Spartans Sweep WMU to Complete Non-Conference Schedule

Saturday, September 21

Kalamazoo, Mich.

5 PM ET

Michigan State University

9-1

Western Michigan

9-3

Michigan State

Western Michigan

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

Next Event

Penn State

L, 0-3

Sep 25 (Wed)

8 pm

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Full Schedule

Team Stats

MSU

WMU

Kills

Errors

Attempts

106

Hitting %

.413

.208

Points

57.0

46.0

Assists

Aces

Blocks

9.0

3.0

9/21/2019 6:40:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Kalamazoo, Mich. -- Michigan State completed non-conference action on Saturday with a 3-0 sweep of in-state rival Western Michigan. MSU captured the Delta Hotels Western Michigan Tournament title its second tournament title in the non-conference season.

Sophomore Naya Gros was named tournament MVP, while freshman Biamba Kabengle was an All-Tournament Team pick. Gros finished the weekend with a .408 hitting percentage, averaging 2.27 kills and 1.45 blocks per set over the three matches. Kabengele saw her first extended time in matches this weekend, leading the Spartans with 3.64 kills per set, 0.55 digs, and hitting .333.

MSU (9-1) hit a season-best .413 in the match, committing a season-low seven hitting errors and adding nine blocks. The Spartans were able to distribute its offense throughout its lineup, with five players finishing with between seven and 10 kills. MSU also out-blocked the hosts 9-3.

Molly Johnson hit .421 and had her second straight double-digit kill performance, adding three blocks to her 10 kills. Gros led the team with four blocks and also hit .412 (9-2-17), and Rebecka Poljan had eight kills, three blocks, a pair of aces, and led all players with a .583 hitting percentage (8-1-12).

For the Broncos, Rachel Bontrager had 12 kills, and both Meredith Phillips and Maggie King had 10 each.

The Spartans begin Big Ten play on Wednesday at Penn State.

PLAYER HIGHS

Molly Johnson produced 10 kills, hit .421 and posted three blocks.
Naya Gros led the Spartans with four blocks and also contributed nine kills, hitting .412.
Biamba Kabengele posted seven kills, hit .500, and added two digs and two blocks.

QUOTABLE
"It was certainly a good way to wrap up non-conference play. I thought we had a lot of people involved and got to get a lot of playing time deep into our bench over the three matches. The road gets no easier with Big Ten play starting this week, and we have quite the challenge ahead of us. We're looking forward to it."

Head coach Cathy George

STATS & STORYLINES

MSU has gone 141-27 (.839) in non-conference action in Cathy George's tenure (2005-19), and has never lost more than four games prior to the beginning of the Big Ten season.
MSU committed a season-low seven errors in the match, and had just six service errors after a combined 32 over the first two matches of the weekend.
Rebecka Poljan hit a match-best .583 (8-1-2) and had three blocks to go with a pair of aces.
Maggie Midgette had her second straight match with 20+ assists, and added six digs.

SET SYNOPSIS

SET ONE: The home team jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a kill, an ace, and a block, invigorating the Bronco bench. Molly Johnson had the first two terminations for the Spartans, who pulled even at 4-4. MSU trailed the hosts by a point at 8-7 when it started a 5-0 run, getting a kill and a block each from Johnson and Poljan to force a WMU time out. MSU's lead extended out to five on a kill by Gros, and MSU won the race to 20 with that same five-point edge, 20-15. The Spartans not only maintained but improved upon their hitting percentage, capping a 25-19 set one win with a .583 hitting percentage (16-2-24), getting five kills from Johnson, four from Poljan, and three each from Gros and Kabengele. WMU hit .290 (14-5-31), but the Spartans had the edge in blocks (3-1) and digs (10-4).

SET TWO: The Spartan lead fluctuated between one and two points in the first half of the set, but the Broncos mounted a 5-1 run to briefly flip it and take a 15-13 edge, and MSU called time out. WMU pushed it to three and led 18-15 when the Spartans called their second time out. The Broncos extended it to four at 20-16, but the Spartans came back with a kill and an ace by Norris and a block by Gros and Swartz to make it a one-point match, 20-19. A pair of Poljan kills tied things up at 22-22, and a service error when MSU trailed by a point got the Broncos to set point, 24-23. Norris tied things up at 24-24 on a cross-court dagger, and Gros followed from the other pin to give MSU a 25-24 lead. A hitting error for the home team gave MSU the set point, taking a 2-0 match lead. MSU hit .359 in the frame and WMU .333. Gros produced four kills and two blocks (one solo), and Norris and Kabengele added three each. Jamye Cox had six of MSU's 14 digs.

SET THREE: MSU took a 10-5 lead on six kills and a block, as the Spartans continued their hot hitting into the third. The lead grew to seven after the third block of the set for MSU, (14-7), and Western called its first time out. A Poljan ace and a pair of WMU errors pushed the Spartan lead to 17-7. Three straight points for the Broncos – two on kills – trimmed it to 20-12, but a line shot by Lauren Swartz stopped the run. A WMU error got MSU to match point at 24-13, and after the Broncos fended it off Johnson closed it out with a shot off the block to seal the 3-0 sweep. MSU hit .345 in the final frame with just three errors, with Norris and Johnson each putting down three. MSU also had three blocks and held WMU to a -.030 hitting percentage (8-9-33).

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

Next Event

Team Stats

Molly Johnson

Naya Gros

Rebecka Poljan

Meredith Norris

Players Mentioned

Jamye Cox

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Biamba Kabengele

Maggie Midgette

Rebecka Poljan

Lauren Swartz