Volleyball Takes Care Of Indiana In Four Games

Sept. 23, 2005

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Spartan volleyball squad captured its first win of the Big Ten season Friday night, defeating Indiana in four games, 3-1 (31-29, 23-30-, 30-22, 30-24). Leading the way for MSU was the duo of Katie Johnson and Megan Wallin with 16 kills each, while setter Mickey Davis added 53 assists in the victory. With the win, State improves to 8-4, 1-1 in Big Ten play, while the Hoosiers fall to 6-5, 0-1 Big Ten. Defensively for the Spartans, Wallin posted a career-best six block assists, while libero Nicole Colaluca tallied 14 digs for the match.

The opening set of the night saw IU jump to an early 10-5 lead before MSU sophomore Tracy Bellwood recorded her first ace of the evening at the 9-14 mark nearing the Hoosier lead. Indiana would capture four of the next six points to better its lead at 18-11 forcing Spartan head coach Cathy George to take her first timeout of the evening. A Wallin and Ashley Schatzle block assist capped off five straight Spartan points to pull within one of the Hoosier lead at the 19-20 mark. The teams matched point-for-point until the 29-29 mark when a kill by Johnson gave State its first lead of the contest at the 30-29 mark. Bellwood tallied her second ace of the match as the Spartans took game one 31-29, taking the 1-0 match advantage. State hit .261 vs. the .163 of the Hoosier offense in game one, while the Spartan defense tallied 5.0 blocks at the net compared to 0.0 total blocks by the IU defense. Wallin tallied a game-best five kills, while Davis added 11 assists and four digs during the opening set.

Game two saw MSU take the slight 14-12 advantage until an Erica Short kill neared the lead at the 14-13 mark. The IU offense rallied behind the service of Laura Holm as the home squad took four straight points extending its lead to 18-15. MSU took a slight 20-19 lead after a 5-1 run, but a lengthy six-point run by the Hoosiers gave them the 30-23 game two victory. The MSU offense struggled during the second game, hitting just .047 with 10 errors compared to just six errors at the net by IU. Defensively libero Nicole Colaluca and Davis added two and four digs respectively while the Hoosiers out-blocked MSU 5.0 to 1.0 in the set.

State took a 13-8 lead to open the third set of the night, however, a fiery run by the IU offense neared the lead at the 15-13 mark. A Brooke Langston and Schatzle block assist extended the MSU lead to 18-15 before the IU defense matched the mark as Short recorded a block solo. State took three of the next five for the 21-17 advantage forcing the Hoosiers to take their first timeout of the game. A Wallin and Johnson block assist gave the Spartans the momentum as they captured the 30-22 game four win. State recorded 5.0 total blocks in the set, as Wallin and Johnson added four and eight kills respectively.

A Jessica Hohl kill gave State the 5-2 advantage early in the fourth set of the match. After two consecutive Hoosier kills closed the MSU lead at15-12, George took her first timeout of the set hoping to stall the IU momentum. Two straight blocks and a kill by the Indiana offense neared the State lead at the 16-15 mark, however, back-to-back kills by Langston and Wallin gave MSU the 18-15 upperhand. State held strong taking the 30-24 game four and 3-1 match victory. For the match, MSU hit .248 including a match-best .357 in the fourth set, while the two schools each tallied 11.0 total blocks at the net.

State returns to action next Friday night (Sept. 30) when it travels to face national runner-up Minnesota, followed by a trip to Iowa Oct. 1 to face the Hawkeyes at 7 p.m.