Michigan State University
15-13, 8-9B1G
Northwestern
15-13, 5-12B1G
Spartans Get B1G Win at Northwestern
11/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Evanston, Illinois -- Michigan State needed four sets to down Northwestern on the road on Wednesday (25-15, 25-27, 25-9, 25-13), but got a critical Big Ten victory. MSU is now 15-13, 8-9 in Big Ten play; NU is an identical 15-13 overall, but falls to 5-12 in B1G.
Alyssa Garvelink had 11 blocks, a career best; her four solo blocks was the third-highest total in school history in a four-set match. The freshman added nine kills to just miss her first career double-double, but she hit .450 (9-0-20) and added an assist and a dig. Senior Taylor Galloway had a double-double with 10 kills and 17 digs, and classmate Kori Moster just missed her career best with 27 digs.
Chloe Reinig led all players with 14 kills and added three blocks, while Allyssah Fitterer had 12 kills and a solo block. Rachel Minarick had 40 assists. For the home team, Kayla Morin had 12 kills, while Symone Abbot had 10 kills and a block. The Spartans prevented freshman Taylor Tashima from a third-straight Wednesday triple-double, as she had 30 assists, seven digs, and just three kills.
"At this time of year, wins are always important, and I'm encouraged that we seem to be peaking at the end of the season," said head coach Cathy George. "We had some really good individual performances today, but we all agree that the win is the most important stat that we have to have when we walk out of the gym. I'm proud that we've put together some strong performances in consecutive games - and now we're looking forward to having all of our parents in town for our annual parents weekend on Saturday when we host Rutgers."
MSU jumped out early in the first set, establishing a 7-1 advantage. The home team cut the deficit down to four at 11-7, but the Spartans were able to maintain a four-point lead through 16-12, then pushed it to six at 18-12 before freshman Symone Abbot halted the Spartan run with a kill from the left pin, then cut it down to four at 19-15 with another termination. MSU remained aggressive, closing out the set on a 6-0 run to take the opening set 25-15. Taylor Galloway led the way with six kills, while Reinig checked in with four, as MSU hit .286 to the home team's .088. Minarick had 15 assists on 18 Spartan kills in the frame.
The home team came out with a 3-1 lead in the second set, but MSU quickly settled down to turn the tables and use a 5-0 run to take a lead. Abbot got NU back in it with a kill on a block out of bounds to make it 8-7 MSU, and a block by Maddie Slater followed by a Katie Dutchman ace gave the Wildcats back the lead at 9-8, forcing MSU into a time out. Trailing 11-9, MSU used a Fitterer kill to get the timeout, but the home team countered with an Abbot swing to maintain a two-point edge. Two straight out-of-bounds balls pushed the NU lead to four, but a service error halted the Wildcat run. With the home team leading by five and riding the momentum of a big dig to keep play alive, MSU got a big sideout on a swing from Alyssa Garvelink and a kill by Jazmine White to cut it to 16-13, and MSU kept chipping away until a Galloway kill made it a one-point game, (17-16 NU), forcing the home team into a timeout. The Spartans regained the lead at 20-19 on an NU service error, then pushed it out to a 22-20 lead on back-to-back Reinig kills, forcing the Wildcats to take their final timeout. Out of the break, Reinig and Abbot traded big hits to make it 23-21, and NU pulled within a point on a Monica McGreal ace. Fitterer's soft roll shot gave MSU set point, but the Wildcats battled back with a pair of kills to tie it at 24-24. From there, the four remaining points in the match came on errors, and the home team survived that battle of attrition to take a 27-25 set victory to tie the score at a set each. The Spartans hit just .108 in the frame, while the home team improved to hit .220.
MSU held an 12-4 edge early in the third set, aided greatly by six errors committed by the Wildcats. MSU pushed its lead out to 15-8 on back-to-back Fitterer kills, forcing Northwestern to take its second and final timeout of the set. Out of the break, the Spartans used a 8-1 run to make it 23-9, and Reinig got back-to-back kills to close it out, 25-9. MSU hit .414 in the third frame without an attacking error (12-0-29), compared to 6-10-33 for the Wildcats (6-10-33). It was the second time in a week that MSU had limited a Big Ten opponent to single-digit points in a set.
The Spartans once again jumped out to a large lead early, as Moster served 11 straight points to take a 12-1 lead. A Savannah Paffen kill halted the MSU run, but Reinig got it right back with a kill at the left pin. MSU kept putting together runs, extending its lead to 18-4 and 20-7; the Wildcats put back-to-back points on the board to make it 21-9, but MSU got the sideout on a Reinig kill. After back-to-back Garvelink kills gave MSU set point at 24-10, the Wildcats countered with a 3-0 run, but Megan Tompkins closed it out with a kill to give MSU the critical road victory.
The Spartans are back in action on Saturday, hosting Rutgers at Jenison Field House at 7 pm.
