Sunday, October 1
East Lansing, Mich.
7 PM
Michigan State University
11-4,3-1Big Ten
3
vs
1
Rutgers
8-6,0-4Big Ten
1
2
3
4
F
Rutgers
25
17
19
23
1
Michigan St.
19
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Avery Kotel
Volleyball Caps Unbeaten Weekend with Win Over Rutgers
10/1/2023 11:42:00 PM | Volleyball
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State battled through a slow start on Sunday to defeat Rutgers in four sets, 3-1 (19-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-23), from the Breslin Student Events Center. Fifth year middle blocker Amani McArthur had eight blocks and 10 kills, while freshman outside hitter Taylah Holdem recorded her third consecutive double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs.
"I think we got better as the match went on tonight," said Michigan State head coach Leah Johnson. "We started a little flat, but we improved. Every match in the Big Ten is winnable or losable. No one is walking away or quitting. I was really impressed with Rutgers' competitive spirit. I thought that really pressured us at the end of set four to close it out."
With a win on Sunday, Michigan State improved to 11-4 overall and 3-1 in B1G play. The Spartans now sit in fourth place in the conference behind the undefeated trio of Nebraska, Wisconsin and Penn State. MSU welcomes No. 2-ranked Nebraska to East Lansing next Friday.
Four Spartans ended up in double-figures for kills, led by 14 for both Holdem and junior outside hitter Aliyah Moore. Junior outside hitter Grace Kelly had 11 and McArthur joined with 10. Three setters saw action for the Spartans with junior Julia Bishop leading the way with 25 assists. Bishop was joined by freshman Cameron Berger who had 10 assists and junior Rachel Muisenga who tallied eight.
"I thought we had good balance on offense tonight," said Johnson. "Rutgers had our middles scouted really well after our performance at Northwestern. Part of the reason we run a 6-2 is so we can continue to spread the offense around if one person isn't scoring. I was proud of our team for taking advantage of that tonight."
Senior libero Nalani Iosia tied Holdem for the team-high 11 digs on Sunday and sophomore defensive specialist Jayhlin Swain had nine. McArthur was the leader in blocks with eight. Both sophomore Nil Okur and Holdem had a pair of service aces to their name.
The Spartans out-hit Rutgers .248 to .153 and finished with more kills (56-to-42), points (73-to-54), digs (49-to-46) and blocks (12-to-8). Rutgers was led by Tina Grkovic's 12 kills as she hit .455. Alyssa Naya had 30 assists and Madyson Chitty posted a match-high 18 digs.
Michigan State started set one well leading Rutgers 13-10 just before the media timeout, but a 5-1 Scarlet Knight run provided them with a 15-14 advantage at the break. Rutgers controlled the set from there on out due in part to seven service errors from the Spartans, whose aggressive serves were not falling where they wanted in the first.
MSU got back on track in set two hitting .353 to take down Rutgers 25-17. The Scarlet Knights cut Michigan State's lead down to two early at 10-8, but the Spartans started to build their advantage from there going on an 8-2 run to lead 18-10. Rutgers would get back within five points of the Spartans, who ended the set on a 3-0 run. Kelly and McArthur had a strong performances throughout the frame with six kills for Kelly and four blocks for McArthur.
The Spartans continued to roll in set three, taking a 6-5 lead and never looking back. MSU led by as many as seven points in the third, up 19-12 over Rutgers late before the Scarlet Knights found momentum. Rutgers went on a late 5-1 run to cut MSU's edge to just three at 20-17, but a kill by Holdem and back-to-back blocks by McArthur put Michigan State back up six. Consecutive kills by Moore ended set three in favor of the Spartans.
Michigan State took a commanding 20-12 lead over Rutgers in set four, but the Scarlet Knights did not go down without a fight. Rutgers dug deep and used an 11-4 run to pull back within a single point of the Spartans late at 24-23. Moore continued her big second half of the match on set point though, sending down her sixth kill of the fourth to seal victory for MSU. 11 of Moore's 14 kills came in the final two sets of the match on Sunday.
