Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
17-13, 10-9Big Ten
Purdue
22-9, 12-7Big Ten
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purdue | 23 | 19 | 21 | 0 |
| Michigan State | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Spartans Sweep Purdue on Senior Night
11/26/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
East Lansing, Michigan -- MSU won its fourth straight match with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-21)sweep of No. 19 Purdue, sending the Spartan seniors out with a victory in their final game at Jenison Field House. Michigan State improved its Big Ten record to 10-9 and improved to 17-13 overall. The Spartans snapped a eight-game winning streak for the Boilers in the series, as MSU's last victory against Purdue came in November 2009.
For the Spartans, sophomore Reinig had 10 kills, while senior Taylor Galloway made the most of her senior night with 10 kills, hitting .391 and adding one block and three digs. Allyssah Fitterer had six kills and hit .357, while reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week Alyssa Garvelink had 10 kills and four blocks, (including two in the third set), and hit .292. Kori Moster's final game at Jenison Field House saw her pile up 11 digs, and freshman setter Rachel Minarick finished with 35 assists, three kills, five digs, and three blocks.
For Purdue, Annie Drews had a match-high 13 kills, while Sam Epenesa had eight and Danielle Cuttino added 10. Senior setter Val Nichol had 34 assists.
Purdue used an early 4-0 run to pull ahead by a 6-3 margin, but the Spartans scored three of the next four to cut the lead to one, 7-6. Purdue used another run to push ahead 10-6, but MSU battled back to tie it at 11-11, as Taylor Galloway served three straight points and MSU got a big block by Minarick and Fitterer. With the match tied 20-20 - and Purdue taking just one two-point lead as the score climbed - the visitors got back-to-back kills by Drews and Epenesa, pushing their lead to 22-20 - and MSU called a timeout. A block by Epenesa and Jones pushed it to a three-point edge, but MSU countered with two straight kills from Reinig to make it a one-point match once again. After a Purdue time out, Garvelink tied it at 23-23 with a nice sharp-angle shot from the right pin, and Reinig gave MSU set point with a kill at the right one, forcing the Boilers to take their second timeout. Out of the break, a nice dig at the net by Epenesa kept a rally alive for the Boilers, but the Spartans got the opening-set victory when Garvelink and Minarick threw up a big block on the junior to secure an opening-set victory. Fitterer and Reinig had four kills each (Fitterer without an error in seven swings), and Garvelink with three in the opening set.
MSU took a 4-1 lead in the second set, and pushed its lead to 7-3 as Reinig had three of MSU's first four kills. The Boilers kept trying to chisel down the lead, but MSU pushed it out to as many as four at 12-8, and forced Purdue into a timeout at 14-10, as MSU took that lead by hitting .368 to open the frame (9-2-19) on a pair of kills by both Galloway and White. Leading 17-12, MSU used a 6-2 run to push their lead to 23-14. Purdue got the sideout on a Spartan service error, but Garvelink gave MSU set point and a nine-point lead at 24-15. The Boilermakers fought off set point with a 4-0 run, aided by a pair of Spartan errors, but MSU sealed a 2-0 match advantage on a service error by the visitors. Galloway had five kills in the frame, while both Reinig and Garvelink chipped in three.
Firing on all cylinders, MSU jumped out to a 7-2 edge in the third, running off six of seven points- two kills from Reinig and a pair of blocks from Garvelink both a big factor in the run. Purdue got back into it with kills from Epenesa and Drews, trimming the MSU edge to two points at 9-7, but the home team pushed it back to four with a Galloway kill and a Purdue error. The Spartans used a 3-0 run to make it 16-10 on a pair of kills from Garvelink; Purdue cut it down to two with a pair of MSU miscues and two kills from Danielle Cuttino and Azariah Stahl. A pair of Boiler miscues pushed MSU's lead back to four, and with the Spartans leading 20-16, Fitterer put up a huge solo stuff, but a Drews kill started a 3-0 run that was halted with a Reinig swing, making it 22-19. Two points was as close as the Boilers would get, as a Drews kill kissed the back line to make it 23-21. An attack error set up match point for the Spartans, and a Garvelink kill secured the victory on senior night.
MSU heads to Iowa for a Friday evening match with the Hawkeyes (8:30 p.m ET), and then will have a waiting game to learn whether it earns an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament . The Division I volleyball selection show airs Sunday at 8:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
The four Spartan seniors (Ryian Hubbard, Taylor Galloway, Jazmine White, and Kori Moster) were honored in a post-game ceremony, along with Associate Head Coach Russ Carney, who has announced his retirement effective Dec. 31.
