MSU Honors Seniors With 3-1 Win Over Indiana

Saturday, November 30

East Lansing, Mich.

8 pm

Michigan State University

15-15, 6-14B1G

Indiana

14-19, 3-17B1G

Indiana

Michigan State

Michigan State Athletics Announces Kristen Kelsay Contract Extension

Monday, December 29

Kulig Named CSC Academic All-District

Tuesday, December 16

Staniszewska Earns AVCA All-North Region Honors

Tuesday, December 09

Karolina Staniszewska Named Second Team All-Big Ten

Tuesday, December 02

Team Stats

IND

MSU

Kills

Errors

Attempts

129

116

Hitting %

.109

.241

Points

57.0

68.0

Assists

Aces

Blocks

9.0

13.0

11/30/2019 11:31:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

East Lansing, Mich. - Michigan State concluded its 2019 season with a 3-1 victory (25-18, 25-20 20-25, 25-22) over visiting Indiana on Saturday night at Jenison Field House.

The Spartans, who dropped a 3-0 decision last Sunday in Bloomington on the Hoosiers' senior night, came out with a 25-18 victory in the opening set in an effort to set the tone, and then were in control all of the second set in taking a 25-15 win. The Hoosiers sent the match to a fourth set with a 25-20 lead in the third, but MSU was determined and finished off the fourth set and took the victory in the final home match of the season. MSU wrapped up the 2019 campaign with a 15-15 overall record and 6-14 mark in Big Ten play. Indiana wraps up its year at 14-19, 3-17 B1G.

At the conclusion of the match, the Spartans honored their three seniors – four-year letterwinners Samantha McLean and Maggie Midgette and graduate transfer Audrey Alford. Indiana's seven seniors were also recognized prior to the match.

On a night honoring its seniors, it was again freshman Biamba Kabengele who led the way – she had 11 kills, three digs, and a solo block. Molly Johnson also had double digit kills (10) and she hit 333, and redshirt junior Lauren Swartz had nine kills, five blocks, four digs, and hit a match-best .353 (9-3-17). Naya Gros had seven blocks to lead all players.

For the Hoosiers, seniors Hayden Huybers and Deyshia Lofton led the way with 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Classmate Jacqui Armor had seven kills and five blocks (three solo).

PLAYER HIGHS

Biamba Kabengele had 11 kills, and three digs.
Naya Gros led the match with seven blocks and added four blocks.
Molly Johnson had 10 kills, two digs, and a block – including six kills in the fourth set alone

STATS & STORYLINES

MSU earned the season split with Indiana after dropping a 3-0 decision in Bloomington a week ago. MSU finished in ninth place in the Big Ten.
The senior setter duo of Audrey Alford and Maggie Midgette were strong in their final collegiate matches, as each posted 20 assists. Midgette added a pair of aces and two digs, while Alford had one ace and three digs.
Senior Samantha McLean had four digs and two aces in her collegiate swan song.
Sophomore Lauryn Gibbs played her second straight match at libero, recording 17 digs and adding four assists.
Meredith Norris had 10 digs and added six kills and hit .308. It was the second time this season with double-digit digs.
Freshman Emma Monks had three solo blocks (her season best) and our total in the match, adding an ace and three kills.

SET SYNOPSIS

SET ONE: The Spartans took a three-point lead at 9-6 on hot hitting (4-1-6) and a Norris ace, as the visitors had four kills against four errors. With the teams tied at 11's, MSU opened up a 5-0 run (aided by a pair of IU errors and a block and a kill from Gros). The lead grew to seven at 21-14 on kills from Monks and Swartz, at which point the Hoosiers called their second time out. IU came within five on a block by Megan Sloan and Jacqui Armer, but Johnson answered with a kill from the right pin that made it 23-17. The teams traded service errors before Kabengele went off the block to seal the first set victory, 25-18. Kanengele, Swartz, and Johnson each had three kills as MSU hit .300 in the stanza (14-5-30), while the Hoosiers hit .097 (10-7-31), and also had three players with three kills each. IU had three blocks – Armer had a hand on each – and she added three kills as wel.

