Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
13-10, 6-6Big Ten
Northwestern
14-8, 4-8Big Ten
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern | 17 | 18 | 16 | 0 |
| Michigan State | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Spartans Roll over Wildcats, 3-0
11/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
East Lansing, Michigan - - Michigan State snapped a three-game skid with a convincing straight-set win over visiting Northwestern on Saturday (25-17, 25-18, 25-16). The Spartans had a balanced attack and had its best hitting performance of the Big Ten season, hitting .381, bettering the .348 it hit against Iowa three weeks ago. MSU evens its Big Ten record at 6-6 and improves to 13-10 overall, while Northwestern is 14-8, 4-7 B1G.
Senior Jazmine White had a career-best 11 kills, hit a career-best .529, and added five blocks and two service aces; Chloe Reinig shared the team lead of 11 kills and hit .375. Allysah Fitterer had six kills along with a team-best six blocks, (two solo), while hitting .357, and Autumn Christenson and freshman Alyssa Garvelink each had six kills and two blocks on the night. For Northwestern, Katie Dutchman hit .542 and finished with a match-high 14 kills and had a hand in each of the two Wildcat blocks.
MSU had its foot on the gas early, jumping out to a 7-1 lead on a pair of kills by Garvelink and a service ace by White, who served six of MSU's first seven points. MSU pushed its lead to ten (15-5) with a 5-0 run that featured a kill and a block from both Autumn Christenson and White and a Minarick ace. Dutchman had two of the next three kills for Northwestern, and with MSU leading by nine (20-11), the visitors scored four of the next five points to make it a six-point match, and the Spartans called a timeout. Out of the break the teams traded points, but MSU scored three of the last four, which included a pair of kills from White, to secure the first-set victory, 25-17.
The Spartans started the second set in similar fashion, forcing the visitors into a timeout with a 10-4 lead and maintained its six-point lead through a 19-13 advantage; at that point, the Spartans were hitting .436 as a team, with six players between four and six kills on the night and strong defensive play from Moster and classmate Ryian Hubbard. MSU pushed its lead to eight, with set point at 24-16; the visitors twice fought off set point, with a kill by Dutchman and a Kyla Morin service ace, but Reinig polished off the second set with a kill from the left side to seal a 25-18 victory. MSU hit .560 in the set, recording 15 kills without an attacking error.
The home team quickly built an eight-point lead in the third set (12-4), and continued to hit at a scorching rate. With MSU leading 20-10, the Wildcats rallied for five of the of the next six points (two of which came on a pair of Spartan errors), which trimmed MSU's lead to 21-15; MSU battled back to put the next three points on the board to get to set point, and a solo block by White sealed the victory. White had her best set in the third, with five kills and three blocks.
The Spartans return to action next Friday evening, hosting Minnesota in a 6:30 p.m. start at Jenison Field House.
