Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
18-13, 11-9
Iowa
14-17, 6-14
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan State | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Iowa | 21 | 20 | 15 | 0 |
MSU Pushes Winning Streak To Five With Iowa Sweep
11/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Iowa City, Iowa -- Michigan State won its fifth straight match, downing host Iowa (25-21, 25-20, 25-15) on Friday night in Iowa City. MSU is now 18-13, 11-9 in Big Ten play, while Iowa concludes its season at 14-17, 6-14 Big Ten.
For the Spartans, sophomore Chloe Reinig had 14 kills and four blocks, hitting .370, while followed by freshman Alyssa Garvelink, who had nine kills and eight blocks along with three digs. Senior libero Kori Moster finished her night with 21 digs, moving her into sole possession of fifth place among all-time Big Ten career dig leaders (2,180). Freshman setter Rachel Minarick finished with 31 assists, five kills, two digs, and five blocks.
Lauren Brobst had eight kills and three blocks for the Hawkeyes before leaving early in the third set with an injury, while Alex Lovell also had eight along with a pair of blocks.
Over MSU's five-match winning streak, the Spartans have won 12 of 13 sets, hitting .322 as a team and averaging 3.19 blocks per set while holding opponents to a .092 hitting percentage. With the win, the Spartans finish with an 11-9 Big Ten record, a one-game improvement from 2013 and their fourth straight season with a .500 record or better in Big Ten play. MSU will finish seventh in the Big Ten standings with three Conference games left to be played in the league on Saturday.
As it has in most recent matches, MSU got off to a hot start, leading 7-3 on a pair of kills and four assists from setter Minarick; After MSU built to a 15-7 lead, the home team went on a 3-0 run that trimmed the lead to five, but the Spartans remained focused, and used 4-1 run to push it to 22-14 on three straight kills from Galloway and a Hawkeye error. After a timeout, Iowa came back with a 6-1 run fueled by a pair of kills and a block by Lauren Brobst to trim the Spartan lead to just three points, 23-20. An MSU error allowed Iowa to pull within two, but a big swing by Reinig stopped the Iowa run and gave MSU the sideout; Moster capped the set with an ace, securing an opening-set win.
MSU had a 5-3 lead in the second set, going up by two on an ace by Kristen Muir and a Garvelink kill, but with MSU leading 6-4, the Hawkeyes went on a 6-1 run to own their biggest lead of the night to that point, aided by two Spartan errors along with a block and a kill by Julianne Blomberg. Iowa pushed it to a four-point edge with a kill by Dietz after an MSU timeout, but the Spartans stopped an Iowa run with a sideout on a Galloway kill. Iowa matched its largest lead of the night at 14-10, but Garvelink came in with a big swing and kicked off a run that allowed MSU to pull within one at 15-14. The Hawkeyes won a big rally on a Gunderson termination, but the Hawkeyes continued to have problems with Garvelink at the net, as the sophomore recorded her seventh kill of the night. Trailing 19-18, the Spartans went on a 6-1 run to secure a second-set win, getting a kill and a pair of blocks from Reinig and Garvelink in that sequence.
In the third set, the Spartans built to a modest 15-12 edge, but then used a 7-0 run to push it out to a 21-12 edge that would be insurmountable for the home team. In the run, Reinig had three kills and a block, while Garvelink chipped in two kills, including set point that she sent deep into the right corner to secure the victory. The Spartans recovered to hit .207 after a rough start to the set, hitting .207 and .248 in the match, holding Iowa to just .092 with 22 errors.
MSU now has 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.
