Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
5-0
Cleveland State
5-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan State | 15 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Cleveland State | 25 | 23 | 14 | 21 | 1 |
No. 20 Volleyball Tops Cleveland State, 3-1
9/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 4, 2009
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The No. 20 Michigan State volleyball team (5-0) topped Cleveland State University (5-1) tonight, 3-1 (15-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-21), in the second game of the CSU Invitational presented by the Crowne Plaza City Center. Junior Megan Schatzle (Monroe, Mich.) led all attackers tonight, tallying 16 kills, while also posting a .306 hitting percentage.
"Cleveland State is a very good team," said head coach Cathy George. "They had such a crazy sense of urgency with them tonight. They made us come back and work for every point. By going five matches this morning with Syracuse also made for a quick turnaround for us, preparing for this match. They gave us everything that we could handle tonight."
In the first set of the night cap, MSU came out sluggish against the Vikings. The Spartans saw themselves fell behind early, and were unable to gather themselves, dropping the first set 25-15.
After rattling the play of Spartans in the first set, Cleveland State traded points early on with MSU during the second set. With the set tied at eight, MSU slowly began to pull away from Cleveland State, getting out to a 12-9 lead. Once again, MSU and the Vikings then began to trade service points until the set was tied at 20. The Spartans then went on a 3-1 rally before CSU called a timeout. The Green and White closed out the final set by winning two of the last four points scored, defeating CSU in the second set by a score of 25-23.
The Spartans came out of intermission in the third set playing like they were a team on a mission, after struggling in the previous two sets, by gaining an early 4-1 lead over the Vikings. CSU rallied back, after finding themselves down early, to square the match at four, before pulling out to a 8-5 lead over MSU. The Spartans responded by going on a 12-2 run themselves, before CSU broke serve an MSU service error, to make it 15-11. Cleveland State tallied three more points before MSU closed out the set with a score of 25-14. MSU saw their attack percentage top CSU by a difference of .312 to -.108 in the third set.
In the final set, the Spartans looked ready to close out the match, as they came out to an early 7-4 lead. However, the Vikings still had fight left in them as they rallied back to tie MSU at 13 points apiece. After exchanging points for a majority of the match, MSU closed out the set, and match, by defeating CSU 25-21 in the fourth set, after going on a 5-1 run to end the set.
Sophomore Becca Zlabis (Wheaton, Ill.) has been a nice addition to the lineup, after seeing limited action during the MSU Showcase due to injury. Tonight, Zlabis recorded her second 17 dig tally in as many games. With the addition of Zlabis, MSU's has seen its dig percentage rise from 9.2 digs per a set during the MSU Showcase, to 15.7 digs per set this weekend. Junior Allyson Karaba (Muskegon, Mich.) added another 23 digs for MSU against the Vikings. Zlabis and senior Vanessa King (Silver Lake, Mich.) contributed nine kills each for Spartan attack.
"Becca has had two matches now where she has tallied 17 digs," added George. "Becca gives us that added layer; if you look, we had 141 digs today between both games. We had those five-game matches at home where we only tallied 94 between the two of them. With Becca back in the lineup and it makes us a much more solid team."
MSU concludes action at the CSU Invitational tomorrow when they once again play host Cleveland State at 4 p.m. Live video streaming is available for the Spartans' final match free of charge at CSU Vikings.
