Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
2-1
Georgia Tech
1-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan State | 22 | 23 | 25 | 21 | 1 |
| Georgia Tech | 25 | 25 | 14 | 25 | 3 |
Georgia Tech Upsets No. 17 Spartans 3-1
8/26/2017 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF)
SPARTAN SYNOPSIS
Michigan State claimed its first pre-conference tournament title of the season, capturing the 2017 Hyatt Regency Invitational at Georgia Tech despite a four-set loss in the tournament finale to the host Yellow Jackets (22-25, 23-25, 25-14, 21-25).
Tournament MVP Alyssa Garvelink had 14 kills, six blocks, three aces, and hit .227 to lead the Spartans, while three other seniors had nine kills each (Autumn Bailey, Megan Tompkins, and Holly Toliver). Toliver just missed a double-double with 13 digs.
Setter Rachel Minarick was also named to the All-Tournament team. She had a season-best 50 assists and added three aces, and also had four blocks and six digs.
The Spartans found themselves in a 2-0 hole at the intermission, committing 17 hitting errors, hitting .132, and committing 10 service errors. The intermission seemed to straighten things out on the MSU side, as the third set was all Spartans, who had 17 kills, hit .433, and added three service aces to overpower their hosts. The fourth set was more even, but the Jackets outblocked MSU 12-7 on the night, despite a 60-39 disparity in kills and MSU dishing out 10 service aces to just four for Georgia Tech.
MSU hosts the Auto Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational next weekend at Jenison Field House, welcoming San Diego State, Marshall, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to East Lansing.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Alyssa Garvelink finished her night with 14 kills, hitting .276 with six blocks.
- Freshman Meredith Norris had seven kills, hit .462, and had five digs in two sets.
- Rachel Minarick had 50 assists, three aces, four blocks, and six digs. She also chipped in three kills.
STATS AND STORYLINES
- MSU suffered its first loss of the season. The Spartans did not lose to an unranked team in the 2016 regular season.
- Rachel Minarick had the seventh 50-assist outing of her career.
- MSU had double-digit service aces for the second straight match. With seven vs. Furman in the opener and 10 vs. Auburn, the Spartans finished with 27 on the weekend.
- Abby Monson had a season-best 20 digs. She had 17 earlier in the day vs. Auburn.
- Alyssa Garvelink hit .361 on the weekend, averaging 3.10 kills and 2.21 blocks per set. She was named Tournament MVP.
- Rachel Minarick was named to the All-Tournament Team. She averaged 9.8 assists, 1.0 aces, and 1.9 digs per set over the three matches.
GAME REPLAY
- SET ONE: Georgia Tech took a 14-11 lead on the strength of blocks on three straight Spartan attacks , forcing the Spartans into a timeout. MSU got the sideout right out of the break, and Toliver restarted action with back-to-back aces to knot it at 14-all, and the Yellow Jackets took a timeout to regroup. The Spartans went up 18-16, but the hosts countered and the teams traded mini-runs back and forth. With Tech holding a 22-20 lead, MSU got back-to-back kills from Toliver to tie it up, but an error by the Spartans and a kill from the Jackets set up set point for the home team. Another miscue on the MSU side gave the hosts a 25-22 win in the opening frame, on the strength of hitting .345 (10-1-26) and four blocks; MSU hit just .118 (13-9-34) and had just one block. The Spartans did come up with six service aces (three from Toliver), but also had five errors from the service line.
- SET TWO: The hosts took a 7-3 lead early in the second set, carrying over momentum from the first frame. MSU got consecutive kills from Tompkins and Garvelink and then a big block at the right pin from Garvelink and Minarick to get it down to a one-point game, and a Georgia Tech error made it 10-10. Tech pushed its lead back out to four with a 4-0 run, but Meredith Norris entered and hit a back row shot that halted the run. MSU kept coming close, but couldn't overcome the aggressive net presence of the Yellow Jackets, who won the race to 20 with their sixth block of the match. On a Megan Tompkins serving run, the Spartans pulled within one at 21-20, but a long rally ended with a cross-court shot by Ashley Askin that gave Tech a 22-20 advantage. Trading points, Tech pulled ahead 24-21 on a kill by Stravnechi, but the Spartans staved off set point on a kill by Garvelink, followed by a Kranda and Garvelink block to bring the Spartans within a point at 24-23. A service error for MSU gave the Jackets a 25-23 win in the second frame. Garvelin had six kills and three blocks in the frame, but MSU's hitting woes (15-8-53, .132) and five more service errors created some self-inflicted wounds.
- SET THREE: MSU opened with a 6-0 run in the third set, helped by a pair of Minarick aces, that forced Georgia Tech to take a quick time out. MSU pushed its lead out to 10 at 17-7, and maintained that lead as the teams traded points. With MSU leading 20-10, the home team worked to keep the set alive, but Toliver ended it on a cross-court laser to take it 25-14. The Spartans rebounded to hit .433 after hitting just .132 over the first two sets, amassing 17 kills against just four errors. MSU dug 16 balls ompared to eight for Georgia Tech, limiting the Jackets to a .138 pct. The Spartans distributed the offense equally - Toliver had four kills, while Megan Tompkins, Kranda, Garvelink, and Meredith Norris each had three.
- SET FOUR: Neither team could get much separation until the Yellow Jackets went up three (14-11), and then four on a shot that kissed the back left corner by Cori Clifton, making it 16-12. Norris countered with a beautiful shot of her own out of the break that kissed the corner, but the teams went back to trading points. A third block for the Jackets in the set re-established a four-point cushion (18-14), but they lost the momentum with a service that sailed long. Stavnetchi went off the block to go back up three, and then Askin followed suit to give the home team a 20-16 edge. A soft touch by Tompkins stopped the GT run, and a shot out of bounds brought MSU to within two. A series of miscues allowed the Tech lead to go up to a set-high five (23-18), but a thundering kill by Toliver and a block by Garvelink got the Spartans to 20 points. With the Yellow Jackets at set point, Garvelink connected on a shot off the block, but the home team closed it out to seal the match victory.
