Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
17-4, 6-3B1G
Rutgers
4-18, 0-9B1G
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutgers | 15 | 13 | 16 | 0 |
| Michigan State | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Toliver, Reinig Lead Spartans to Sweep of Rutgers
10/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
SPARTAN SYNOPSIS
No. 11 Michigan State swept Rutgers on Wednesday night at Jenison Field House, dispatching the Scarlet Knights in straight sets (25-15, 25-13, 26-16). MSU improves to 17-4 with its fifth win in six tries, and is 6-3 in Big Ten play. Rutgers falls to 4-18, 0-9 B1G.
Chloe Reinig and Holly Toliver each had 10 kills on the night, and Allyssah Fitterer and Autumn Bailey each had six for MSU, which hit .463 as a team, a new season high. Toliver registered a career-best .533 hitting percentage, one of five players with five kills or more who hit .500 or better on the night. Meme Fletcher led the Scarlet Knights with 10 kills, two blocks and three digs.
MSU heads on the road to Columbus on Saturday for a rematch with No. 19 Ohio State, a team MSU swept earlier this season in East Lansing. The match is a 6 pm start time at St. John Arena.
- SET ONE: The teams traded points early in the frame with only a one-point lead for either team through 12-12 tie. After a Rutgers service error, a solo block and kill by Reinig pushed MSU out to a three-point lead, and Rutgers called time out. MSU extended its lead to five (18-13), and called time out on the heels of consecutive points by Reinig (kill) and Allyssah Fitterer (ace). MSU kept its foot on the gas, pulling away with an overall 9-2 run since the 12-12 tie to make it a seven-point advantage at 21-14 - which is when Rutgers called its second time out of the frame. A Garvelink kill - her first of the night - got MSU to set point, and Kristen Brashear delivered an ace to close out the first-set win, 25-15. Reinig had two blocks and four kills on 10 swings, while three other players had two kills each. MSU hit .375 without an error (12-0-32), while Rutgers hit .189 (12-5-37). MSU out-blocked its visitors 4-0.
- SET TWO: Holding a 5-4 advantage, MSU built to an 10-5 lead on the stronng serving of both Holly Toliver and Autumn Bailey, at which point the Scarlet Knights called their first time out of the set. Rutgers got the sideout at 12-6, and proceeded to serve up an ace from Karysa Swackenberg, but the Spartans halted any thought of a run with a roll shot from Reinig. MSU used a 5-1 run and ran its lead up to 18-9, and Rutgers called its second time out when MSU held a 20-11 edge. With MSU up 22-12, Megan Tompkins had a kill and a block to get the Spartans to set point, and Maggie Midgette ended the frame with a block to give MSU a 2-0 lead. Autumn Bailey led the Spartans with four kills in the set, while Reinig and Toliver each had three terminations. MSU hit .500 in the set (14-1-26) and added two blocks for a match total of six through two sets.
- SET THREE: Trailing 3-2 to the Scarlet Knights, MSU went on a 6-1 run fueled by three kills by Toliver and one each from Fitterer and Alyssa Garvelink to pull ahead 8-4. MSU got a firm control of the frame, and saw Toliver go off for six kills, including her 10th of the night that gave MSU a 22-14 advantage. Out of a Rutgers time out, Garvelink and Autumn Christenson delivered kills to get the Spartans to match point, and Midgette closed it out with MSU's 10th service ace of the night to win the third set 25-16. MSU hit .542 in the frame despite five hitting errors (18-5-24), with five errors after just one in the first two sets combined. Tolivers six kills led the Spartans in the frame.
Quoteable:
" We've enjoyed a lot of success here at home, and tonight was a continuation of that. We hit well, and were able to get a lot of our bench in to get some experience - which will really make us deeper and better in the long run. We now get to spend the rest of the week on preparing for a big match at Ohio State on Saturday, and they will certainly have that match circled on their calendars after losing to us here at Jenison earlier this year. Every win in the Big Ten is a good win, and now we need to focus on getting the next one."
-- Head Coach Cathy George
TOP PERFORMERS
- Chloe Reinig posted 10 kills, shared the team lead with three blocks, and a hit .500 (10-0-20).
- Holly Toliver had 10 kills and hit a career-best .533, adding three digs and an ace.
- Allyssah Fitterer and Autugmn Bailey each had six kills. Bailey hit .500 and added six digs, Fitterer hit .545 and add a pair of aces and two digs in addition to a block.
STATS AND STORYLINES
- MSU hit .463 in the match, bettering its previous season high of .400, set against Maryland-Eastern Shore on Sept. 17.
- MSU improved to 7-0 all-time against the Scarlet Knights, all by 3-0 scores.
- MSU is now 13-3 in three-set matches, with 16 three-set affairs in 21 matches overall.
- MSU held Rutgers to a .132 hitting percentage on the night. The Spartans held the Scarlet Knights to .067 in the first meeting of the teams on Oct. 1.
- The Spartans had 10 service aces, one short of the team's season high of 11, which they have accomplished three times.
- Held to just seven blocks, MSU failed to reach double-digit team blocks for the first time in four matches.
- Abby Monson had 10 digs, her 10th double-digit kill performance of the season, and had a pair of assists.
- Rachel Minarick recorded 33 assists, four digs, a solo block, and a pair of aces..
- Kristen Brashear conntributed five digs and had a season-high three service aces.