SET TWO: The teams were within a point of each other until a thundering kill by Chronowski was followed by a solo stuff from the senior, and a Midgette service ace made it a 3-0 Spartan run and a 9-7 lead. Monks and Johnson teamed up on a block of Beerman to make it a 4-0 run, but a service ace gave the sideout to the visitors. MSU took a 15-10 lead after a pair of IU errors, which forced the Hoosiers to call a time out to regroup. MSU put three straight points on the board out of the break on kills by Kabengele (2) and Swartz to push their lead out to eight (19-11), then won the race to 20 on a hitting error by IU, their eighth of the frame. IU called its second time out. MSU scored three of the final four points in the set to earn a 2-0 match lead with a 25-15 victory, sealed (as it was in the first) by a Kabengele termination, her fifth of the set and eighth of the match. Swartz had four kills and a block, while both Emma Monks and Chronowski had a solo block and a kill as MSU hit .290 (12-3-31). The Spartans once again held IU below .100 (.054, 11-9-37), and out-blocked the Hoosiers 3-0 in the set.

SET THREE: The Spartans led off the set with a block and built a 4-1 lead before the Hoosiers got the next two points to pull within one. MSU went up by as many as three, (8-5), but a 6-1 IU run allowed the Hoosiers to take a 11-9 lead, getting a pair of kills and a block by Armer. The Hoosiers extended their lead out to 13-10, the largest lead of the night, and MSU called time out. MSU twice pulled within a point, but both times the Hoosiers answered with back-to-back points, and the Spartans called their second time out trailing 19-16. IU got a block by Deyshia Lofton to extend their lead to four and win the race to 20. MSU immediately answered with a 3-0 run on a pair of kills by Norris and one by Swartz to once again come within one (20-19), and the IU bench called time out to try to halt the Spartan rally. Lofton got the IU kill out of the break, and it was the start of a 4-0 run that got the Hoosiers to set point at 24-19, and after a service error, the Spartans sent a shot long for a 25-20 IU win and extension of the match. Armer had four kills and a solo block to lead IU in the frame, while Meredith Norris had three kills and three digs and Gros had a pair of kills and a hand on three of MSU's four blocks in the set. IU held the advantage in hitting percentage for the first time in the match (.172-.111)

SET FOUR: MSU took an early four-point lead, which was all but erased on a 3-0 Hoosier run that brought the visitors within a point. With a 9-8 lead, the Spartans put four of the next five points on their side of the scoreboard (13-9). MSU took its largest lead at 18-13, but then saw the Hoosiers use a 5-0 rally to tie the set up at 18's. It was a point-for-point battle from there – a Johnson kill (her ninth) gave MSU a 22-20 lead, and Kabengele's big swing made it 23-21. The Spartans got to set point on an IU error, and the Spartans appeared to (fittingly) seal it on a big block by Gros – but a late net violation extended the frame. Johnson ended the next rally quickly, putting down her 10^th kill fo the night to finish of the set and seal the senior night win for the Spartans. She had six of her kills in that final set (on seven swings) as MSU hit .250 and had four blocks, including three by Swartz and two by Monks. Hayden Huybers led IU with four in the frame.

Michigan State Athletics Announces Kristen Kelsay Contract Extension

Monday, December 29

Kulig Named CSC Academic All-District

Tuesday, December 16

Staniszewska Earns AVCA All-North Region Honors

Tuesday, December 09

Karolina Staniszewska Named Second Team All-Big Ten

Tuesday, December 02

Team Stats

Biamba Kabengele

Molly Johnson

Lauren Swartz

Meredith Norris

Players Mentioned

Audrey Alford

Lauryn Gibbs

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Biamba Kabengele

Samantha McLean

Maggie Midgette

Emma Monks

Meredith Norris

Lauren Swartz