Michigan State University
Wisconsin
State Swept By Nationally Ranked Badgers
11/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 19, 2005
MADISON, Wis. -
MSU vs. Wisconsin Box Score
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The Michigan State volleyball team fell in a tough fought battle to the #15 Wisconsin Badgers in Madison, Wis. Saturday night 3-0 (17-30, 28-30, 30-32). With the loss, MSU falls to 12-16, 5-13 Big Ten while the Badgers improve to 21-6, 13-5 in conference action. State libero Nicole Colaluca led the Spartan defensive specialists with 15 digs in the match, her 28th consecutive match with double-digit dig totals in 2005. Ashley Schatzle paced the State offense with 17 kills, while Jessica Hohl and Megan Wallin added nine kills each in the loss.
A Wallin kill would give State the opening point of the contest before the Badgers opened a 9-4 lead early in game one. Spartan head coach Cathy George would take her first timeout of the night with the Wisconsin lead at the 14-7 mark. An Ashley Schatzle kill would near the lead at the 18-10 mark, however the Badger offense would hold its lead to take game one 30-17. Wisconsin hit a blistering .406 for the set, compared to a .068 average by the Spartan offense. Schatzle and Hohl added three kills each in game one, while Colaluca managed five digs for the set.
Schatzle extended the lead to 3-0 in the opening points of game two before a Spartan hitting error gave Wisconsin its first point of the set. A blocking error at the net tied the contest at 8-8 before a kill by Johnson gave State the slight 9-8 advantage. The teams would match points through the middle points of the set, as a Hohl killed again evened the match at 17-17. Trading leads throughout the set, the Badgers would win a lengthy rally to take the 26-25 lead late in game two. MSU would keep it close at the 28-28 mark, however the home team would rally, as a Maria Carlini score would close the set 30-28.
Matching points early, UW would open an 11-7 lead after an ace at the service stripe by Carlini in game three. MSU would near the Badger lead at the 19-14 mark behind a Brooke Langston kill. A Trogdon ace edged the score to 20-19, however UW regrouped to score three consecutive points forcing MSU to take its final timeout of the set.
The Badger lead 26-22, back-to-back kills from Schatzle and Wallin would force UW to take its first timeout at 26-24. Two strong blocks by the Spartan defense would tie the score at 26-26. A Johnson kill would even the match at 29-29, followed by a Schatzle kill as State took the first game-point of the set at 30-29. An MSU serving error and Badger kill gave UW game-point at 31-30. Wisconsin would add the final point of the match to take the 32-30 win and 3-0 match sweep.
Schatzle paced the State offense with 17 kills, the only Spartan to reach double-digit kill totals for the match. Setter Mickey Davis would finish the contest with 40 assists, against 48 by Badger setter Jackie Simpson. The home team hit .316 compared to .201 by the MSU hitters, while defensively UW out-blocked MSU by an 8.5 to 4.0 margin.
The Spartans return to action for the final weekend of regular season play next weekend when they play host to nationally-ranked Penn State and Ohio State. Both Friday and Saturday start times are slated for 7 p.m. at Jenison Field House in East Lansing.
