Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
7-4
UW-Milwaukee
5-8
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UW-Milwaukee | 19 | 8 | 16 | 0 |
| Michigan State | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Spartans Wrap Invite With 3-0 Sweep of Milwaukee
9/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
WATCH: Auto Owners Insurance Invitational Highlights
East Lansing, Mich. -- - Michigan State posted a 3-0 victory over Milwaukee (25-19,25- 8, 25-16 on Saturday night in the final match of the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational. Both Allyssah Fitterer and Chloe Reinig were named to the All-Tournament Team, and No. 25 MSU finished its non-conference portion of the schedule with a 7-4 overall record.
The Spartans allowed just 43 points to the Panthers, the sixth-lowest total in a three-set match in school history. MSU previously allowed 39 points to Jacksonville State and 40 to Southeastern Louisiana in the season's first weekend. The school record for fewest points allowed in a three-set match is 35, set against Dartmouth in September 2012.
"We regrouped a little after losing our tournament opener to LIU-Brooklyn," said head coach Cathy George. "We faced some adversity with having three starters out, but the sign of a good team is overcoming that adversity to find ways to win. We're still a work in progress in that regard. I think we responded well in the final two matches, and now it's time for us to face our Big Ten schedule. Our non-conference season was designed with good teams on our schedule so that it helped us prepare for what we will face."
The Spartans finished 2-1 in the tournament, tied with LIU-Brooklyn, but the Blackbirds earned the tournament title by virtue of a five-set win over MSU in the first match on Friday. In addition to Fitterer and Reinig, the All-Tournament team consisted of Annika Foit , Vera Djuric, and Tamara Ignjic of LIU-Brooklyn, Taylor Golabowski from Milwaukee, and Alyssa Cavanaugh from Western Kentucky. Foit was named the tournament MVP. It is the second time this season that the Spartan duo has earned All-Tournament Team honors, as both were named after the UAB/Samford Invitational, with Fitterer earning MVP honors. On the weekend, Reinig averaged 3.82 kills per set while hitting .312, and registered 0.55 blocks per set. Fitterer hit an identical .312, averaging 3.09 kills, 1.45 blocks, and 0.91 digs per set.
Against Milwaukee, Fitterer went for a match-best 11 kills, while adding five blocks in addition to hitting .381 Reinig hit .263, finishing with six kills and a pair of digs. Rachel Minarick had 29 assists, three service aces, six digs, and hit .625 (5-0-8). Jasmine White had six blocks (two solo) and also added six kills and two aces.
Michigan State took a 1-0 lead in the match with a balanced offense, using four-and five-point runs to steadily build its lead. MSU registered three blocks in the opening set, all with a hand from Jazmine White, who also contributed a pair of kills. Minarick had two of the Spartans' service aces and also contributed 11 assists.
The second set was a story of a pair of runs for MSU, as the Spartans put it away early - a 5-0 run on a White service allowed MSU to open up an 8-1 advantage, and with the home team up 10-5, Kori Moster served 12 straight points after the sideout to put the game out of reach. With MSU leading 24-6, the Panthers put together back-to-back points for the first time in the set, but then committed an error to seal the second-set victory for the home team. Allyssah Fitterer had four kills and a pair of blocks, while Minarick and White each had three.
The third set was tighter, as MSU held just an 11-9 lead midway through the frame before the Spartans went on a 7-1 run (fueled by two Reinig kills and a block by Fitterer and White) to make it 18-10. MSU gave back four straight points with errors to make it 18-15, but straightened back out to score seven of the next nine points to gain the straight-set victory for MSU.
The Spartans finished with a 7-4 record in non-conference play, and begin Big Ten Conference games next week with a road trip to Indiana and Purdue.
