Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Xavier
Volleyball Sweeps Xavier In Tournament Action
8/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 26, 2006
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Michigan State volleyball team improved to 2-0 on the year with a 3-0 sweep (30-24, 30-23, 30-25) against Xavier (1-1) at the Ball State Nike/Active Ankle Weekend on Saturday in Muncie, Ind.
Setter Allison Ianni directed the offense with 40 assists, adding six kills and three digs; outside hitter Katie Johnson tallied three block solos and 14 kills on 21 attempts for a .476 hitting percentage. Ashley Schatzle added 14 kills on 25 attempts for a .400 hitting percentage and tallied two digs and two block assists. Freshmen middle hitters Vanessa King and Mischelle Nelson each tallied one block assist and posted seven and four kills, respectively. Defensively, Nicole Colaluca tallied a match-best 15 digs in the Spartan backcourt, while Melany Rarey posted two service aces and four digs.
"I feel like we really stepped up our play today and our freshman were very involved in our offense," Spartan head coach Cathy George said. "Our defensive presence was strong and we found our rhythm early which really allowed our offense to flow."
The Spartans won the defensive battle, out-blocking the Musketeers 14.5-2.0 for the match. State served four service aces compared to Xavier's one, and MSU tallied 35 digs against 29 by the Musketeer backcourt.
Michigan State jumped to an early 3-0 lead in game one behind the service of Schatzle, and pushed its advantage to 14-10 to force Xavier to call its first timeout. Out of the break, the Musketeers rallied to score six of the next nine points to pull within one at 17-16, but MSU scored five of the next six to extend its lead to 22-17. After a Schatzle and King block assist, a lengthy rally followed - ending with a Schatzle kill and Xavier timeout at 26-21. The Musketeers scored three straight out of the break but State connected on consecutive swings from Johnson and Schatzle to win game one, 30-24. Schatzle led the opening game with a game-high six kills, Ianni dished 14 assists, and Hohl anchored the defense with two block assists.
A Hohl kill gave MSU a 4-3 advantage early in game two and State scored four straight points for an 8-4 lead. Minutes later, Colaluca served back-to-back aces to extend the lead to 12-8. A Spartan kill made it 15-12 midway through game two but Xavier scored three straight to pull within one and force the first MSU timeout of the contest at 15-14. A Johnson kill and block assist halted the Musketeer run at 17-15, but the teams matched points five times to knot the score at 22. Ianni and Johnson posted consecutive block solos, and back-to-back hitting errors by the Musketeers forced Xavier's final timeout at 26-22. After the break, State scored four of the next five points and took game two, 30-23. Johnson posted five kills and two block solos, Ianni added two kills and 12 assists, and Colaluca posted two aces and eight digs in the Spartan backcourt.
The Spartans never trailed game three as State took a 5-3 advantage on an Ianni block solo. The Spartans continued to dominate, forcing Xavier to take its first timeout of game three at 18-12. The teams matched points four times after the break before Hohl served three straight points to extend MSU's lead to 24-16. Xavier scored three straight before a Johnson kill halted the run at 25-19, but Xavier scored six of the next seven points after a timeout to pull within two at 27-25. State, however, ended the threat by scoring three straight for a 30-25 win to clinch the match. Ianni posted a game-best 14 assists, while Schatzle added seven kills and one block assist.
State will face the host Ball State in the final match of the tournament on Saturday at 8 p.m.
