Michigan State University
14-13, 6-10Big Ten
Ohio State
11-17, 2-14Big Ten
Emro, Spartans Top Ohio State in Four Sets
11/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 15, 2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Five Spartans tallied double-digit kill efforts as the 2008 Michigan State volleyball team (14-13, 6-10 Big Ten) topped Ohio State, 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-23, 25-21), Saturday night at St. John Arena. Freshman setter Natalie Emro (Wildwood, Mo.) anchored the Spartan attack all night, posting the fourth double-double of her career. Emro finished the match with 10 kills while hitting a team-high .625 with 44 assists.
Four other Spartans, Megan Schatzle (Monroe, Mich.), Becca Zlabis (Wheaton, Ill.), Kyndra Abron (Livonia, Mich.) and Vanessa King (Spring Lake, Mich.), all finished with more than 10 kills. King, Abron and Zlabis all posted a team-best 12 kills. As a team, the Spartans hit .273 as every attacker finished in positive numbers. It is also the second time in the last three matches that MSU has hit better than .270.
"Any time you have an opportunity to win a Big Ten match on the road, you need to go in and take it," head coach Cathy George said. "Ohio State is a very good team in their own building and I thought we did a good job of rebounding after losing set two. We need to use this as a springboard heading into the final two weeks of the season."
The Buckeyes jumped out to a quick 10-7 advantage in the first set, but the Spartans, behind the play of Emro, rallied back to knot the score at 14. After a kill from Zlabis the Spartans earned their first lead since they led 2-1 early in the set. MSU won 10 of the next 15 points, including the final six points, to win the set 25-20.
As a team, MSU hit .281 in the first set, highlighted by Zlabis, who hit .500 with a team-high six kills. Emro was able to anchor the Spartan attack, spreading the ball to six different attackers in the first set. Emro handed out 14 assists in the first set, one off of her set-high 15, which she tallied in the first set against Michigan last night. Schatzle added four kills to round out the offense.
The second set opened in similar fashion to the first as neither team could build more than a two-point lead. MSU held a two-point edge twice at 9-7 and 10-8, but could not pull away from OSU. The Buckeyes were able to pull ahead at 13-12 and kept the Spartans at bay until late in the set. With the score knotted at 21, Schatzle posted her seventh kill of the night to put the Spartans back on top, 22-21. But three straight points from OSU put them ahead for good as the Spartans dropped the second set 25-23.
Schatzle added three kills to her ledger, moving her match-total to seven. Sophomore libero Allyson Karaba (Muskegon, Mich.) tallied eight digs in the set, giving her 11 on the match. As a team, MSU hit .289 as a team, but could not stop the Buckeyes, who hit .345. Emro added 12 more assists to her total in the second frame.
Emro and Abron controlled the third set for the Spartans, but despite the play of the two freshmen, MSU still needed a late comeback to keep the pressure on the Buckeyes. With the score at 20-19 in favor of OSU, Abron tallied her 10th kill of the match to draw the Spartans even at 20. From there, Emro took over tallying two kills in the next five Spartan points, helping MSU win the set 25-23.
Emro posted four kills in the set. Through three sets, Emro posted eight kills on 11 attacks without an error, hitting .727 to lead MSU. She also handed out 35 assists and added a block assist. Abron and Zlabis both added two kills to their match-totals in the second set.
The Spartans showed a killer instinct at the onset of the fourth set, building a 14-8 advantage. The Buckeyes rallied to knot the score at 18. After Emro's 10th kill of the match and two attack errors by OSU, MSU was able to rebuild its lead to 21-18. The Spartans would not look back, topping the Buckeyes in the fourth, 25-21.
Karaba finished the match with 18 digs to lead MSU; no other Spartan posted more than six in the match. The Spartans added three aces and 10 blocks in the match. King paced the Spartans with seven total blocks (two solo, five assists) to lead MSU at the net.
The Spartans will finish their four-match road trip next weekend as they travel to a pair of ranked opponents, Illinois and Purdue. Live stats and live audio featuring John Kreger can be found at www.msuspartans.com.
