Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Wisconsin
Volleyball Defeats No. 22 Wisconsin, 3-2
11/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 8, 2003
MADISON, Wis. - With 4,214 career assists, 65 coming Saturday night in Madison, senior Nikki Colson set the Michigan State volleyball career assists record in Michigan State's win against No. 22 Wisconsin (30-26, 21-30, 22-30, 30-25, 15-8). State is now 17-7 overall, 9-5 in the Big Ten, while the Badgers move to 18-7, 10-4 in league play. The win is MSU's first in Madison since Nov. 22, 1996.
Colson's record surpassed one that had stood since 1988, as Judy Doles (1985-88) held the top spot in the record books for the last 15 years. Colson also is tops on the season assists list, as she posted 1,577 in 2002. Colson's record-setting assist came on a kill from Sara Villwock early in the first game of the night.
Kim Schram and Sara Villwock led the Spartans, with 22 and 19 kills, respectively. Libero Marley Bellwood contributed 19 digs on the night, while Brooke Langston contributed six total blocks and Jenny Rood had five block assists.
"It's great to see Nikki reach such a milestone," said head coach Chuck Erbe. "She's meant a lot to our program, and it's certainly a credit to her hard work and effort throughout the years. Though we got the win, as a team, we still need to become more consistent and cut down on our errors."
Michigan State won game one, 30-26. The Spartans and Wisconsin traded the lead for much of the early part of the game, until MSU pulled out to a three-point lead at 15-12. From there, State led by at least one throughout the rest of the game and built a five-point lead at 26-21. Villwock had eight kills in the game on .500 hitting (8K-1E-14TA), while Schram posted six. Colson contributed 18 assists in the game, to go along with two digs and a block assist, and Bellwood had five digs in the game. State out-hit the Badgers, .250-.188.
The Badgers never trailed in the second game, and led by as many as nine twice (24-15, 29-20). Wisconsin out-hit the Spartans, .395-.143. Schram led MSU with five kills in the game and added an equal number of digs. Teammate Jenny Rood also added five kills and two block assists in the second game. Wisconsin's Lisa Zukowski, who played libero in the first game, had seven kills on .545 hitting in the second game.
Wisconsin dominated the third game of the match, jumping out to an early eight-point lead at 13-5. The Badgers never allowed State to get closer than seven (29-22) the rest of the game and won, 30-22. Schram and Villwock each posted four kills in the game, while Langston had three. Colson once again added 14 assists, while Mickey Davis had the Spartans' lone service ace in the game. Zukowski and Aubrey Meierotto each added five kills for Wisconsin, both on .400-plus hitting. Blocks were even in the game for the two teams, at one each, while UW again out-hit MSU, .314-.270.
Much like the first game, the teams traded the lead early before MSU went on a five-point service run from Emmy Miller that included two service aces. The Spartans led, 16-13, and managed to hold at least a two-point lead until the Badgers tied the game at 22 on a three-point service run from Jill Odenthal. From there, UW led twice, at 24-23 and 25-24. MSU pulled out to the lead and took the win on a five-point service run from Rood that started with a kill from Kim Schram to tie the game at 25-25, and included four more Schram kills, including game point. Five of her six kills in game four came in that short span. Colson had 14 assists and two blocks assists, while Rood added two more kills and two more block assists. The Spartans hit .353 in the fourth game to Wisconsin's .171.
The fifth game saw the Spartans jump out to a five-point lead at 10-5 on the basis of a five-point serving run from Schram. The Badgers fought back, making the score 10-7 before MSU pulled out the 15-8 win. MSU had 5.5 total blocks in the fifth game, 11 block assists, and hit .111 while holding the Badgers to -.167 hitting (5K-9E-24TA).
Schram has posted 20-plus kills in five of the last six matches for the Spartans, while this was the fourth in the last five MSU matches in which the Spartans out-blocked their opponents. MSU is now 3-1 in five-game matches this season.
The Spartans continue their two-weekend road swing next weekend, traveling to Ohio State Nov. 14 and Penn State Saturday. Both matches begin at 7 p.m.
