Saturday, September 29
East Lansing, MI
7 pm
Michigan State University
3
vs
1
Rutgers
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
MB
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S
/ VolleyballMSU Trips Rutgers to Earn Big Ten Win
9/29/2018 10:33:00 PM | Volleyball
Four players post career bests to help MSU to home win
SPARTAN SYNOPSIS
Michigan State snapped a three-game skid and earned a 3-1 victory (18-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-18) over visiting Rutgers on Saturday at Jenison Field House.
Alyssa Chronowski set a new career high with 20 kills, while freshman setter Elena Shklyar established a new career best with 48 assists in the win. Middle blockers Rebecka Poljan had career highs in kills (10), hitting percentage (.444) and was one shy of her career best with seven blocks, two of them solo stuffs.
Both Tali Marmen and Nastya Kudryashova had 10 kills for the visiting Scarlet Knights (6-11, 0-4 Big Ten).
The teams split the first two sets – Rutgers got hot late to run away with a 25-18 win in the opening frame, and the Spartans had to hold off a late charge from the Scarlet Knights to hold on for a 25-23 second-set victory. The Spartans held control for most of the third set to come away with a seven-point decision where they hit a match-best .571, and hit .360 in the final frame as they closed it out with another 25-18 set victory.
The Spartans recorded 15 blocks in the contest, establishing a new season best. MSU had 14 against both Tennessee and Alabama-Birmingham. Six of MSU's 15 stuffs were solo efforts, which was also a season high for the squad.
MSU is now 13-4 on the season and 1-3 in Big Ten play.
The Spartans host another pair of home games next weekend when it welcomes Indiana and Purdue to Jenison Field House.
QUOTABLE
"We started a little slow again, but we certainly got stronger as the match wore on. We chipped away and got better. We got contributions from a lot of players tonight. Rutgers is vastly improved, and they pushed us - we realized that we had to play aggressive and poised, and I think we really showed that in our third and fourth sets when we really put things together."
- Head Coach Cathy George
TOP PERFORMERS
• Alyssa Chronowski had a career-best 20 kills and added three blocks. Her previous high was 19, set in the season opener at Tennessee.
• Elena Shklyar established a new career high with 48 assists, bettering her 44 against North Carolina (Sept. 1)
• Rebecka Poljan established new career bests in kills (10) and hitting percentage (.444), and had seven blocks, adding two digs.
STATS AND STORYLINES
• Samantha McLean had 13 digs, and three aces
• Naya Gros had nine kills and added five blocks, hitting a match-best .533.
• Meredith Norris had eight kills to go with her four blocks, three of them solo.
• MSU's snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 13-4, 1-3 Big Ten.
• The Spartans overcame 19 hitting errors in the first two sets combined to have one in the third frame and five in the fourth.
• MSU, which was out-blocked 6-2 in the first set, finished with a 15-12.5 edge in blocks.
GAME REPLAY
• SET ONE: MSU opened up an 8-5 lead, helped by three kills against five errors for the visitors. Rutgers fought back to tie things up at 10-10, aided by a block and a Spartan hitting error. The teams traded two-and three-point runs, until the visitors going on a 6-1 stretch to pull ahead 19-16, and MSU called time out. Out of the break, the Scarlet Knights scored four straight to pull ahead 23-17, but a tip over the block by Johnson stopped the run. The Scarlet Knights racked up six blocks in the set, which helped them put away the first set by a 25-18 score. Chronwoski led MSU with four kills, while Poljan had three with two blocks. Jamye Cox and Samantha McLean each had four digs. The Spartans struggled with 10 kills and 10 errors on 39 swings.
