MSU Drops Five-Set Heartbreaker to Tennessee

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Michigan State dropped a heartbreaker to No. 21 Tennessee on Saturday afternoon, falling by a 3-2 score (25-16, 22-25, 25-22, 22-25, 11-15). MSU suffers its first loss of the season and falls to 4-1, while the Vols improve to 2-3.

After the teams split the first two sets, the Spartans fought back to erase a four-point hole and took the third frame by a 25-22 score, ending the set on a 9-3 run. The Volunteers returned the favor in the fourth, erasing a 22-14 deficit with a 25-22 win to force a fifth set. The Volunteers had nine of their 11 team blocks in the fourth and fifth sets to force 16 Spartan hitting errors, limiting MSU to hitting percentages of .139 and .-100 in the final two frames.

The Spartans still hit .289 in the match overall. Meredith Norris contributed 17 kills and added three aces and six digs; classmate Alyssa Chronowski added 12 kills and hit .391, posting a team-best six blocks which included a season-best three solo stuffs. Rebecka Poljan added five blocks and seven kills.

For the Vols, Tessa Grubbs led the way with 22 kills and added four blocks, adding three digs and a pair of aces. Morgahn Fingall had 11 terminations, while Lily Felts had nine kills and six digs.

Poljan and Meredith Norris each earned spots on the All-Tournament Team.

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"There was a lot of good to go with the obvious problems that we experienced in the fourth and fifth sets. Its one of the things you have to go through to learn how to handle properly, and the most important thing is taking the lessons and applying them as we go forward. It's still early in the season, and this was a very good primer for what the Big Ten season is going to be for our new players.

Head Coach Cathy George

PLAYER HIGHS

Alyssa Chronowski had 12 kills and six blocks, putting up three solo blocks.
Meredith Norris had 17 kills and three aces
Becka Poljan and Naya Gros each had seven kills, while Poljan added five blocks.

STATS & STORYLINES

Tennessee hit .276, a season best among MSU opponents. It also had 11 blocks and nine aces, good for the most of any opponent this season as well.
The match featured 23 tie scores and 10 lead changes
Jamye Cox had 17 digs, her fifth straight match in double digits.
Molly Johnson established a new season high with nine kills.

SET SYNOPSIS

SET ONE: Michigan State built a five-point edge with a scorching .688 hitting percentage and three blocks, leading 15-10. The Volunteers trimmed it down to three at 16-13, but a service error by the Lady Vols and a solo stuff by Alyssa Chronowski re-established that five-point edge. MSU kept rolling, finishing the set on a 5-0 run to win it 25-16. Molly Johnson had five of MSU's 16 terminations on six swings, while Alyssa Chronowski had four blocks (two solo). The Spartans tied their single-set season high with seven blocks. Tessa Grubbs led Tennessee with five kills, as the Lady Vols hit .207 (14-8-29).

SET TWO: The set featured nine ties and five lead changes, as both squads hit in the mid-.300's. The visitors stormed out to a 6-2 lead in the second, generating four early kills. MSU kept chipping away and tied things up at 12-12 on a kill by Meredith Norris – her fifth of the match – and then went ahead on a termination from Lauren Swartz on the right side. MSU fought for that run by hitting .575 (8-0-14), even with the visitors hitting .278 (10-5-18). The teams were tied at every point from 12 to 19, but the Lady Vols went up two on a kill by Grubbs and a Spartan error that made it 21-19, forcing MSU to take a time out. Grubbs put down consecutive kills to get Tennessee to set point, but the Spartans fended it off with a kill by Lauren Swartz. After a UT time out, Chronowski went off the block to make it a two-point deficit, but the Lady Vols pulled it out as the Spartans were called for a net violation. Grubbs willed her team to the second-set win, recording nine of the team's 16 kills in the frame. MSU hit .333 in the frame, with Norris, Chronowski, and Swartz each accounting for three of MSU's 12 kills.

SET THREE: MSU fell behind by three early (6-3), and Tennessee made that four (8-4) with its strong service game. The teams put together mini-runs throughout the frame – allowing the Volunteers to go up by three, only to watch the Spartans storm back to within a point or tie it. MSU managed to tie it at 16-16, but UT went back up three (19-16) with three consecutive kills. MSU whittled the deficit to two at 22-20, and the Spartans put together a 5-0 run – getting a pair of aces from Norris and kills by Kabengele and Gros – to earn the set three victory. Norris led the way with three aces and four kills in the set, while both Kabengele, Chronowski, and Gros had three each as the Spartans hit .462 (15-3-26). Tennessee hit .375 (12-3-24), with three kills each by Madisen Fingall and Grubbs.

SET FOUR: The Spartans started the fourth with eight kills on 14 swings, building a five-point edge (11-6). The lead grew to 16-10 on a Norris kill, and the Spartans held their largest lead at 22-14. That's when the Volunteers went on a 10-0 run, getting to set point. The teams traded net violations to end the set, giving UT the 25-23 set victory. Tennessee hit .250 (10-28) but put up six blocks (four from Ava Bell) MSU hit just .139 – a season low for a single set – with 15 kills, but had 10 errors in the set overall, which was more than the seven in the first three sets combined.

SET FIVE: Norris scored the first two points of the set for the Spartans to leave it at 2-2 but a Grubbs block and a Lily Felts kill helped Tennessee to a three-point edge at 5-2, forcing the Spartans into a time out. The Spartans got a kill from Kabengele and a UT error to trim it to 5-4, and a block by Kabengele got it to 6-5. The Vols had an 8-6 lead at the crossover, and pushed it to 11-7, and held on as the Spartans tried for a late surge and took the set 15-11. Grubbs led her team with three kills and a pair of blocks, while Werdell and Sedona Hansen each had two kills. Norris had three kills and three digs for MSU, which hit -.100 (4-6-20) thanks in part to three blocks by UT.

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Team Stats

Meredith Norris

Alyssa Chronowski

Molly Johnson

Rebecka Poljan

Players Mentioned

Alyssa Chronowski

Jamye Cox

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Lauren Swartz

Players Mentioned

Alyssa Chronowski

Jamye Cox

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Lauren Swartz

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Team Stats

Game Leaders

Meredith Norris

Alyssa Chronowski

Molly Johnson

Rebecka Poljan

Players Mentioned

Alyssa Chronowski

Jamye Cox

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Lauren Swartz