Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
14-15, 6-12Big Ten
Illinois
22-7, 13-5Big Ten
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan State | 25 | 17 | 26 | 25 | 11 | 2 |
| Illinois | 22 | 25 | 28 | 20 | 15 | 3 |
Five Spartans Set Career-Bests as Volleyball Falls at Illinois
11/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 22, 2008
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The 2008 Michigan State volleyball squad (14-15, 6-12 Big Ten) dropped a five-set thriller (25-22, 17-25, 26-28, 25-20, 11-15) at No. 16 Illinois Saturday night at Huff Hall. Five Spartans - Vanessa King (Spring Lake, Mich.), Becca Zlabis (Wheaton, Ill.), Natalie Emro (Wildwood, Mo.), Mischelle Nelson (Naperville, Ill.) and Heather McDaniel (Madison Heights, Mich.) - finished with career-bests. King posted a team- and career-high 20 kills with only two errors. Her 20 kills marks the seventh time this season that a Spartan has hit the 20-kill mark.
Nelson tallied a career-best 10 kills while Zlabis and McDaniel each posted career-best dig totals with 17 and 16, respectively. Emro posted a career-high 60 assists in the loss. As a team, MSU collected 80 digs on the night, the second 80-dig effort of 2008.
"We fought hard tonight and I was really proud of the effort from all of out players tonight," head coach Cathy George said. "We battled through a lot of adversity and took a really good team to the brink tonight. Our team never gave up and and they just kept fighting all night."
The Spartans got off to a strong start in the first set due to the play of McDaniel. McDaniel made a key dig during the first rally of the set, which led to a kill from Zlabis. After another dig from McDaniel off of a Laura DeBruler swing, she sent a pipe ball off of an Illini block to give the Spartans an early 2-0 lead. Nelson and King both got their nights going, adding kills that extended the Spartan lead to 4-0.
The Spartans hit .471 as a team while opening a 12-9 advantage midway through the first frame. MSU was also able to limit DeBruler, an All-American candidate, to a -.200 hitting percentage through the first 21 points. the Spartans advantage prompted an Illini timeout, out of which they ran off six of the next seven points to take the lead at 15-13. After a kill from Zlabis brought the Spartans back within one, a kill from King would draw the Spartans even at 15. From that point, the Spartan defense took over, making several digs at key junctures as the offense capitalized on nearly every off-system ball, helping MSU gain a 22-20 edge. The Spartans scored five of the next seven, highlighted by a kill from Emro on set point, winning the first frame 25-22.
As a team, MSU posted 17 digs, highlighted by five from McDaniel and Carli Weiler (Oak Lawn, Ill.). Their 17 digs were a key reason for the Spartans' first-set win, limiting Illinois to a .121 hitting percentage. Emro passed out 13 assists while adding a kill. Zlabis led all attackers with five kills in the first frame while King added four of her own as the Spartans hit .250 in the opening set.
Similar to the first set, MSU jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead to begin action in the second. The score would go back and forth from that point until Illinois opened a three point edge at 17-14. The Illini scored eight of the next 11 points to win the set 25-17. The highlight of the second set was seven digs from Karaba, keeping the Spartans alive throughout the set. King added three kills, moving her match total to seven to lead MSU.
Coming out of intermission, MSU looked to rebound on the heels of some fine defense in the back row. MSU was able to open a 5-2 edge. King would tally three kills on the first six Spartan points. The third set continued in exciting fashion featuring a number of exciting rallies. The set would go into extra points as neither team could pull away. After a kill from DeBruler, Illinois earned a set point and made the most of it, winning the set 28-26.
King continued her dominating night in the third set. King posted nine kills in the set, without an error. Through three sets, King posted 16 kills on 23 attacks without an error. Emro assisted on all nine of King's kills in the set as she posted 15 in the third frame, giving her 36 on the match.
King continued to dominate in the fourth, helping MSU build a 9-1 advantage. MSU kept the pressure on the Illini throughout the set as the Illini block had no answer for King and the rest of the Spartan attack. Although Illinois battled back to within five points, the Spartans, after a kill from Nelson, won the fourth set 25-20, forcing a decisive fifth frame.
Emro passed out 15 more assists in the fourth, moving her match total to 51. As a team, MSU compiled 68 digs through four sets, highlighted by 19 from Karaba and 16 from Zlabis. Zlabis paired her 16 digs with 13 kills for her third career double-double through four. King set her career-high with 19 kills through four sets.
The decisive fifth set saw MSU jump out to a 9-6 lead, but Illinois rallied to earn a 13-10 lead, pushing MSU to the brink. After a kill from DeBruler made the score 14-11, Illinois and Huff Hall proved to be too much as the Spartans dropped the final set, 15-12.
MSU will wrap up the regular season at home next weekend against Iowa and Minnesota at Jenison Field House. Live audio/video featuring John Kreger can be found at www.msuspartans.com.