• SET TWO: Michigan State came out determined in the second set, rolling out to an 8-3 lead behind a pair of kills by Chronowski and three blocks. MSU's lead grew to as many as six, (13-7 and 16-10), as Rutgers was hitting .091 (6-4-22) compared to 9-3-25 (.240) for the Spartans. The Spartans remained aggressive, going up 20-13 on a McLean ace, forcing the Scarlet Knights into a time out. A solo block by Norris made it 21-13, but Rutgers fought back with four of the next five points to pull within four at 22-18. Chronowski became a little hard to handle for the visitors, as she put up three straight kills to get MSU to set point at 24-18, but back-to-back errors followed by a kill by Jasmine Stackhouse made it 24-21. A block and a kill by Beka Kojadinovic brought the visitors within a point at 24-23, but Kojadinovic's luck ran out when Gros and Chronowski blocked her to seal the set victory, 25-23. Chronowski had seven kills and two blocks, while Gros piled up three blocks and Meredith Norris two. MSU hit .135 as an improvement over the .000 from the first frame, and posted five blocks to Rutgers' four.
• SET THREE: MSU used a pair of kills and a pair of aces to build a 7-3 lead, and forced the visitors into a time out. The Spartans came out of the break with a solo block by Norris and a kill by Gros to push it out to 9-3, and kept their foot on the gas. MSU's lead fluctuated between five and six points, despite the Scarlet Knights trying their best to climb back into it. A pair of aces by Inna Balyko brought her team within five at 13-8, but MSU's sharp hitting – better than .500 for most of the set – helped the Spartans maintain their lead. The Scarlet Knights briefly got within four (19-15) after a kill by Kojadinovic, but a shot that sailed long for Rutgers followed by a kill from Chronowski pushed it back to six and the visitors called time out. The Spartans kept going to the junior, and she kept putting them down – she had the final three kills of the frame close out the 25-18 victory and give her team a 2-1 match lead. She finished with eight terminations in the set to push her match total to 19, tying her career best. The Spartans had 17 kills in the set (tied for their high in a set this season), hitting .571. Naya Gros had three kills and a solo block for MSU.
• SET FOUR: MSU used a 5-1 run to break open the fourth set and take a 10-6 lead, and built the advantage to as many as six. Rutgers had five kills against four errors while MSU held a 9-4-15 (.333) as MSU took a 17-11 edge and the visitors called time out to try to regroup. Shklyar set Gros on the slide to record her 44th assist of the night, tying her career best and giving MSU a 19-12 lead. MSU kept its foot on the gas and finished with 14 kills in the frame to close it out by a 25-18 score, hitting .360 to push its match percentage to .233. Meredith Norris had five of her eight kills in the final frame, while Gros had four; Poljan added three kills and four blocks in the set.
Michigan State snapped a three-game skid and earned a 3-1 victory (18-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-18) over visiting Rutgers on Saturday at Jenison Field House.
Alyssa Chronowski set a new career high with 20 kills, while freshman setter Elena Shklyar established a new career best with 48 assists in the win. Middle blockers Rebecka Poljan had career highs in kills (10), hitting percentage (.444) and was one shy of her career best with seven blocks, two of them solo stuffs.
Both Tali Marmen and Nastya Kudryashova had 10 kills for the visiting Scarlet Knights (6-11, 0-4 Big Ten).
The teams split the first two sets – Rutgers got hot late to run away with a 25-18 win in the opening frame, and the Spartans had to hold off a late charge from the Scarlet Knights to hold on for a 25-23 second-set victory. The Spartans held control for most of the third set to come away with a seven-point decision where they hit a match-best .571, and hit .360 in the final frame as they closed it out with another 25-18 set victory.
The Spartans recorded 15 blocks in the contest, establishing a new season best. MSU had 14 against both Tennessee and Alabama-Birmingham. Six of MSU's 15 stuffs were solo efforts, which was also a season high for the squad.
MSU is now 13-4 on the season and 1-3 in Big Ten play.
The Spartans host another pair of home games next weekend when it welcomes Indiana and Purdue to Jenison Field House.
QUOTABLE
"We started a little slow again, but we certainly got stronger as the match wore on. We chipped away and got better. We got contributions from a lot of players tonight. Rutgers is vastly improved, and they pushed us - we realized that we had to play aggressive and poised, and I think we really showed that in our third and fourth sets when we really put things together."
- Head Coach Cathy George
TOP PERFORMERS
• Alyssa Chronowski had a career-best 20 kills and added three blocks. Her previous high was 19, set in the season opener at Tennessee.
