Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
7-3
Oakland
3-8
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland | 15 | 21 | 25 | 19 | 1 |
| Michigan State | 25 | 25 | 17 | 25 | 3 |
Volleyball Wins Seventh Straight, Tops Oakland 3-1
9/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 16, 2008
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- Jenilee
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The 2008 Michigan State volleyball squad earned their seventh consecutive victory after topping Oakland 3-1 (25-15, 25-21, 25-19) tonight at Jenison Field House. The Spartans improve to 7-3 on the season. Sophomore Jenilee Rathje (Mount Pleasant, Mich.) paced MSU with 20 kills while hitting .333. Her 20 kills is her highest since the opening weekend at Oklahoma and gives her 34 in the last two matches.
Freshman Natalie Emro (Wildwood, Mo.) finished with her second highest assist total of the year as she handed out 44 helpers. Junior Vanessa King (Spring Lake, Mich.) followed her MVP performance at the MSU Showcase with 13 kills while hitting .478. Redshirt freshman Vineece Verdun (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) finished with 11 kills while hitting .444.
With a strong attack, the Spartans, who lead the Big Ten in kills, were able to jump out to an early 5-2 advantage in the first set, led by Rathje and Verdun. The Spartan attack would continue through the set as the Spartans would take a 15-10 lead after a service ace from freshman setter Emro, forcing the Grizzlies to take a timeout.
The Grizzlies seemed even more frustrated out of the timeout as the Spartans were able to run off four consecutive points to open a 19-10 lead. The Spartans would close the set with an 18-8 run, giving them the set 25-15.
The Spartans hit .312 in the first set, continuing their efficient attack. Three Spartans finished the set with four kills, led by Verdun and King who both hit .800 while compiling their four kills. Rathje also pitched in four. Emro handed out 11 assists while the Spartans held the Grizzlies to a .087 Hitting percentage.
Oakland came out of the gate firing in the second set, taking a 10-6 lead, prompting head coach Cathy George to use one of her timeouts. Out of the break, the Spartan adjustments seemed to pay off, as they would go a 10-6 run of their own to tie the score at 16. The teams would exchange side-outs until the score was knotted at 20, and that is when Rathje took over for MSU, ending a run of four-straight kills to give the Spartans a 23-20 lead. The lead was their first advantage since it was 6-5 early in the set. MSU would take the set, 25-21 on Rathje's 10th kill of the night.
Through two sets, Rathje was hitting .350 with 10 kills and three errors. King tallied eight kills through the first set while hitting .538. Despite hitting .538, King was not the Spartans most efficient hitter through two sets. That title belonged to Verdun who hit .857 while tallying six kills.
Verdun picked up where she left off at the start of the third set, as she tallied the first kill of the set on a swing to the outside. The Spartans would run off two more points, giving them an early 3-0 edge. The Grizzlies would rebound taking a 17-12 lead to put the Spartans back on their heels. Once again, MSU turned to Rathje and King to spark a rally as they would trim the OU advantage to 17-16, but the Grizzlies attack would prove to be too much as the Spartans would drop the third set, 25-17.
Unforced errors would prove to be the Spartans downfall in the third set as they committed 11 attack errors and hit -.111, dropping their first set since the fifth match against New Hampshire. They had won 13 sets in a row.
The Spartans would rebound in the fourth set as they would limit their errors and got spectacular play from their back row, in particular Allyson Karaba (Muskegon, Mich.) and Carli Weiler (Oak Lawn, Ill.). Weiler and Karaba teamed to keep several points alive early in the set, helping the Spartans to a 16-11 lead. The Spartans would not relinquish that lead, taking the final set 25-19.
MSU will return to action on Saturday when they travel to Mount Pleasant, Mich. to take on the Central Michigan Chippewas. Live audio, featuring the voice of the Spartans, John Kreger, can be found at www.msuspartans.com. The Spartans will return home Sunday and will be signing autographs at the Meridian Mall from 2:30 until 3:30.
