Michigan State University
13-2,3-2Big Ten
Iowa
10-7,1-4Big Ten
Spartans Halt Hawkeyes in Five Setter
10/10/2025 11:14:00 PM | Volleyball
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State volleyball prevailed for a five-set victory (25-20, 25-15, 23-25, 21-25, 15-7) Friday night against Iowa inside the Breslin Center.
MSU moves to 13-2 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten with the win, while Iowa falls to 10-7 and 1-4 in the conference. With the victory, MSU also improved its home record to a perfect 7-0 this season.
MSU out-hit Iowa .293 to .245 in the match and led in total kills (67-to-58), service aces (8-3), and digs (55-53). Iowa held a narrow advantage in total blocks, 9.5 to 8.
Senior opposite Evie Doezema, junior outside hitter Karolina Staniszewska, freshman outside hitter Bianca Mumcular and junior middle blocker Zuzanna Kulig each added a team-high 13 kills on the night. Kulig's 13 kills were a career high while hitting an impressive .667 with just one error on 18 attacks. Kulig also added a team-high three service aces and four total blocks. Her .667 hitting percentage is the second-best in a single match inside the Breslin Center behind Emma Monks (.727) on Sept. 16, 2022, against Oakland.
Redshirt freshman setter Malayah Long just missed a career-high in assists with 54, her second time this season eclipsing the 50-assist mark in a single match. Junior Lia Schneider and Mumcular each added a team-high 13 digs, with Mumcular recording her fourth double-double (kills-digs) of the season, while junior defensive specialist Ky Clayton posted the first double-digit dig performance of her career with 10.
Five different Spartans added at least once service ace Friday night, with Kulig posting a team-high three, Mumcular totaling two and Staniszewska, Clayton and sophomore defensive specialist Mya Bolton each tallying one.
Back-to-back service aces from Mumcular helped MSU to a three-point lead at 9-6 early in the first set before Iowa used a 4-0 run to take a one-point lead at 10-9. A kill from Long and a block from Kulig and Long then gave the Spartans the lead again at 11-10. The teams traded points back-and-forth in the following points with neither taking more than a one-point advantage until another dump from Long gave the Spartans a three-point lead at 19-16. An Iowa block and kill got the Hawkeyes within one at 19-18 to force an MSU timeout, but a 3-1 MSU run out of the timeout with a kill from Staniszewska and back-to-back kills from Kulig forced the Hawkeyes to take a timeout of their own at a 22-19 MSU lead. Iowa got back within two after the timeout at 22-20, but a kill from Staniszewska and a sixth kill on her sixth swing of the set from Kulig got the Spartans to set point before an Iowa attacking error helped MSU take the first set, 25-20.
MSU took a six-point lead early in the second to force an Iowa timeout at 10-4 and used kills from sophomore Carmen Waye, Staniszewska and Doezema to extend the lead to nine at 15-6. Iowa put down a pair of kills, but another kill from Kulig followed by a Hawkeye error and a Kulig ace gave the Spartans an 11-point lead, their biggest of the set, at 19-8. Iowa used a pair of kills after taking a timeout to shrink the lead to nine and followed with another kill and an MSU service error to get within eight, but a kill from Waye and block from Waye and outside hitter Danyle Courtley helped extend the MSU lead back to 10. A Staniszewska kill got the Spartans to set point a Kulig kill sealed the second set for the Spartans, 25-15.
Iowa got out to a 4-1 lead in the third set before MSU used a 6-2 run with kills from Waye, Doezema and Long and a Clayton service ace to take a one-point lead at 7-6. Neither team was able to take more than a one-point lead in the following points until an Iowa attack error and a block from Mumcular and Kulig gave MSU a two-point lead at 13-11 to force a Hawkeye timeout. Iowa retook the lead at 17-16 after an MSU attack error and used a kill and back-to-back service aces to extend the lead to three at 20-17. A Kulig service ace got the Spartans within one at 22-21 before a Mumcular kill got the Spartans within a point again at 24-23, but an Iowa kill gave the Hawkeyes the third set, 25-23.
The Spartans used kills from Doezema and Staniszewska and a Doezema solo block to take a four-point lead and force an Iowa timeout at 11-7 in the fourth set. The Hawkeyes then used a 6-1 run to take a 13-12 lead before a Staniszewska kill tied the set at 13-13. The teams traded points back-and-forth until Iowa took a two-point lead following a service ace and extended the lead to three at 20-17 to force an MSU timeout after a block. Staniszewska and sophomore Breccan Scheck each recorded a kill to get MSU within two, but a 4-2 run to end the set helped Iowa take the fourth, 25-21, and send the match to a fifth set.
MSU came out firing in the fifth, opening the set on a 3-0 run with a kill from Mumcular, ace from Staniszewska and block from Mumcular and Scheck to force a Hawkeye timeout. A kill and block out of the timeout got the Hawkeyes within one, but a Mumcular kill and back-to-back Kulig kills, including a career-high 13th, gave MSU a 6-2 lead. A rare back-row kill from Clayton and a pair of Iowa attacking errors then extended the Spartan lead to six at 9-3. The Spartans responded to each Iowa point with at least two consecutive points of their own, forcing a Hawkeye timeout at 11-4 after a Mumcular kill and block from Doezema and Kulig before firing off three-straight following a Hawkeye kill with kills from Doezema and Staniszewska and a Bolton service ace to reach match point at 14-5. Iowa fended off two MSU match points, but Doezema's 13th kill of the night secured the set and match, 15-7.
Up next, MSU hosts No. 20 Indiana on Sunday, Oct. 12 at 1 p.m. inside the Breslin Center on B1G+.
