Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Illinois
Volleyball Falls In Three Games At No. 24 Illinois
10/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 9, 2004
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Kim Schram led Michigan State volleyball with 15 kills and surpassed the 1,500 career kill mark in the Spartans' 3-0 loss at No. 24 Illinois (27-30, 22-30, 19-30) in Illinois' Huff Hall Saturday night. The Spartans are now 6-8 overall and 1-5 in the Big Ten, while Illinois moves to 12-3 on the season, and 4-2 in league play.
Schram became the sixth Spartan in program history to record at least 1,500 kills in her career, and currently has 1,506 in her three-plus seasons. State freshman Meghan Shoen had eight kills on .636 hitting (8K-1E-11TA), while classmate Maggie Griffin posted 39 assists and eight digs in the match. Michelle Kopka added 11 kills and eight digs for State, as she hit .333 for the second consective match.
The first game was tightly contested with neither team leading by more than three points throughout, and featured nine lead changes and a like number of ties, though Illinois went on to take the 30-27 win. Schram had seven kills for State, while Schoen posted four kills on .800 hitting. Griffin had 14 assists and five digs in the first game. State hit .208 (19K-9E-48TA) in the first game, to Illinois' .351 (18K-5E-37TA). Jessica Belter led UI with eight kills and a .500 attack percentage.
MSU hung close in the second game, but a three-point service run from Illinois' Belter extended the Illini lead to seven (25-18). The Illini took the 2-0 lead in the match with a 30-22 victory. Schram and Kopka had four kills each, while Griffin added 14 more assists. The Spartans hit .306, with 16 kills and five errors on 36 attacks, while Illinois posted a .457 attack percentage (19K-3E-35TA).
The Spartans struggled to find a rhythm and Illinois did not trail throughout the third game, as the Illini took the game and the match on a 30-19 win. MSU posted an attack percentage of .345 in the third game. Kopka and Schram each again posted four kills in the game, and together accounted for eight of State's 14 kills in the third game.
Freshman Miken Trogdon got her first career start in the match, while freshman libero Tracy Bellwood made just her second start at the position. Illinois' Belter ended the night with 18 kills. The Illini hit .482 as a team on the night, compared to State's .274.
Michigan State next plays at No. 9 Ohio State on Friday, Oct. 15 before traveling to No. 6 Penn State on Oct. 16. The Penn State match will be televised on ESPN2 on Sunday, Oct. 17 at 2:30 p.m.
Illinois 3, MIchigan State 0 (Champaign-Urbana, Ill.)Michigan State K E TA Pct.Game 1 19 9 48 .208Game 2 16 5 36 .306Game 3 14 4 29 .345TOTAL 49 18 113 .274
Illinois K E TA Pct.Game 1 18 5 37 .351Game 2 19 3 35 .457Game 3 22 2 34 .588TOTAL 59 10 106 .462
