Volleyball Drops Final Weekend Match At USC Invite

Saturday, August 25

Los Angeles, Calif.

8:00 PM

Michigan State University

St. John's

8/25/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball

Aug. 25, 2007

Final Stats

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Spartan volleyball (0-3) wrapped up weekend action at the USC Trojan Invitational with a 3-1 loss to St. John's on Saturday night at the Galen Center. The Red Storm claimed the match victory with 30-23, 30-32, 30-25 and 30-18 game scores.

For the third time in as many games, Ashley Schatzle posted a double-double with 17 kills and 19 digs. The defensive effort marks a career high in digs for Schatzle. The senior led the team in both tournament kills (55) and digs (48).

Also giving a stellar tournament performance was Katie Johnson, who tallied adouble-double against St. John's with 15 kills and 12 digs. The senior finished the tournament with 51 kills and 27 digs. Additionally, Whitney Tremain earned six block assists tonight, a single game career high for the sophomore, while Jessica Hohl led the Spartans in match three with a .417 hitting percentage.

Crucial to the Red Storm's game-one success was there success at the net both offensively and defensively. St. John's posted 14 kills and four blocks compared to MSU's 12 kills and two blocks. Fueled by Hui Ping Huang's six-point service run late in the game, St. John's closed out the first set 30-23.

In game two, Lauren O'Reilly and Tremain contributed back-to-back blocks to give the Spartans a seven-point lead (15-8), their largest thus far in the tournament. The Red storm responded, taking nine of the next 13 points, cutting the MSU lead to 19-17. Following a Spartan timeout, MSU claimed the five of the next six points. St. John's continued to battle, eventually tieing the score at 28-28. In the final action, smart net play and solid defensive digs paid off for MSU, as State tied up the overall match score 1-1 with its 32-20 game-two victory.

St. John's hardly rebounded from game two's loss but still managed to come up with a third-game victory. MSU posted more kills and blocks while minimizing its service and attack errors, but the Red Storm picked up key points at crucial times. St. John's inched closer to an overall win with the 30-25 victory in game three.

The momentum carried for St. John's as the Red Storm claimed the final win 30-18 in the deciding fourth set. St. John's had several multiple-point service streaks from which MSU failed to recover. In addition to a solid effort at the service line, the Red Storm's net presence earned 18 kills in game four.

Michigan State volleyball returns home Aug. 31-Sept. 1, hosting the annual Spartan Invitational at Jenison Field House. The tournament will feature MSU, Kansas, Florida State and Missouri State.