Wednesday, November 23
East Lansing, Mich.
6:00 pm
Michigan State University
13-17,4-15Big Ten
3
vs
1
Rutgers
8-23,2-17Big Ten
1
2
3
4
F
Rutgers
25
23
15
20
1
Michigan St.
22
25
25
25
3
Spartans Extend Win Streak with Victory over Rutgers
11/23/2022 9:26:00 PM | Volleyball
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State volleyball extended its winning streak to two games on Wednesday night as the Spartans avenged an early season loss to Rutgers in four sets, 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-15, 25-20). It's the first time an MSU team has won back-to-back conference matches since the abbreviated 2020 season.
The Spartans hit .305, a season-best in Big Ten play and the team's best since a .475 performance against Oakland on Sep. 16, 2022. MSU started slow hitting .214 in set one, but got better throughout the match hitting .382 in set three. Michigan State finished the match with more kills (55-51), assists (50-45), aces (7-6), digs (67-47) and blocks (15-7).
A slew of Spartans found their way into the record books on Wednesday as the season nears its close:
Freshman Maradith O'Gorman moved into 10th all-time for kills by a freshman at MSU with her 12 on Wednesday, passing All-American Dana Cooke (1993) with 247 kills for the season. O'Gorman is two kills from a tie for ninth place, held by Naya Gros (249, 2018).
Junior Nalani Iosia moved into ninth in program history for single season digs after her 20-dig performance against the Scarlet Knights. Iosia now has 441 digs on the season, passing Veronica Morales' mark of 439 set in 1997. The 1,000-dig milestone draws near for Iosia who is five away from that club.
Fifth-year Rebecka Poljan hit .600, leading the team with 15 kills on Wednesday. Poljan's performance moved her into 10th all-time for career hitting percentage at Michigan State (.293) to pass Naya Gros (.290).
Michigan State had four players reach double-digit kills led by Poljan's 15. O'Gorman had 12 for the Spartans, while senior Emma Monks and sophomore Aliyah Moore each contributed 11. It's the first time that four Spartans were in double figures since the match against Chicago State on Sep. 17, 2022. Poljan matched career-highs in kills and blocks, leading with a match-high eight blocks (2s, 6a). As a team the Spartans had a season-best 15 blocks, the most by an MSU team since Nov. 9, 2019, a 17-block performance against Northwestern.
The middle pairing of Poljan and Monks hit .469 for the match on 26 kills-3 errors-49 attempts.
Graduate Zoe Nunez tallied her 11th double-double of the season and her sixth in the last seven matches with 41 assists and 14 digs. Freshman Jayhlin Swain set a new career-high in digs with 12 on Wednesday night. Also finding a new career-high was freshman Evie Doezema who had four blocks (2s, 2a).
After the Spartans tied set one up at 11-11 early, Rutgers used a 5-0 run to grow a 16-11 advantage over MSU. Michigan State used a run of its own to get back into contention, scoring four consecutive points out of a timeout to trail 16-15. Teams went back-and-forth late before a 4-1 Scarlet Knight series put Rutgers on set point at 24-20.
Michigan State tied things up in a second set that saw the Spartan block come alive. MSU had eight blocks in the second as the Scarlet Knights hit just .093 in the set. The Spartans led by as many as five points late in set two, but a 5-1 Rutgers run made things interesting late after a Monks kill put MSU on set point. Monks was the one to finish things off for the Spartans, staving off a Rutgers comeback attempt, 25-23.
Set three was all Spartans as Michigan State used an 8-2 run to open a six-point advantage mid-way through the set at 12-6. A 4-0 Scarlet Knight run saw Rutgers claw its way back within two points, but MSU responded with a 9-2 run to take a nine-point lead late. Kills by Poljan, Nunez and Moore, and an ace by Doezema led to the Spartans closing out the set on a 4-1 run.
Poljan and Moore each turned things up a notch in set four, each registering five kills in the set. The Spartans took a 7-6 lead and never looked back, extending the lead to as many as six points late in the set. A late 4-1 Rutgers run made things interesting as the lead was cut to three, 21-18, but Michigan State got a pair of kills from Moore late to seal things.
Rutgers was led by a 21-kill performance from Alissa Kinkela, who was joined by Taylor Humphreys (14 kills) in double-figures. Lauren DeLo led the Scarlet Knights in assists with 19, while Alyssa Nayar chipped in with 16. Madyson Chitty had a team-high 14 digs and Megan Vernon had four blocks.
Up Next: Michigan State will conclude its season on Saturday, Nov. 26 against Iowa at 2:00 p.m. the Spartans will host senior day in the Breslin Center as the program celebrates the careers of Rebecka Poljan, Emma Monks and Zoe Nunez. MSU will look to close its season with a three-game winning streak, something the program has not done since 2017.
