Michigan State University
Minnesota
Spartan Volleyball Drops 3-2 Decision To Minnesota
10/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 1, 2006
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Michigan State volleyball team lost its second consecutive match, as Minnesota took a 3-2 victory in conference action on Sunday afternoon (30-28, 25-30, 25-30, 30-26, 12-15). With the loss, MSU falls to 10-4, 1-3 in Big Ten play, while the Gophers improve to 10-4, with a 4-0 mark against conference opponents.
Four Spartans registered double-digit kill totals, led by Katie Johnson who tallied the 1,000th kill of her career with 22 against the Gophers. Ashley Schatzle added 15, and Jessica Hohl and Vanessa King added 10 and 14, respectively. Setter Allison Ianni tallied 55 assists, as MSU out-hit the Gophers .302-.296 in the loss. Meredith Nelson tallied a floor-best 24 kills to lead the Minnesota offense.
"This was another hard-fought match," Spartan head coach Cathy George said. "We got some quality play out of our entire team today and if we stay aggressive, we will soon close out one of these five-game matches."
Michigan State won the battle at the net, posting 14.0 blocks against 8.0 by the Gopher defenders, while MSU posted 65 digs compared to Minnesota's 55. Freshman middle blocker Mischelle Nelson matched a season-high with six blocks in the match, while libero Nicole Colaluca anchored the Spartan backcourt with a match-high 23 digs.
State trailed 4-1 in the deciding fifth game before scoring three straight to knot the score at 4-4. King and Ianni connected on back-to-back swings for a 6-4 lead forcing Minnesota to take its first timeout of the set. Out of the break, Minnesota scored three straight to retake the lead at 7-6. The teams matched points twice before a Spartan service error and Gopher ace saw MSU take its final timeout, trailing 11-8. The teams matched points out of the break and a Gopher ball handling error pulled State within one at 12-11, but Minnesota scored three of the final four to take game five, 15-12.
Michigan State held a 17-13 lead midway through the opening set, but Minnesota scored four of the next five points to pull within one at 18-17. Both teams posted runs of two and three points before Johnson connected on four swings late in the set to anchor a 7-5 run and clinch a 30-28 Spartan victory. Ianni spread out 12 assists, directing Johnson to a game-best seven kills on 14 attempts (.429) for the set. State out-blocked the Gophers 6.0-1.0 as Nelson and Schatzle each posted two blocks in the win.
Minnesota went on a 5-1 run to take a 16-12 advantage at the halfway point of game two. Trailing 24-20, State took its first timeout of the set and scored four of the next six points out of the break to pull within two at 26-24. Minnesota answered, scoring four of the final five points to close the 30-25 victory. The Spartan backcourt tallied 10 digs, led by Colaluca with four, while Johnson paced the offensive attack with five kills in the set.
Schatzle placed a ball down the left side to pull the Spartans within two points of the Gopher lead at the 17-15 mark of game three. State scored three of the next five, but Minnesota answered with a 4-2 run to push its lead to 23-20. State took its final timeout trailing 26-22 and the Gophers scored four of the next five points out of the break for a 30-25 win and 2-1 match advantage.
Minnesota carried its momentum into game four, taking a 17-12 lead after consecutive kills by Katie Vatterrodt and Meredith Nelson. State answered with a 5-1 run to pull within one at 18-17, then rallied to score five of the next six to knot the score at 23. Minnesota matched a two-point Spartan run to tie the score at 25-25. The Spartans scored five of the final six points of the set to even the match at two games apiece with a 30-26 game-four victory. MSU out-hit the Gophers .326-.224 in game four, where Ianni tallied 12 assists and Johnson and Schatzle each added four kills for the Green and White.
The Spartans continue Big Ten action at Jenison Field House against Illinois, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m., and conclude weekend play versus Northwestern, Oct. 7 at 8 p.m.
