Wolverines Hold Off Spartans

Ann Arbor, Mich. - Michigan took a 2-1 match lead and held off a surging Michigan State 3-1 in the first of two matches between the team this season.

MSU fell to 13-10 overall and 4-9 in Big Ten play with the loss, its sixth straight after splitting the first four weeks of the Conference schedule. Michign improved to 16-7 and 9-4 in the Big Ten.

For the Spartans, Jamye Cox tied her season best with 28 digs, as the Spartans posted a season-high 82 in the match compared to 72 for the home team. MSU also out-blocked its host by a 12-6 margin. Meredith Norris had nine kills and eight digs to go with four blocks (one solo), while Alyssa Chronowski had eight kills and four stuffs (three solo) and three digs to her credit. Rebecka Poljan led MSU with five blocks and added eight kills, hitting a team—best .238

Paige Jones had a double-double for Michigan with 26 kills (11 in the fourth set) and 14 digs, as did setter Mackenzi Welch with 53 assists and 11 digs. Freshman May Pertofsky was Michigan's only other player with double-digit kills (11) and she added five digs.

The two teams will meet again in East Lansing on Wednesday, Nov. 20 for the annual Jam Jenison match.

Michigan State hosts Northwestern on Saturday at Jenison Field House with an 8 pm start time.

PLAYER HIGHS

Rebecka Poljan had eight kills, a match-best five blocks and hit .238
Jamye Cox had 28 digs to tie her season best.
Meredith Norris led MSU with nine kills and added eight digs and four blocks, and was a perfect 46-for-46 on serve receive.

STATS & STORYLINES

MSU had double-digit blocks for just the second time in the last six matches and out-blocked an opponent for the first time since Oct. 18 vs. Rutgers.
Jamye Cox had five first-set digs to move into 10^th place at MSU all-time in career digs, then went on to tie her season best with 28 digs in the match. It was one shy of her career best of 29.
Senior Samantha McLean had 12 digs, two shy of her career best, (14 vs. Duke in the season opener)
Maggie Midgette came off the bench and had 12 assists, two aces, and four digs.
Alyssa Chronowski posted eight kills, three digs, and four blocks (three solo).

SET SYNOPSIS

SET ONE: MSU took an early 4-3 lead, but the home team reeled off five straight points to go up 8-4 and force MSU into a time out. MSU scored consecutive points out of the break on a kill by Swartz and a solo block from Chronowski to trim it to two, but the Wolverines got those right back. Michigan took its largest lead at 15-9, but the Spartans used a 4-1 run to get back within three at 16-13. A kill by Gros and ace by Elena Shklyar got MSU back within two at 17-15, and used a 3-0 run to make it 19-18 after the Wolverines had gone back up by four points. After a Michigan time out, Paige Jones used a line shot to stop the Spartan rally and win the race to 20. A Spartan error and kill off the block by UM's Jess Robison extended the Michigan lead back out to four at 22-18, and it was Lauren Swartz's turn to stop a run and get MSU back within three at 22-19. Michigan scored the final three points of the set to take the first set win 25-19, hitting .270 (15-5-37); MSU overcame an early negative hitting percentage to finish the set at 9-6-31 (.097). Each team had three blocks, and the Spartans had 15 digs to Michigan's 14. The partans got three kills from Norris and two each from Swartz and Gros, while Chronowski had two blocks and a kill. Jamye Cox had five digs.

SET TWO: MSU fell behind by three early and saw the Michigan lead reach five (14-9), but MSU battled back within two (16-14) on a 3-0 run that featured a solo block by Chronowski, her second of the match. The Wolverines countered with a 5-1 run (helped by a pair of MSU errors) that made it 21-15, matching Michigan's largest lead of the night and triggering a Spartan time out. A Crocker kill after an MSU service error made it 23-16, and the freshman May Pertofsy got the Wolverines to set point. After a UM service error, the Spartans got a big block from Gros and Swartz followed by a service ace by Midgette, which made it a four-point deficit (24-20), and the Wolverines called time out. Midgette served up a second ace out of the break, but a Jones kill sealed it for the home team. MSU out-blocked their hosts 3-0 in the second set, but hit just .077 (8-5-39), struggling to terminate. The Wolverines hit .238 (16-6-42). Cox had eight digs and Midgette had two aces and two assists after entering the set late off the bench. Rebecka Poljan led the offense with three kills and a block, while Paige Jones had five kills for the home team to push her match total to nine, the best of any player.

SET THREE: MSU took a 5-3 lead on four kills and an ace, but the home team tied it up with a solo stuff by Robinson and a kill by Wetterstrom. Michigan went up 7-6 on consecutive kills, but the Spartans picked up their seventh bloc of the night at the left pin by Poljan and Kabengele, and then saw a Michigan shot sail long to retake the lead at 8-7 . The Wolverines scored three straight to go up 10-8, bu MSU tied it up again at 10-10 on a kill by Chronowski, her fifth. Poljan came alive with a personal three-point scoring streak on a solo block and two kills that kept things tied at 16, and Chronowski followed with her third solo stuff for MSUs 10^th block of the night and a 17-16 advantage. A smart tip by Kabengele made it 18-16 MSU, and the Wolverines called time out. Poljan put up another kill out of the break to give MSU its largest lead of the night and Kabengele's swing from the right pin allowed MSU to win the race to 20 with a three-point edge. The teams traded errors to make it 21-19 in favor of the Spartans, and a big block by Gros and Swartz forced the home team into its second time out. Michigan scored two straight out of their break, and then got to set point at 24-22 on a kill by Norris. A Jones error gave MSU the set 25-22. The Spartans hit .256 in the frame (.15-5-39) and held a 4-2 edge in blocks, recording 20 digs (nine from Cox for a game total of 22 through three sets). Swartz, Poljan, and Kabengele each had three kills, and Poljan added a pair of blocks to her total. Paige Jones had six kills for the Wolverines.

SET FOUR: The opening of the fourth set was all about trading multiple-point runs. The home team rolled out to a quick 4-0 lead and MSU called time out, countering out of the break with a 5-1 run that tied things up at 5-5. Michigan rolled off four straight points to go up 9-5 before Swartz and Norris brought MSU back within two at 9-7; Michigan countered with consecutive kills from Jones to go back up four at 11-7. With MSU within two at 14-12 after a Chronowski kill, the Wolverines used a 9-2 run to go up 23-15. Late errors plagued MSU in the late part of the set, as the Wolverines closed it out with Jones' 26^th kill of the match for the 3-1 match victory. Jones had 11 of her team's 17 kills in the final frame (the most for an opponent in a set this season) and added three digs and a block. MSU got three kills from Chronowski as MSU hit .062 in the set (9-7-32), and six more digs for Cox who tied her season best with 28 digs.

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Team Stats

Meredith Norris

Alyssa Chronowski

Rebecka Poljan

Lauren Swartz

Players Mentioned

Alyssa Chronowski

Jamye Cox

Samantha McLean

Maggie Midgette

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Elena Shklyar

Lauren Swartz

Players Mentioned

Alyssa Chronowski

Jamye Cox

Samantha McLean

Maggie Midgette

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Elena Shklyar

Lauren Swartz

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Next Event

Team Stats

Game Leaders

Meredith Norris

Alyssa Chronowski

Rebecka Poljan

Lauren Swartz

Players Mentioned

Alyssa Chronowski

Jamye Cox

Samantha McLean

Maggie Midgette

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Elena Shklyar

Lauren Swartz