Spartans fall to Penn State, 3-0

GAME CAPSULE

No. 12 Penn State earned a 3-0 victory over Michigan State on Saturday (13-25, 21-25, 11-25) to sweep the weekend series. PSU is now 9-5 overall, while MSU is 2-9.

MSU was playing its second game in as many days after nearly a month off the court on a pause for Covid-19. While the team couldn't get much going in the first set, the Spartans gave the biggest fight in the second set, where it was tied with PSU at 14-14 and was within a point at 20-19 before falling 25-21.

Senior Meredith Norris led her squad with eight kills, while both Molly Johnson had seven and Cecilee Max-Brown (who returned to the lineup after missing Friday's match) had five.

MSU heads to Iowa next weekend for a two-match series at the new Xtreme Arena, and then will finish the season at home April 2-3.

PLAYER HIGHS

Meredith Norris led MSU with eight kills .
Naya Gros had three kills and three blocks (two solo).
Molly Johnson finished with seven kills and six digs.

STATS AND STORYLINES

MSU distributed its 33 digs equitably, with both Celia Cullen and Lauryn Gibbs each tallying eight, Jamye Cox recording seven, and Molly Johnson posting six.
The Spartans have four matches remaining in the 2021 spring season – two at Iowa and two at home against Rutgers to wrap the regular season.

SET SYNOPSIS

SET ONE: The Spartans trailed by three early (9-6), thanks to a block and an ace on a let serve by the visitors that helped them to the slight edge, and Penn State used a series of three- and four-point runs to extend their lead out to 10 at 19-9. A solo block by Naya Gros and Norris service ace trimmed it down to 19-11, but the Nittany Lions went on to take the set 25-13. PSU hit .333, and once again spread out their offense equally – Serena Gray and Kaitlyn Hord each had three kills, while Meredith Norris led MSU ith four kills, an ace, and a dig. Celia Cullen had five digs and five assists, as MSU had 16 digs in the frame.

SET TWO: MSU called its first time out trailing 8-5, and battled back to tie things up at 14-14. The visitors re-established a three-point edge at 18-15, but kept allowing MSU back into things with service and hitting errors. Penn State called time out when MSU got within a point at 20-19, and came out of the break with an MSU service error and an ace by Gabby Blossom to re-establish a three-point lead. The visitors got to set point at 24-21, and an MSU service error closed it out for Penn State. In the set, PSU hit .200, while MSU had its best set of the weekend with a .250. Cecilee Max-Brown came off the bench to put down four kills, and Meredith Norris had four for the second straight set. Gros had a second solo block, and MSU led in digs 10-8.

SET THREE: MSU fell behind early and trailed by eight 11-3 as the Nittany Lions took advantage of some fatigue on the part of the Spartans. The lead grew to 13 as Penn State reached the 20-point plateau, hitting .500 (6-0-12). MSU was victimized by hitting errors in the third frame, with eight of its total of 19 in the match came in the final set. Johnson had four kills in the final frame, and Annie Cate Fitzpatrick had four for the Nittany Lions.

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Team Stats

Meredith Norris

Molly Johnson

Cecilee Max-Brown

Naya Gros

Players Mentioned

Jamye Cox

Celia Cullen

Lauryn Gibbs

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Cecilee Max-Brown

Meredith Norris

Players Mentioned

Jamye Cox

Celia Cullen

Lauryn Gibbs

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Cecilee Max-Brown

Meredith Norris