• Elena Shklyar established a new career high with 48 assists, bettering her 44 against North Carolina (Sept. 1)
• Rebecka Poljan established new career bests in kills (10) and hitting percentage (.444), and had seven blocks, adding two digs.
STATS AND STORYLINES
• Samantha McLean had 13 digs, and three aces
• Naya Gros had nine kills and added five blocks, hitting a match-best .533.
• Meredith Norris had eight kills to go with her four blocks, three of them solo.
• MSU's snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 13-4, 1-3 Big Ten.
• The Spartans overcame 19 hitting errors in the first two sets combined to have one in the third frame and five in the fourth.
• MSU, which was out-blocked 6-2 in the first set, finished with a 15-12.5 edge in blocks.
GAME REPLAY
• SET ONE: MSU opened up an 8-5 lead, helped by three kills against five errors for the visitors. Rutgers fought back to tie things up at 10-10, aided by a block and a Spartan hitting error. The teams traded two-and three-point runs, until the visitors going on a 6-1 stretch to pull ahead 19-16, and MSU called time out. Out of the break, the Scarlet Knights scored four straight to pull ahead 23-17, but a tip over the block by Johnson stopped the run. The Scarlet Knights racked up six blocks in the set, which helped them put away the first set by a 25-18 score. Chronwoski led MSU with four kills, while Poljan had three with two blocks. Jamye Cox and Samantha McLean each had four digs. The Spartans struggled with 10 kills and 10 errors on 39 swings.
• SET TWO: Michigan State came out determined in the second set, rolling out to an 8-3 lead behind a pair of kills by Chronowski and three blocks. MSU's lead grew to as many as six, (13-7 and 16-10), as Rutgers was hitting .091 (6-4-22) compared to 9-3-25 (.240) for the Spartans. The Spartans remained aggressive, going up 20-13 on a McLean ace, forcing the Scarlet Knights into a time out. A solo block by Norris made it 21-13, but Rutgers fought back with four of the next five points to pull within four at 22-18. Chronowski became a little hard to handle for the visitors, as she put up three straight kills to get MSU to set point at 24-18, but back-to-back errors followed by a kill by Jasmine Stackhouse made it 24-21. A block and a kill by Beka Kojadinovic brought the visitors within a point at 24-23, but Kojadinovic's luck ran out when Gros and Chronowski blocked her to seal the set victory, 25-23. Chronowski had seven kills and two blocks, while Gros piled up three blocks and Meredith Norris two. MSU hit .135 as an improvement over the .000 from the first frame, and posted five blocks to Rutgers' four.
• SET THREE: MSU used a pair of kills and a pair of aces to build a 7-3 lead, and forced the visitors into a time out. The Spartans came out of the break with a solo block by Norris and a kill by Gros to push it out to 9-3, and kept their foot on the gas. MSU's lead fluctuated between five and six points, despite the Scarlet Knights trying their best to climb back into it. A pair of aces by Inna Balyko brought her team within five at 13-8, but MSU's sharp hitting – better than .500 for most of the set – helped the Spartans maintain their lead. The Scarlet Knights briefly got within four (19-15) after a kill by Kojadinovic, but a shot that sailed long for Rutgers followed by a kill from Chronowski pushed it back to six and the visitors called time out. The Spartans kept going to the junior, and she kept putting them down – she had the final three kills of the frame close out the 25-18 victory and give her team a 2-1 match lead. She finished with eight terminations in the set to push her match total to 19, tying her career best. The Spartans had 17 kills in the set (tied for their high in a set this season), hitting .571. Naya Gros had three kills and a solo block for MSU.
• SET FOUR: MSU used a 5-1 run to break open the fourth set and take a 10-6 lead, and built the advantage to as many as six. Rutgers had five kills against four errors while MSU held a 9-4-15 (.333) as MSU took a 17-11 edge and the visitors called time out to try to regroup. Shklyar set Gros on the slide to record her 44th assist of the night, tying her career best and giving MSU a 19-12 lead. MSU kept its foot on the gas and finished with 14 kills in the frame to close it out by a 25-18 score, hitting .360 to push its match percentage to .233. Meredith Norris had five of her eight kills in the final frame, while Gros had four; Poljan added three kills and four blocks in the set.
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