Middles, Norris Lead Spartans to 3-1 Win Over Cincinnati

GAME CAPSULE
Michigan State improved to 4-0 on the season with a strong 3-1 victory over (RV) Cincinnati on Friday night at Jenison Field House.

Local product Meredith Norris continues to showcase her summer improvement, delivering 13 kills and adding 10 digs for her first double-double of the season, and adding three blocks and two aces for good measure.

MSU hit .308 on the evening, including a match-best .615 from sophomore Naya Gros, who had eight kills and added six blocks. The Spartans won the battle at the net 12-5, as Molly Johnson added five blocks and Rebecka Poljan four to go with her seven kills and .600 hitting percentage on the night.

Redshirt senior Jordan Thompson paced UC with 17 kills and eight digs, and Maria Mallon had 14 terminations and eight digs for Cincinnati (3-2). The Bearcats hit just .159 on the night – which was good for the best for a Spartan opponent in 2019.

MSU took a 25-12 win in the opening frame and took a 2-0 match lead with a 25-21 second-set victory. The third set was impressive – MSU hit .400 (13-1-30) but was outdone by UC's 17-1-33 (485) to drop the third set to the visitors, 20-25. MSU had a lead as large as seven in the fourth and deciding set before pulling it out by a 25-20 margin.

The Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational concludes on Saturday with three matches. Indiana State plays Miami at 10:30 am, and MSU tangles with No. 21 Tennessee at 1:30 pm. The tournament concludes with a 3:30 match between Indiana State and Cincinnati.

Michigan State fans are reminded that ticketholders for Saturday evening's football game can gain free admission to MSU's match by presenting their football tickets at the entrance of Jenison Field House. In addition, parking rules for football are in effect, and volleyball patrons are asked to utilize pay lots at Kellogg Center, Ramp 5 (next to Comm Arts) or Cherry Lane, which is a pay football lot that opens at 1 pm.

PLAYER HIGHS

Meredith Norris posted 13 kills and 10 digs and added three blocks and two aces, her first double-double of the season.
Naya Gros finished with eight kills, hit .615, and a match-best six blocks (two solo).
Rebecka Poljan compiled seven kills, hit .600, and added four blocks and two digs.

STATS & STORYLINES

Cincinnati, receiving votes in the first two AVCA National Polls, defeated No. 21 Tennessee in the first game of the tournament, 3-0. UC falls to 3-2 on the year.
Norris had her first double-double after missing the feat by one dig in each of the first two matches. She had two aces in the nightcap and three earlier in the day against Indiana State.
Both setters – Audrey Alford and Elena Shklyar – finished with 20 assists each. Shklyar added five digs, Alford three.
Jamye Cox had 14 digs, her fourth double-digit effort in as many matches. Senior Samantha McLean added eight.
Gros and Poljan combined for a .609 hitting percentage (15-1-23) and 10 blocks.

SET SYNOPSIS

SET ONE: The teams traded points in the early going, but MSU used a 6-1 scoring run on service by both Meredith Norris and Jamye Cox to pull ahead by an 8-4 margin. MSU kept its foot on the gas and looked poised both in and out of system, pulling ahead by seven (13-6), combining for four kills on seven swings and adding five blocks. MSU gave UC standout Jordan Thompson fits – she was 2-1-8 and her team was hitting negative (-.056) , while the Spartans continued to showcase their versatility, scattering their six kills among six players. With MSU up 18-10, it found yet another gear and finished off the set on a 7-2 run to take the first, 25-12. Molly Johnson's match point pushed her total to three kills, while three teammates posted two. MSU hit .381 (11-3-21), and held UC in negative numbers. The Spartans had 17 digs to just six for Cincinnati.

SET TWO: An ace and a block gave Cincinnati a 4-2 edge, but Norris and Gros came up with a block at the left pin to bring MSU back within one, and a hitting error for UC tied things up at 4. A 7-3 Spartan run ensued to allow the home team to regain the lead. MSU's largest lead was six, and the visitors fought back to make it a two-point deficit at 22-20 thanks to a 6-2 run for the Bearcats. With MSU up 23-21, Norris tooled the block to get the Spartans to set point, and UC called its second time out. Gros put up a big block on Jordan Thompson to secure the set victory, 25-21. Poljan had three kills and a block, while Naya Gros had a pair of kills and three blocks – two solo – to pace MSU. Jordan Thompson got some space for the Bearcats, putting down five kills. Cincinnati improved its hitting percentage to .111 (12-9-27), but couldn't cool down the Spartans, who put up 11 kills and hit .333.

SET THREE: With MSU maintaining a two-point edge to 8-6, the Bearcats got back-to-back aces by Maria Tobertke followed by an MSU error to pull ahead 9-8. With the set tied at 15-15, back-to-back kills for Madison Waters and Thompson gave UC a two-point edge. Molly Johnson and Norris countered with consecutive terminations to tie things up at 18-all. Cincinnati took advantage of a three-point scoring run by Thompson – two kills and an ace – to pull ahead 22-19, but Norris stopped the run with a big termination. A back-row kill by Thompson gave UC set point, and a block by Damjana Cabarkapa and Adria Oliver forced a fourth set with a 25-20 win. Thompson delivered six kills on 14 swings without an error to lead her team, while Norris had six on just 11 swings on the other side of the net. Naya Gros added three kills for the Spartans, who hit .400 in the frame (13-1-30) but were outdone by a 17-1-33 (.465) performance by Cincinnati.

SET FOUR: MSU was sharp to start the fourth, putting together three kills and two blocks to jump out to a 7-2 edge. A 7-0 run for the Spartans pushed MSU's lead out to nine at 11-2, with Shklyar picking up a pair of service aces in an extended serving run. The Spartans just kept coming, remaining calm when out of system and staying clear of hitting errors. The Bearcats, who hit .485 in the third set, couldn't recapture that magic in the fourth, hitting at or below .000 for most of the set. Cincinnati pulled within five at 18-13, but kills from Johnson and Gros with an ace by Norris made it 21-14. Chronowski followed with back-to-back kills to get MSU two points from a match victory, and at 24-20, Molly Johnson put up a big solo block to close out the match. Johnson put up four of her five blocks in the final set, and added two kills.

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Team Stats

Meredith Norris

Alyssa Chronowski

Naya Gros

Rebecka Poljan

Players Mentioned

Audrey Alford

Jamye Cox

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Samantha McLean

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Elena Shklyar

Players Mentioned

Audrey Alford

Jamye Cox

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Samantha McLean

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Elena Shklyar

Related News

Next Event

Team Stats

Game Leaders

Meredith Norris

Alyssa Chronowski

Naya Gros

Rebecka Poljan

Players Mentioned

Audrey Alford

Jamye Cox

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Samantha McLean

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Elena Shklyar