Spartans Complete Season Sweep of Maryland

GAME CAPSULE

Michigan State completed a weekend sweep of Maryland with a 3-1 win (27-25, 19-25, 25-23, 25-22) on Saturday evening in College Park. MSU improves to 2-4 on the year, while Maryland falls to 0-8.

The Spartans posted identical 3-1 wins over the Terps, but upped their degree of difficulty by committing 23 service errors tonight – but were able to offset it a bit with eight service aces and hitting .269 as a team. MSU won the first set in extra points and saw Maryland tie it up with a six-point victory in the second set, but came back to win the final two frames for the victory.

MSU had more than its share of season bests. Freshman Sarah Franklin tied her season best of 20 kills and hit .395, adding three aces, four digs, and three blocks. Biamba Kabengele delivered a career-best five service aces, and also had 10 kills on the night. Molly Johnson came off the bench to deliver eight kills – five in the fourth set – and had three blocks, hitting a match-best .467, and Naya Gros had a season-best eight blocks (one solo), two shy of her career best. She also added six kills on the night.

Ericka Pritchard had 21 kills and seven digs for Maryland, while Jada Gardner had seven kills and nine digs.

MSU has a busy week ahead. The Spartans host Michigan on Wednesday (Feb. 17) in a rescheduled match from earlier this season, then welcomes No. 1 Wisconsin to Jenison Field House for a pair of matches on Saturday and Sunday.

PLAYER HIGHS

Sarah Franklin had her fifth double-digit kill effort in six games, delivering 20 kills, hitting .395, adding four digs and three service aces.
Biamba Kabengele had 10 kills, and adding a career-best five service aces.
Naya Gros led all players with her season high of eight blocks, and she also had xsixx kills.

STATS & STORYLINES

The Spartans recorded their third straight match with 50 kills or more.
MSU tied its season best with nine blocks in the match, and also had its season best with eight service aces.
Michigan State was able to overcome 23 service errors in the match, offset a bit by the Spartans' eight aces. The Spartans had nine service errors in Friday's match.
Molly Johnson came off the bench and contributed three blocks, eight kills and hit .467. It was her season best in kills.
Celia Cullen chipped in 42 assists, seven digs, a block and a pair of kills. She had 92 assists over the two matches after contributing 50 on Friday night.

SET SYNOPSIS

SET ONE: Michigan State took a 10-5 lead on a Sarah Franklin service run, in which she put down a pair of aces and got some help from Biamba Kabengele. Maryland piled up four hitting errors early, allowing MSU to go up 14-8 as Franklin had four kills and the pair of aces, and Kabengele had her two terminations. The home team called time out down 15-8, and came out of the break with a 6-2 run to pull within three at 17-14, and the Spartans called a time out to regroup. Three straight kills from Pritchard out of the Spartan break tied things at 17-all, pushing the senior's kill total to six in the frame. Chronowski put down a kill to stop the Terp run, but service errors were dogging MSU for the second straight match, as the fifth of the set for MSU allowed Maryland to tie things up at 18-18. With the teams trading points, a 3-0 run for the home team allowed Maryland to take a 22-20 lead, but MSU battled back to regain the lead at 23-22 on a pair of aces by Kabengele. A Spartan error allowed the Terps to get to set point at 24-23, but MSU came back with a Franklin kill and a Gros solo stuff to give MSU the advantage. Maryland countered with a block of its own to make it 25-25, and the teams went to extra points. A sixth kill for Franklin followed by a Terp error gave MSU the first set victory, 27-25. Franklin and Pritchard each had six kills for their teams, but MSU managed to hit .219 to just .087 for the home team. Kabengele added three kills and a pair of aces for MSU.

SET TWO: The home team ran out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, and Gros stopped the run with a kill of her own. Maryland built to a five-point lead and held it out to 11-6, but MSU scored three of the next four points to trim it down to three at 12-9 on a pair of kills by Gros, but Maryland scored the next four points on a pair of Spartan miscues, a solo block, and a service ace to put MSU in its biggest deficit at 16-9 and MSU called a time out. It didn't stop the Terrapin momentum, however – two more kills and an ace extended the scoring run out to 7-0 and gave the home team its largest lead of the series at 19-9. MSU went on a 6-3 run to trim the deficit down to 23-16, getting three kills from Kabengele, a pair from Molly Johnson off the bench, and one from Poljan. A kill by Jada Gardner got the home team to set point at 24-17, but MSU wasn't finished – Kabengele and Gros went back to back to fend off set point, but the 10^th service error of the night gave Maryland the 25-19 victory. Franklin, Kabengele, and Gros each had four kills in the set, as MSU hit a very respectable .343 (15-3-35) – Maryland countered with 14-2-26 (.462) however, and had four service aces in the frame.

SET THREE: The teams were tight in the first part of the swing set, but MSU used a 5-0 run – fueled by a pair of aces from Kabengele – to go up 11-5. The big arms on each side were trading blows, as Franklin and Pritchard continued to increase their kill totals into the high teens. MSU called time out after Maryland pulled within two at 15-13. The teams began trading points, as Rebekah Rath picked up a pair of terminations and MSU got kills from Johnson, Poljan and Gros; an unforced error by Maryland allowed MSU to go up 19-15, and the home team called time out. MSU led 23-19 but the Terps trimmed it down to a two-point deficit and MSU called time out. A solo stuff by Pritchard made it 22-21 for the visitors, but the teams traded aces and errors – both by their big arms – to bring MSU to set point at 24-23. Kabengele closed it out for MSU to take the match lead, 2-1. Franklin had seven kills and an ace, Kabengele had two kills and two aces, and Johnson came off the bench to give MSU three kills from the right side. Pritchard had six kills, an ace, and a solo stuff for Maryland.

SET FOUR: Maryland took an 8-6 lead, but MSU countered with a 7-2 run on a Kabengele ace, a pair of Gros blocks, and two terminations by Franklin to go up 13-10. The Terps kept fighting back into it, coming within a point at 15-14 and 18-17, but service errors on the ensuing point kept them from tying it up. A Spartan service error and a block by Jones and Gardner finally allowed the Terps to knot things up at 19-all, but Sarah Franklin responded with her 20^th kill of the night to allow MSU to win the race to 20. Gros and Johnson followed with a big block to give MSU the two-point edge again, and MSU scored four of the final six points – two on Gros blocks – to wrap up the fourth set 25-22 and the match 3-1. Johnson led the Spartans with five kills and a block in the final frame, while Gros had four blocks to push her total to a season-best eight in the match. Franklin added three kills to get her to tie her season best with 20.

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Team Stats

Sarah Franklin

Biamba Kabengele

Molly Johnson

Naya Gros

Players Mentioned

Celia Cullen

Sarah Franklin

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Biamba Kabengele

Players Mentioned

Celia Cullen

Sarah Franklin

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Biamba Kabengele