Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
13-6, 5-3B1G
Rutgers
3-17, 0-8B1G
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutgers | 15 | 16 | 11 | 0 |
| Michigan State | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Sweep of Rutgers Gives MSU Third Straight WIn
10/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
WATCH: Highlights vs. Rutgers
SPARTAN SYNOPSIS
Michigan State posted an efficient, convincing 3-0 victory over visiting Rutgers on Saturday (25-15, 25-16, 25-11) as MSU hit a season-best .425. All 14 eligible Spartan players saw court time on the evening, and MSU was paced by setter Rachel Minarick, who's sixth double-double of the season was sweetened by four blocks and three kills. Alyssa Garvelink turned in another impressive performance, hitting .647 on a match-best 12 kills.
The Spartans win their third straight match, and own a 13-6 overall record, and improve to 5-3 in the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights fall to 3-16, 0-8 in Conference play.
- SET ONE: Tied 6-6, MSU opened up an 9-3 run that brought MSU out to a six-point lead at 15-9. MSU kept rolling from there, hitting .500 in the set (15-3-24), getting four kills on six swings from Alyssa Garvelink and three each from Holly Toliver and Brooke Kranda, and closed out the first set win, 25-15.
- SET TWO: Tied at 9-9, MSU got a 5-0 run that featured a pair of Garvelink blocks and kills from Toliver and Reinig to take a 14-9 edge. The Scarlet Knights battled back to trail 16-13, but the Spartans once again put their foot on the gas, closing out the set on a 9-3 run to win the second frame 25-16. Garvelink added four more kills for a match total of 8, and had a pair of solo blocks to push her match total to five. Rachel Minarick had her sixth double-double of the season sewn up before the end of the frame, with a two-set total of 22 assists and 10 digs.
- SET THREE: An early 11-5 lead for MSU set the tone, as the Spartans continued to roll. Garvelink's 10th and 11th kills of the night made it 18-8, at which point the Scarlet Knights called timeout. MSU closed it out on a 7-3 run, sealing the victory in just under 75 minutes. Garvelink had four more kills and had her first error of the night, while Minarick and Toliver added three kills of their own. MSU committed just two errors in the frame.
QUOTABLE:
"It was nice for us to be able to get all of our players in tonight, because everyone has been working so hard every day in practice and really deserve the opportunity. We also need them to gain that experience beccause you never know when you will need someone to step in. We focused this week on our game, and getting better - next week will wrap up the first half of Big Ten play, and we're going to be facing two top-ten teams. We'll focus on the same things this week - improving and fine-tuning to make our game better."
- Head Coach Cathy George
TOP PERFORMERS
- Alyssa Garvelink hit a team-best .647, leading all players with 12 kills and five blocks, including three solo.
- Rachel Minarick recorded her sixth double-double of the season, posting 30 assists, and a12 digs, tying her season-best with four blocks (one solo) and hitting 3-0-4 (.750).
- Holly Toliver hit .333, posting nine kills, six digs, and an ace.
- Allyssah Fitterer hit .750, with six kills and a block.
- Chloe Reinig hit .375, continuing to find her game after missing seven matches with injury. She had seven kills against just one error on 16 swings.
- Kristen Muir had her second straight game with double-digit digs, recording 10 - the second most in the match behind Minarick.
STATS AND STORYLINES
- The Spartans won their third straight Big Ten match, and are now 4-0 all-time against Rutgers without dropping a set.
- MSU had a season -low nine hitting errors, and recorded its best hitting performance of the season (46-9-87, .425). The previous season high was .414 vs Delaware, and the high in a Big Ten match this season was .333, vs. Indiana on Sept. 25.
- The Spartans had six solo blocks on the night and 10 total blocks in the match. The season-best of seven solo blocks was set vs. Michigan (Sept. 30).
- MSU improves to 10-1 in three-set matches this season, and is now 13-3 when taking a first-set victory in 2015. All three losses are in Big Ten matches to No. 20 Purdue, No. 23 Michigan, and No. 4 Nebraska
- Rutgers hit .056, the lowest hitting performance by an MSU opponent this season. MSU held Maryland to a .063 hitting percentage on Wednesday, which had bettered the previous low .073 by Boston College (Sept. 11).
- The Spartans continue a four-game homestand on Wednesday when they host No. 7 Ohio State on Wednesday, followed by a Saturday date with No. 5 Penn State. 2015 graduate Kori Moster will have her All-America banner lifted into the Jenison Field House rafters prior to the Penn State match.
