Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Wichita State (Wichita State Tournament)
MSU Volleyball Defeats Wichita State, 3-2
9/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2004
WICHITA, Kan. - Junior captains Megan Wallin and Brooke Langston each had a career nights as Michigan State volleyball (5-0, 0-0 Big Ten) defeated Wichita State (2-3, 0-0 Missouri Valley) in the second match of the Green Mill Restaurant Classic in Wichita, Kan., Friday. Game scores in the match were 25-30, 30-23, 32-34, 30-27, 15-11, as Langston had a match-best 20 kills and Wallin had 18.
Katie Johnson's 17 kills topped her best of 16 that she set in Friday's earlier match against Arkansas. MSU had five players post double-digit digs in the match, including Kim Schram's 20, Maggie Griffin and Marley Bellwood, who each had 13, and Langston and Johnson's 11 apiece. The teams combined for a total of 28 service errors in the match, and neither hit better than .215.
Wichita State and the Spartans battled throughout the first game, as WSU pulled out to lead by as many as four (18-14) until State came back to tie the game at 19 and again at 20. The Shockers reeled off eight points, taking the score to 28-22 before earning the final 30-25 victory. Service errors marred the early part of the game, as five of the first eight points in the game came from miscues. State's woes continued as it hit .000 in the game, with 12 kills and 12 errors on 50 attacks. Kim Schram and Michelle Kopka each had three kills in the game, and Maggie Griffin was limited to seven assists.
The second game saw Michigan State rebound to hit .308 (18K-6E-39TA) and win, 30-23. Langston sparked a Spartan run, helping State stretch an 11-9 lead to 17-10, backed by Marley Bellwood's serving, and after one side out, Langston continued by another service run herself to make the score 21-12. The Shockers fought back to make the game 27-22, but MSU hung on to take the eventual victory. Wallin had six kills, while Griffin assisted all but four State kills in the game. Langston had six kills on 10 attempts, and three digs.
The Shockers never trailed in the third game, as they built an early five-point lead at 8-3. From there, the Spartans made a run to go from trailing 25-18 to tie the game at 26 and take their first lead of the game at 27-26. thanks to service runs from Diana Steplyk and Wallin. The game was tied at 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32 before WSU took the 34-32 win. Wallin had six kills in the game, while Griffin added 13 more assists. Schram had seven digs, moving her three-game total to 20 to go along with eight kills.
WSU jumped out to an eight-point lead (11-4), though the Spartans fought back to tie the game at 19, 20, 21, 23 and 25, and again took their first lead late in the game at 26-25. State hung on to the late lead, and took the game, 30-27, on a strong serving run from freshman Meghan Schoen and timely kills by Langston and Wallin. Langston had five kills in the game, while Wallin added four of her own. Griffin had 15 assists in the fourth game, while Langston and Schoen each had a block assist.
The teams had eight ties or lead changes early, until the Spartans hit a five-point run to give them the 11-7 lead. The Shockers got as close as three at 11-8, 12-9 and 13-10, but State hit match point at 14-10, and again at 14-11 after a service error. Langston recorded four of the Spartans' eight kills in the game, all off assists from Griffin.
Michigan State faces No. 6 Washington (4-0) Saturday, Sept. 11 at 5 p.m (CDT) contest.
MSU 3, Wichita State 0 (Wichita, Kan.)MSU K E TA Pct.Game 1 12 12 50 .000Game 2 18 6 39 .308Game 3 20 10 53 .189Game 4 19 8 42 .262Game 5 8 1 24 .292TOTAL 77 37 208 .192Wichita State K E TA Pct.Game 1 16 6 49 .204Game 2 13 4 38 .237Game 3 17 7 51 .196Game 4 17 7 41 .244Game 5 8 4 23 .174TOTAL 71 28 202 .213
