Hot-Hitting Illini Down Spartans

East Lansing, Mich. -- Michigan State fell at No. 19 Illinois on Saturday evening, 3-0 (11-25, 15-25, 18-25), dropping the second half of the weekend set. The Spartans fall to 13-8, 4-8 in Conference action.

MSU dropped its fifth straight match – four of those to ranked teams. MSU had a hard time with the big Illini wall at the net, as the home team outblocked MSU by a 9-4 margin, and had a hard time handling the hot hands of the Illinois offense, as they hit .394 (46-9-94), the best hitting percentage of any Spartan opponent this season.

MSU seemed to find its groove in the third set, starting to get some sustained pressure on the 19^th-ranked Illini after falling behind 2-0. MSU hit ..276 in that final frame, but Illinois hit a red-hot .400 with 17 kills in the frame to close out the 3-0 sweep.

Megan Cooney and Jacqueline Quade shared the Illini lead with 10 kills each, with Quade adding 10 digs for a double-double.

Molly Johnson came off the bench to provide MSU with nine kills, hitting .533. Naya Gros had five kills and a hand on three of MSU's four blocks. Meredith Norris had five kills and three digs.

The Spartans play at Michigan on Wednesday evening. Match time at Crisler Center is 7 pm.

PLAYER HIGHS

Molly Johnson contributed a team-best nine kills off the bench and hit .533
Naya Gros each had five kills and led MSU with three blocks

SET SYNOPSIS

SET ONE: MSU fell behind 11-3 early in the set as the Illini were big at the net and not allowing the Spartans many seams to work. MSU called time out at 17-6, with four kills against seven errors while Illinois had seven against one error and added three blocks as it built its large advantage. MSU put together a few consecutive points, but couldn't build any sustained pressure MSU made it 23-10 on a kill by Johnson, and fought off set point on a Chronowski kill off the block, but the Illini closed it out 25-11. Jamye Cox had 10 digs in the set to lead MSU, which was held to an .029 hitting percentage (9-8-34). Naya Gros, Molly Johnson, and Rebecka Poljan all had two kills. The Illini had three players with three kills each and hit a scorching .433 (14-1-30).

SET TWO: The second set picked up where it left off for Illinois, as they used a big block and tooled MSU's blockers effectively to take a 8-4 lead. Illinois' lead grew to 13-6 on a pair of Spartan attacks that sailed wide, but Johnson got the sideout when she went over the block. MSU trimmed it to a five-point deficit at 14-9, but Illinois countered with consecutive kills to push it back to seven. MSU called time out to regoup, and was able to stay with the Illini point-for point – but couldn't trim the deficit down beyond six. Illinois got to set point and then closed it out on back-to-back blocks to take the second set by a 25-15 margin. The home team had four blocks and hit .345 in the set (15-5-29), and limited MSU to 7-7-33. Naya Gros had two kills and block in the frame for MSU, while Kennedy Collins had four terminations and two blocks.

SET THREE: MSU was within a point at 5-4 on a kill by Kabengele, but a 5-1 run for the home team pushed its lead out to 10-5 and MSU called time out. The Spartans got back to back kills from Johnson and Norris to make it a four-point deficit, and after a service error gave the Illini the sideout, Johnson went line and Norris and Gros teamed up for MSU's third block to cap a 4-1 Spartan run that made it 12-9. Johnson and Gros kept it going with a block at the other pin. Illini put together consecutive kills from Cooney and Quade to make it a five-point edge for the Illini, but MSU trimmed it back down to two when the home team committed two straight errors. MSU couldn't get any closer, and dropped the set 25-18. MSU hit a match-best .276, but Illinois continued its hot hand with a .400 hitting percentage with 17 kills. Johnson had six of her nine kills in the final set, (6-0-7), while Gros had two blocks (one solo). Quade and Cooney each had five kills in the set.

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Team Stats

Molly Johnson

Meredith Norris

Naya Gros

Rebecka Poljan

Players Mentioned

Jamye Cox

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan