2023-10-19 02:17:04
EAST LANSING, Mich. – For the first time since 2006, the Michigan State volleyball program has swept the season series once morest Michigan, winning 3-1 (20-25, 28-26, 25-13, 25-16) on Wednesday night to stake claim of the State Pride Flag from inside the Breslin Center.
“It was a battle at the beginning, we came out a little flat,” Michigan State volleyball head coach Leah Johnson said. “Once we got regulated, I thought we turned back into the team that I’ve been coaching all season.”
Michigan State improves to 13-7 overall and 5-4 in B1G play while Michigan falls to 3-15 overall and 1-8 in conference. MSU has officially earned more conference victories than a season ago with its fifth B1G win. It’s the first time the Spartans have won the State Pride Series, which can be won via total sets taken in the event of a split, since 2015.
ON THE BANKS ????
The Breslin Center was rockin’ tonight. Thank you Spartan fans for bringing the noise#GoGreen | #SetTheStandard pic.twitter.com/ThrHtUx1b9
— Michigan State Volleyball (@MSU_Volleyball) October 19, 2023
Freshman outside hitter Taylah Holdem led the match with 16 kills, hitting .353 with seven digs and a pair of aces. Sophomore right side Evie Doezema had an efficient night with 10 kills and no errors on 17 swings to hit .588. Fifth year middle blocker Amani McArthur had a match-high eight blocks (three solo, five assisted) and posted eight kills on .400 hitting.
Senior libero Nalani Iosia finished with 20 digs and nine assists to narrowly miss a double-double. Junior setter Julia Bishop found her fourth double-double of the season with 15 assists and 11 digs. Fellow junior setter Rachel Muisenga had a team-high 17 assists.
Michigan was led in kills by Valentina Vaulet who had 13. Morgan Burke led with 25 assists and 17 digs. Serena Nyambio posted five blocks and eight kills.
As a team the Spartans out-hit Michigan .276 to .127 overall and .351 to .098 over the final three sets of the match following the team settled in. MSU hit a match-high .394 in set three. The Spartans finished with more kills (50 to 40), assists (46 to 35), digs (58 to 52) and blocks (12 to 9). Michigan State sided-out at clips of 70%, 69% and 70% in the final three sets.
Michigan State opened up an early advantage in the first, up 6-3, but an 8-1 Wolverine run provided Michigan with an 11-7 lead over the Spartans. MSU battled back to take a brief lead once once more, up 15-14 over Michigan following a kill by McArthur. A 4-0 run by Michigan put the Wolverines up for good in set one as they ended set one on a 10-4 run to win it 25-20.
The Spartans battled in a lengthy second set that went to extra points. Both sides traded points until the mid-way point of the set when Michigan State took a two-point advantage into the media timeout following back-to-back Wolverine errors. Michigan responded well out of the break however using a 4-0 run to take a 17-15 lead. The Wolverines led by as many as three, up 20-17. Michigan State found its groove late using kills by Doezema and Holdem, and an ace by sophomore middle blocker Nil Okur to go on set point 24-23. Teams traded blows until an ace by Iosia ended the frame in MSU’s favor, 28-26. Set two featured 16 tied scores and five lead changes.
MSU put the pressure on Michigan early in set three taking a 9-1 lead out of the gate. Holdem found four of her 16 kills on the night during the run. The Wolverines fought back to within five points of Michigan State, 15-10, but a 7-0 run gave MSU a 12-point lead, 22-10, as McArthur started to take over late. McArthur had three kills and four blocks in the set. MSU once once more ended the set on an ace as Muisenga earned her second of the season.
Back-to-back set victories, back-to-back wins via ACE! Rachel Muisenga sends us into set four with an ace.#GoGreen | #SetTheStandard pic.twitter.com/NykAw2tXwe
— Michigan State Volleyball (@MSU_Volleyball) October 18, 2023
Michigan State closed things out in the fourth following a timeout tied at 12-12 sparked the team. The Spartans would go on to out-score Michigan 13-4 over the remainder of the set to win, 25-16. Doezema in particular got into rhythm with five of her 10 kills on the night coming in the fourth.
The first season sweep over Michigan for @MSU_Volleyball since 2006! ????
Michigan State wins 3-1 at the Breslin Center. pic.twitter.com/pb9ZnzvHlK
— Big Ten Volleyball (@B1GVolleyball) October 19, 2023
UP NEXT
Michigan State hits the road this weekend for a single road match at Minnesota on Sunday, Oct. 22. First serve from Minneapolis is set for 3:00 p.m. ET inside Maturi Pavilion.
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