UP NEXT
The Spartans will stay in East Lansing next weekend for a pair of matches inside the Breslin Center. MSU gets going on Friday, Oct. 6 for a 7:00 p.m. meeting with No. 2-ranked Nebraska before a quick rematch against Northwestern at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7. Michigan State defeated the Wildcats, 3-2, on Friday, Sept. 29 in Evanston.
"I think we got better as the match went on tonight," said Michigan State head coach Leah Johnson. "We started a little flat, but we improved. Every match in the Big Ten is winnable or losable. No one is walking away or quitting. I was really impressed with Rutgers' competitive spirit. I thought that really pressured us at the end of set four to close it out."
With a win on Sunday, Michigan State improved to 11-4 overall and 3-1 in B1G play. The Spartans now sit in fourth place in the conference behind the undefeated trio of Nebraska, Wisconsin and Penn State. MSU welcomes No. 2-ranked Nebraska to East Lansing next Friday.
Four Spartans ended up in double-figures for kills, led by 14 for both Holdem and junior outside hitter Aliyah Moore. Junior outside hitter Grace Kelly had 11 and McArthur joined with 10. Three setters saw action for the Spartans with junior Julia Bishop leading the way with 25 assists. Bishop was joined by freshman Cameron Berger who had 10 assists and junior Rachel Muisenga who tallied eight.
"I thought we had good balance on offense tonight," said Johnson. "Rutgers had our middles scouted really well after our performance at Northwestern. Part of the reason we run a 6-2 is so we can continue to spread the offense around if one person isn't scoring. I was proud of our team for taking advantage of that tonight."
Senior libero Nalani Iosia tied Holdem for the team-high 11 digs on Sunday and sophomore defensive specialist Jayhlin Swain had nine. McArthur was the leader in blocks with eight. Both sophomore Nil Okur and Holdem had a pair of service aces to their name.
The Spartans out-hit Rutgers .248 to .153 and finished with more kills (56-to-42), points (73-to-54), digs (49-to-46) and blocks (12-to-8). Rutgers was led by Tina Grkovic's 12 kills as she hit .455. Alyssa Naya had 30 assists and Madyson Chitty posted a match-high 18 digs.
Michigan State started set one well leading Rutgers 13-10 just before the media timeout, but a 5-1 Scarlet Knight run provided them with a 15-14 advantage at the break. Rutgers controlled the set from there on out due in part to seven service errors from the Spartans, whose aggressive serves were not falling where they wanted in the first.
MSU got back on track in set two hitting .353 to take down Rutgers 25-17. The Scarlet Knights cut Michigan State's lead down to two early at 10-8, but the Spartans started to build their advantage from there going on an 8-2 run to lead 18-10. Rutgers would get back within five points of the Spartans, who ended the set on a 3-0 run. Kelly and McArthur had a strong performances throughout the frame with six kills for Kelly and four blocks for McArthur.
The Spartans continued to roll in set three, taking a 6-5 lead and never looking back. MSU led by as many as seven points in the third, up 19-12 over Rutgers late before the Scarlet Knights found momentum. Rutgers went on a late 5-1 run to cut MSU's edge to just three at 20-17, but a kill by Holdem and back-to-back blocks by McArthur put Michigan State back up six. Consecutive kills by Moore ended set three in favor of the Spartans.
Michigan State took a commanding 20-12 lead over Rutgers in set four, but the Scarlet Knights did not go down without a fight. Rutgers dug deep and used an 11-4 run to pull back within a single point of the Spartans late at 24-23. Moore continued her big second half of the match on set point though, sending down her sixth kill of the fourth to seal victory for MSU. 11 of Moore's 14 kills came in the final two sets of the match on Sunday.
UP NEXT
The Spartans will stay in East Lansing next weekend for a pair of matches inside the Breslin Center. MSU gets going on Friday, Oct. 6 for a 7:00 p.m. meeting with No. 2-ranked Nebraska before a quick rematch against Northwestern at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7. Michigan State defeated the Wildcats, 3-2, on Friday, Sept. 29 in Evanston.
Team Stats
RU
MSU
Kills
42
56
Errors
23
23
Attempts
124
133
Hitting %
.153
.248
Points
54.0
73.0
Assists
39
48
Aces
4
5
Blocks
8
12
Game Leaders
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
14
Aces
2
Blocks
4
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
8
Players Mentioned
S
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
DS/L
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