Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
6-0
Connecticut
3-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan State | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Connecticut | 17 | 9 | 17 | 0 |
Spartan Volleyball Sweeps UConn, Takes Tournament Title
9/1/2012 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 1, 2012
STORRS, Conn. - Michigan State volleyball remained undefeated on the season after beating the University of Connecticut, 3-0, and won the UConn Classic. MSU won by scores of 25-17, 25-9 and 25-17 in the match. The Spartans also swept Fairfield and Dartmouth over the weekend, improving thier record to 6-0. Libero Kori Moster was named MVP of the UConn Classic and juniors Alexis Mathews and Lauren Wicinski both garnered all-tournament honors.
"I was pleased with the way we played throughout the weekend," head coach Cathy George said. "We finished very strong and showed continued maturity and growth throughout the tournament and the last two weeks. We really played together and I thought we passed really well over the weekend and that led to our offense. Tonight, we blocked real well and we've been working on that and emphasizing different things. To see that they were following the game plan was good and I was pleased with a complete team effort."
The Spartans held UConn to only 19 kills in the match and a negative hitting percentage as a team. MSU hit .344 percent and had 43 kills in the match.
Michigan State jumped out to another quick start in the first set against UConn, going up 5-0 and forcing an early timeout. Lauren Wicinski had three kills in the first five points and ended the set with seven kills in 10 attempts. Leading 16-11, MSU went on a 7-1 run to take a commanding 23-12 lead. The Spartans took set one, 25-17, behind 11 assists from Kristen Kelsay, eight digs for Kori Moster and seven Wicinski kills. Taylor Galloway also had three kills and Wicinski added three blocks.
It was more of the same for the Spartans in set two against UConn, going up 7-3 in set two and forcing another quick timeout in set two. Michigan State went up 18-7 and finished the set on a 7-2 run to take the game, 25-9. Wicinski added another five kills and Galloway had three on as many attempts. Kelsay chipped in with eight assists and three different Spartans came up with a service ace. MSU finished the set with 11 kills and had a .500 hitting percentage in the set. UConn had nine errors in the set, contributing to a negative hitting percentage.
Michigan State finished off the Huskies in set three, 25-17, to take the match 3-0. Wicinski finished with her second double-double of the tournament and third of the season, with 17 kills and 10 digs. Moster added another 16 digs for MSU and Kelsay had 26 assists. Alexis Mathews had five kills on seven attempts and had five blocks as well.
Michigan State hosts the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational, Sept. 7-8 at Jenison Field House. The Spartans will face IPFW on Sept. 7, and both Albany and Georgia on Sept. 8.
