Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
7-3
Oakland
5-7
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland | 14 | 25 | 16 | 17 | 1 |
| Michigan State | 25 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Spartans Top Oakland in Early Week Matchup, 3-1
9/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 14, 2010
Spartan Sports Podcasts
Head Coach Cathy George
Alexis Mathews
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State volleyball program (7-3) recorded a 3-1 win over Oakland on Tuesday, Sept. 14 inside Jenison Field House. The Spartans improve to 8-0 all-time against the Golden Grizzlies. Junior Kyndra Abron (Livonia, Mich.) led the team at the net with a career-best six blocks, five of which were assists.
"We started off pretty strong in set one," said head coach Cathy George. "After struggling in set two, even letting up a little bit, we turned it around again in sets three and four. I thought our blocking really stepped up tonight in games three and four, which then allowed us to be a lot more consistent offensively."
MSU came out sluggish early on against Oakland in the first set, trailing at one point 5-3. The Spartans then rose to the occasion, tying the match up at five, and once again at eight, before gaining a commanding 10 point lead at 18-8. The Green and White maintained its extensive lead as it saw a timely block from Abron and red-shirt junior Jenilee Rathje (Mount Pleasant, Mich.), making the set 23-12. MSU would trade points with Oakland for the final four points in the set to bring the score to 25-14. Junior Natalie Emro (Wildwood, Mo.) led all attackers in the set with five kills, hitting 1.000. Junior Becca Zlabis (Wheaton, Ill.) recorded five digs in the opening set.
With offensive control, the Spartans once again came out slow early on in set two. MSU found itself down 4-1 before it managed to take the lead at 7-5. Michigan State stretched its lead to eight as the score turned to 17-9. The Grizzlies remained in the set as they put together a 12-4 rally to tie the set up at 21 each. OU traded service with MSU for two points before it pulled away with the final two points of the set, making the score 25-22 and tying the match up at one set each. Zlabis led the Spartan attack with four kills, and also tied with senior Megan Schatzle (Monroe, Mich.) for the most digs with five.
Following intermission, the Green and White would hold a slim one-point lead over Oakland, 4-3, before the Grizzlies would score four straight points, making it 7-4. The Spartans came back to regain the lead after a kill from Emro made the score 9-8. After once again being tied at 11, MSU began to slowly pull away from the Grizzlies, gaining a four point lead at 15-11. The Spartans then took its lead to eight points, 22-14 after OU committed an attack error. Schatzle was the top attacker for MSU in set three with a set-high four total kills.
In the final set of the night, MSU lost the first two points of the set before getting out to a 6-4 lead over OU. The Spartans would keep the offensive pressure on the Grizzlies as they managed to get the score to 16-10 before Oakland would call its first timeout of the set. Following the break, MSU kept control of the set as it took two of three points to take its largest lead of the set at 18-11, which ended with a block from Abron and Rathje. Red-shirt freshman Alexis Mathews (Detroit, Mich.) recorded her 10th kill of the night at 22-15, before Abron closed out the match at 25-17 with a thunderous kill from Emro. Abron notched four kills in the set for the Spartans. Zlabis tallied six digs for the MSU defense.
Joining Abron with double-digit kill tallies was Schatzle with 14 and Mathews with a career-best 10. Zlabis led all defenders with a career-high 19 digs on the night. Red-shirt sophomore Mandi Karaba (Muskegon, Mich.) was the next highest with eight digs. Rathje joined Abron with five block assists on the night, while Emro recorded 27 assists and freshman Kristen Kelsay (Wheaton, Ill.) added another 16 to the total.
The Spartans return to action on Friday, Sept. 17, when they travel to Toledo, Ohio to face the Rockets at 7 p.m. for their final non-conference contest of the season.