The Spartans hit .305, a season-best in Big Ten play and the team's best since a .475 performance against Oakland on Sep. 16, 2022. MSU started slow hitting .214 in set one, but got better throughout the match hitting .382 in set three. Michigan State finished the match with more kills (55-51), assists (50-45), aces (7-6), digs (67-47) and blocks (15-7).
A slew of Spartans found their way into the record books on Wednesday as the season nears its close:
Freshman Maradith O'Gorman moved into 10th all-time for kills by a freshman at MSU with her 12 on Wednesday, passing All-American Dana Cooke (1993) with 247 kills for the season. O'Gorman is two kills from a tie for ninth place, held by Naya Gros (249, 2018).
Junior Nalani Iosia moved into ninth in program history for single season digs after her 20-dig performance against the Scarlet Knights. Iosia now has 441 digs on the season, passing Veronica Morales' mark of 439 set in 1997. The 1,000-dig milestone draws near for Iosia who is five away from that club.
Fifth-year Rebecka Poljan hit .600, leading the team with 15 kills on Wednesday. Poljan's performance moved her into 10th all-time for career hitting percentage at Michigan State (.293) to pass Naya Gros (.290).
Michigan State had four players reach double-digit kills led by Poljan's 15. O'Gorman had 12 for the Spartans, while senior Emma Monks and sophomore Aliyah Moore each contributed 11. It's the first time that four Spartans were in double figures since the match against Chicago State on Sep. 17, 2022. Poljan matched career-highs in kills and blocks, leading with a match-high eight blocks (2s, 6a). As a team the Spartans had a season-best 15 blocks, the most by an MSU team since Nov. 9, 2019, a 17-block performance against Northwestern.
The middle pairing of Poljan and Monks hit .469 for the match on 26 kills-3 errors-49 attempts.
Graduate Zoe Nunez tallied her 11th double-double of the season and her sixth in the last seven matches with 41 assists and 14 digs. Freshman Jayhlin Swain set a new career-high in digs with 12 on Wednesday night. Also finding a new career-high was freshman Evie Doezema who had four blocks (2s, 2a).
After the Spartans tied set one up at 11-11 early, Rutgers used a 5-0 run to grow a 16-11 advantage over MSU. Michigan State used a run of its own to get back into contention, scoring four consecutive points out of a timeout to trail 16-15. Teams went back-and-forth late before a 4-1 Scarlet Knight series put Rutgers on set point at 24-20.
Michigan State tied things up in a second set that saw the Spartan block come alive. MSU had eight blocks in the second as the Scarlet Knights hit just .093 in the set. The Spartans led by as many as five points late in set two, but a 5-1 Rutgers run made things interesting late after a Monks kill put MSU on set point. Monks was the one to finish things off for the Spartans, staving off a Rutgers comeback attempt, 25-23.
Set three was all Spartans as Michigan State used an 8-2 run to open a six-point advantage mid-way through the set at 12-6. A 4-0 Scarlet Knight run saw Rutgers claw its way back within two points, but MSU responded with a 9-2 run to take a nine-point lead late. Kills by Poljan, Nunez and Moore, and an ace by Doezema led to the Spartans closing out the set on a 4-1 run.
Poljan and Moore each turned things up a notch in set four, each registering five kills in the set. The Spartans took a 7-6 lead and never looked back, extending the lead to as many as six points late in the set. A late 4-1 Rutgers run made things interesting as the lead was cut to three, 21-18, but Michigan State got a pair of kills from Moore late to seal things.
Rutgers was led by a 21-kill performance from Alissa Kinkela, who was joined by Taylor Humphreys (14 kills) in double-figures. Lauren DeLo led the Scarlet Knights in assists with 19, while Alyssa Nayar chipped in with 16. Madyson Chitty had a team-high 14 digs and Megan Vernon had four blocks.
Up Next: Michigan State will conclude its season on Saturday, Nov. 26 against Iowa at 2:00 p.m. the Spartans will host senior day in the Breslin Center as the program celebrates the careers of Rebecka Poljan, Emma Monks and Zoe Nunez. MSU will look to close its season with a three-game winning streak, something the program has not done since 2017.
Team Stats
RU
MSU
Kills
51
55
Errors
22
16
Attempts
150
128
Hitting %
.193
.305
Points
64
77
Assists
45
50
Aces
6
7
Blocks
7
15
Game Leaders
Kills
15
Aces
1
Blocks
8
Kills
12
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Volleyball
L
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballKristen Kelsay Postgame Comments | Rutgers
Sunday, November 02
Kristen Kelsay Postgame Comments | Purdue
Saturday, November 01
Kristen Kelsay Postgame Comments | Maryland
Sunday, October 19
Kristen Kelsay Postgame Comments | Indiana
Sunday, October 12