Spartans Fall to No. 7 Ohio State

GAME CAPSULE

Michigan State lost in a gritty battle with No. 7 Ohio State on Friday night, 3-0 (26-24, 28-26, 25-18). It was the first of a set of four straight home matches for the Spartans stretching into Oct. 16.

Over three sets, the teams saw a staggering 31 ties and 16 lead changes as both sides fought for each point, with the first two sets extending into extra set points. The Buckeyes held a 46-36 advantage in kills, while both teams struggled with errors, Ohio State totaling 22 while the Spartans had 20. The teams were evenly matched at the net with the visiting team holding a narrow 11-10 advantage in blocks. There were a total of 16 service errors in the match, and six aces between the two teams.

Sarah Franklin and Cecilee Max-Brown led the Spartans with ten kills each, Brown hitting an impressive hitting percentage of .292. Back-row starter Talia Edmonds had eight digs. The pair of Franklin and Emma Monks each had five successful blocks. In the setter spot for MSU, Celia Cullen totaled 31 assists.

Michigan State hosts No. 8 Minnesota tomorrow for a 6:30 p.m. start at Jenison Fieldhouse. They continue competition at home with another two Big Ten matches next weekend.

PLAYER HIGHS

Sarah Franklin and Cecilee Max-Brown each had ten kills. Franklin added five blocks, while Max-Brown totaled three.
Celia Cullen had 31 assists and was four digs short of another double-double, recording six.
Emma Monks also had five blocks with four kills.
Biamba Kabengele came up with seven kills.

STATS AND STORYLINES

The Spartans move to 8-6 on the season with a 1-4 mark in Big Ten play.
The first set had the most ties with a total of 11, and seven lead changes.

SET SYNOPSIS

SET ONE: The Spartans jumped out to a 6-3 lead thanks to a handful of kills from Sarah Franklin and Biamba Kabengele. Ohio State climbed back to tie it and take a 7-6 lead. Both teams battled back and forth in a set that saw 11 ties and seven lead changes. Eventually Michigan State regained their lead, 14-13 with Cecilee Max-Brown's second kill of the match. Naya Gros came up with a huge put-down to extend the Spartan lead after facing another tie, 20-19. The battle for the match point brought intensity from both sides. Emma Monks put down a kill to get the home team within range of the match point, but Ohio State pulled away with three straight points for the 26-24 win.

SET TWO: Michigan State had a dominant start to the second set, leading by as many as five points. Gros and Franklin had back-to-back monster blocks followed up by a kill from Kabengele to jump out to a 5-2 lead. Monks, Brown and Gros all played strong at the net to extend the lead to 11-6, helped along from a pair of errors by the Buckeyes. Ohio State battled to take their first lead of the set at 13-13 after a Spartan service error and a kill. Both teams played with grit from that point on, again trading frequent lead changes. Max-Brown had two kills for the Spartans, and Franklin came up with a crucial point late in the match to make it 21-21, OSU with a narrow lead. The Green & White played gritty in the final minutes of the set, climbing back to tie the set 25-25 after back-to-back kills by Max-Brown at the left pin. Facing a 26-26 tie for the set, the Buckeyes scored back-to-back to again narrowly earn the advantage, 28-26.

SET THREE: Both teams traded points to start out the set, facing an early 6-6 tie. Ohio State took a momentary 8-7 lead before the Spartans exploded for a 4-0 run. Franklin and Max-Brown both had more kills, while Franklin/Monks and Gros/Franklin had strong blocks at the net to give the Green & White an 11-8 advantage. The Buckeyes blocked three straight Spartan kills to climb back to a 12-11 lead, and Michigan State is forced to draw a timeout facing an 18-15 deficit. The Buckeyes continued through the set with a couple of 2-0 runs to slowly extend their lead, but the Spartans attempted a late comeback as Franklin loaded up another kill, bringing the score to 20-17 in Ohio State's favor. The visiting team eventually wrapped up the set with a 3-0 run to earn the match victory in the final set, 25-18.

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Team Stats

Cecilee Max-Brown

Sarah Franklin

Biamba Kabengele

Naya Gros

Players Mentioned

Celia Cullen

Talia Edmonds

Sarah Franklin

Naya Gros

Biamba Kabengele

Cecilee Max-Brown

Emma Monks

Players Mentioned

Celia Cullen

Talia Edmonds

Sarah Franklin

Naya Gros

Biamba Kabengele

Cecilee Max-Brown

Emma Monks