Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
12-9, 5-5
Penn State
20-3, 8-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan State | 24 | 17 | 21 | 0 |
| Penn State | 26 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Spartans Drop Decision to Penn State, 3-0
10/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
State College, Pennsylvania - Michigan State fought hard and played tight with host No. 7 Penn State, but came up short in falling to the Nittany Lions 3-0 (24-26, 17-25, 21-25). MSU concludes the first half of Big Ten play with a 5-5 Big Ten mark and is 12-9 overall on the season. Penn State is 20-3, 7-3 in Conference games.
MSU had a fairly balanced attack and hit .247 on the night, but was cursed by 13 service errors, the same number of miscues it had on 93 attacks in the match. Three players finished with seven kills - Chloe Reinig, Allyssah Fitterer, and Jazmine White; White led the team with six blocks, while Fitterer had three and Reinig four. Senior Kori Moster had 11 digs, and surpassed the 2,000-dig mark; only seven other players in Big Ten history have accomplished the feat. She now has 2,008 career digs.
Moster's 2,000th kill came in the first set, an impressive play on the left sideline that led to MSU's 17th point, a kill by Taylor Galloway. Her 11th of the night, moving her into seventh place all-time in the Big Ten annals, came in the third set as the Spartans looked to climb back from a two-point defecit, on a Fitterer kill. She moves ahead of Bethany Yeager of Iowa, who had 2,007 in her four-year career which concluded in 2013.
Aiyana Whitney (12 kills) and Ali Frantti (11) led the offensive attack for PSU, which out-hit MSU by a slim margin (.258 to .247). Micha Hancock had 33 assists and four of PSU's seven service aces.
Penn State opened the game with a quick lead thanks to strong serving by senior setter Micha Hancock, but the Spartans hung with their hosts, with the teams trading leads, but neither able to pull ahead by more than two points. With MSU taking a 22-21 lead on a big back-row kill by Reinig, Penn State called a timeout; an error by Penn State gave MSU the two-point edge, forcing another timeout on the PSU bench. PSU cut it to a point at 23-22 on a Megan Courtney kill, but Jazmine White countered with a kill from the right side. A block out of bounds on a Frantti kill and an ace by Gonzales tied the game, and a long hitting error gave the home team a 25-24 lead, and Hancock sealed it with a forceful tip into center court just out of the reach of the diving Spartan back row.
The second set continued the theme of the first, as the teams battled point-for-point through a tight affair, as the biggest lead for either team was two points. With MSU leading 15-14, the Nittany Lions closed out the set on a 11-2 run; kills by Hancock, Frantti, and Haleigh Washington was the first mini-run that gave the home team a 17-15 edge, and then followed with four-and five-point runs that put the set away. MSU struggled from the service line, with nine service errors through the first two sets that did not allow the Spartans to establish any momentum.
MSU once again stayed close with its hosts in the third set, as Penn State's largest lead - three points - came at 17-14 and again at 23-20 as the Nittany Lions got a kill from Aiyana Whitney and a service ace from Lacey Fuller. A Christenson kill brought it down to two points, but a big block by Washington, followed by a Frantti kill to finish it off, sealed the win for the home team.
MSU, which has played seven of its first 10 games in the Big Ten on the road, will return home next weekend for games against Illinois and Northwestern.
