Michigan State Falls to No. 15 Penn State in Four Sets

Michigan State dropped a four-set match to No. 15 Penn State, 3-1 (17-25, 25-21, 24-26, 13-25), in Big Ten volleyball action on Saturday night at Jenison Field House.

Penn State used a 5-2 run midway through the first frame to take a 19-11 lead en route to a 25-17 win. Michigan State responded by taking an early lead in the second stanza and held on to that for a 25-21 win. The Spartans took an early lead in the third set and there were three ties midway through the fram before Penn State used a 4-0 run to take a 20-16 lead. The Spartans cut the lead to 22-21 and tied the game at 24-all before the Nittany Lions won the final two points to take the set, 26-24. In the fourth game, Penn State took an early 7-1 lead before MSU used a 7-3 run to pull within 10-8. The Nittany Lions would score the next three points and used an 8-2 run to take an 18-10 lead before closing it out 25-13.

Sophomore Sarah Franklin had 14 kills and 11 digs to lead the Spartans, while junior Biamba Kabengele added 11 kills, eight digs and four blocks.

Penn State's Adanna Rollins had 16 kills and 10 digs, while Kaitlyn Hord had 14 kills and five blocks and Jonni Parker and Allie Holland added 10 kills apiece.

The Nittany Lions held the advantage in kills (60-40), digs (62-51) and hitting percentage (.243 to .143), while the Spartans had an 11-9 edge in blocks.

The Spartans travel to play at Wisconsin on Friday, Nov. 15. That match is set for 9 p.m. ET.

PLAYER HIGHS

Sarah Franklin paced MSU with 14 kills, also sharing the team lead with 11 digs and two aces.
Libero Lauryn Gibbs also had 11 digs, recording four assists as well.
Rebecca Poljan led the Spartans with a season-high six blocks, as well as matching her career high with two service aces.
Splitting duties at setter, Celia Cullen finished with 18 assists and Julia Bishop tacked on 16 assists.

STATS AND STORYLINES

Penn State sweeps the regular season series with MSU, and now holds an 52-7 edge in the all-time series history.
Kabengele registered double-digit kills for the fourth-straight match.
Franklin had her ninth double-double of the season.

SET SYNOPSIS

SET ONE: The teams went back and forth in the early moments and MSU tied the set at 7-all on a kill from Adanna Rollins. Penn State would win seven of the next nine points to take a 14-9 lead, forcing the Spartans to call a timeout. The NIttany Lions used a 5-2 run to take a 19-11 lead as MSU called another timeout. Coming out of that, the Spartans won the first two points off a serve from Erika Pritchard and an attack error from Gabby Blossom. Penn State extended its lead to 23-14 before closing out the first frame, 25-17.

SET TWO: The Spartans won the first two points of the set behind kills from Biamba Kabengele and Sarah Franklin and took an early 7-2 lead. Penn State pulled to within 8-6, but MSU scored the next three to take an 11-6 lead on a block from Rebecka Poljan, forcing the NIttany Lions to call a timeout. The MSU lead was cut to 13-11, but the Spartans won three-straight points off a kill from Franklin, an ace from Poljan and Molly Johnson kill to push the lead back to five points, 16-11. The Nittany Lions pulled to within 22-19, but a kill from Johnson and a block from Naya Gros closed out the set, 25-21, as the Spartans evened the match at one.

SET THREE: Like they did in the second set, the Spartans jumped out to an early lead, using a pair of kills from Sarah Franklin and an ace from Rebecka Poljan to take a 7-3 edge. Penn State pulled back to tie the game at 8-8, but the Spartans used a service error, a block from Biamba Kabengele and an ace from Sarah Franklin to take a 12-9 lead. Penn State rallied to tie the game at 13-all and there were three more ties before the NIttany Lions used a 4-0 run to take a 20-16 lead. A block from Poljan and Kabengele cut the deficit to 22-21 and a kill from Poljan sent the game to extra points before Penn State won the final two points to take the third set, 26-24.

SET FOUR: Penn State took an early 7-1 lead, but Michigan State rallied to pull within two points, first at 8-6 on a kill by Biamba Kabengele and then at 10-8 on a service ace from Sarah Franklin. The Nittany Lions picked up a kill from Erika Pritchard and two more from Adanna Rollins to take a 13-8 lead and force MSU to call a timeout. The Spartans won the next point on a kill from Kabengele to make it 13-9, but the Nittany Lions used an 8-1 burst to take a 21-10 lead before closing it out, 25-13.

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Team Stats

Sarah Franklin

Biamba Kabengele

Naya Gros

Rebecka Poljan

Players Mentioned

Julia Bishop

Celia Cullen

Sarah Franklin

Lauryn Gibbs

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Biamba Kabengele

Rebecka Poljan

Players Mentioned

Julia Bishop

Celia Cullen

Sarah Franklin

Lauryn Gibbs

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Biamba Kabengele

Rebecka Poljan