory after trailing for much of the game. MSU lost an early three-point lead and Ohio State took the lead at 6-5. Sparked by Emmy Miller's four-point service run that included an ace, the Spartans recovered from a three-point defecit (21-19). The Buckeyes held the lead until MSU tied the game at 21, and took a one-point lead at 24-23. From there, the Spartans went on to win the game, 30-26. Schram had four kills for MSU in the game, and Colson added 12 assists. The Spartans hit just .091 in the game to OSU's .108.
The fourth game saw Ohio State fight back from a 18-12 deficit and was closely contested from there on, though MSU pulled out the extra-point win, 32-30. Schram had eight kills in the final game, and Wallin added six. MSU hit .293 in the fourth game, to Ohio State's .356, and for the first time in five matches, a Spartan opponent out-blocked MSU (14-13).
The Spartans have won five consecutive matches, which ties their longest winning streak this season. MSU has won seven of its last eight matches in Big Ten play. Michigan State continues its weekend Big Ten road swing Saturday at Penn State at 7 p.m. Penn State (22-4, 11-3) faced Michigan in University Park, Pa., on Friday.
