Michigan State University Athletics
Spartan Volleyball Wins 10th Consecutive Season Opener
8/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 25, 2006
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Michigan State volleyball team (1-0) defeated IPFW (0-1) in four games (28-30, 30-23, 30-20, 30-13) Friday night in the first game of the Ball State Nike/Active Ankle Weekend in Muncie, Ind. With the win, State claimed its 10th consecutive season opening victory.
"I didn't think we started the match exceptionally well, but as we continued to play we found our rythm and really began to execute," Spartan head coach Cathy George said. "It is such an advantage for us to have a setter who can both lead the offense and also be a defensive threat at the net."
Setter Allison Ianni directed the offense with 55 assists, adding 11 kills and 10 digs for her second career triple-double and the first Spartan triple-double since the 2000 season. Katie Johnson posted a match-high 25 kills and one block solo, while Ashley Schatzle tallied 13 kills, 17 digs and four block assists. Jessica Hohl and Vanessa King each added four block assists and 15 and six kills, respectively.
State dominated from the service stripe, posting nine aces compared to just two by the Mastodons. Tracy Bellwood tallied a career-best six aces, marking the highest total for a four-game match since Emily Engel accomplished the feat during the 2001 season. Defensively, Nicole Colaluca posted a team-best 25 digs, while Bellwood and Miken Trogdon added eight and 11, respectively.
Bellwood tallied back-to-back aces to even game one at 4-4 before IPFW took an 11-8 lead after three consecutive kills and a Spartan service error. A kill from Ianni pulled the Spartans within one at 12-11, but IPFW went on a 5-2 run forcing Michigan State to take its first timeout. A McDaniel kill followed by a Hohl and Ianni block assist cut the lead to 23-20, but IPFW answered, scoring five of the next eight points to extend its lead to 28-23. Schatzle posted back-to-back kills and the teams matched points twice before a Spartan attack error gave IPFW the set, 30-28. Ianni recorded 12 assists and four kills in the set, while Colaluca and Trogdon each tallied five digs.
The Spartans dominated game two as a Johnson kill gave MSU an 11-9 advantage and State scored four of the next six points to lead 15-11 midway through the set. Kills by King and Schatzle made it 16-13 and the teams matched points three times before a block by Hohl and Schatzle extended the Spartan lead to 22-17. A kill by Ianni at the 25-20 mark forced an IPFW timeout, but the Spartans came out of the break scoring five of the next eight points to take game two, 30-23. Johnson posted a game-best seven kills, while Schatzle and King each added two block assists.
Michigan State caught fire in game three, scoring five straight behind the service of Miken Trogdon to open the set. A Mastodon service error and block by King and Schatzle extended the Spartan lead to 18-12. IPFW then scored four straight points before consecutive putaways by Johnson pushed MSU's lead to 21-16. Bellwood's sixth service ace of the match ended the game, 30-20. Hohl posted five digs and two block assists while Johnson tallied eight kills in 13 attempts for a .462 game three attack percentage.
State began game four on a tear and never looked back. A Schatzle kill gave MSU a 15-5 advantage before an 8-3 Spartan run pushed the lead to an insurmountable 23-8. Kills from Ianni and King put MSU up 27-11 and back-to-back kills from Johnson ended the match, 30-13. Hohl and Johnson each added six kills in game four, while defensively, Colaluca posted nine digs in the Spartan backcourt.
Michigan State continues action at the Ball State/Nike Active Ankle Weekend on Saturday in a 12:30 p.m. match-up with Xavier. The Spartans will face Ball State in the final game of the tournament, Saturday night at 8 p.m.
