EVANSTON, Ill. – The Michigan State volleyball program played a three-hour marathon in Evanston on Friday night, defeating a tough Northwestern squad in five sets, 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 27-25, 23-25, 15-13), from Welsh-Ryan Arena. Freshman outside hitter Taylah Holdem continued her torrid stretch of matches posting 25 kills and 14 digs for the Spartans.
“I was so proud to see the fight and the hunger from our team tonight,” said Michigan State head volleyball coach Leah Johnson. “Northwestern didn’t back down and make it easy, and they put us in a tight situation there at the end, but I was really proud of how we continued to compete.”
Holdem’s 25 kills were the most by an MSU freshman since Erin Hartley (28) in 1998. It’s Holdem’s second match this season with 20+ kills and her third straight with 19+. Holdem has recorded double-doubles in consecutive matches.
Michigan State improves to 10-4 overall and 2-1 in B1G action heading into Sunday night’s matchup against Rutgers from inside the Breslin Center. Northwestern is now 6-7 overall and 0-3 in conference play.
Fifth year middle blocker Amani McArthur was second on the team with 12 kills for MSU, hitting a superb .571 with no attacking errors. Sophomore middle blocker Nil Okur and junior outside hitter Grace Kelly each finished with nine kills, with Okur leading the team with two blocks.
Junior setter Julia Bishop recorded her third double-double of the season with 28 assists and a career-high 18 digs. Freshman setter Cameron Berger was one dig shy of a double-double with nine along with her 25 assists. Senior libero Nalani Iosia had 15 digs for the Spartans. Holdem faced .471 percent of MSU’s serve receive opportunities (42/89) with just one receiving error.
Northwestern was led by Averie Hernandez’s 15 kills, while Julia Sangiacomo and Leilani Dodson each had 11. Alexa Rousseau had a match-high 45 assists along with 14 digs. Ellee Stinson and Gigi Navarrete each had 16 digs. Kennedy Hill led all players with nine blocks, although with three blocking errors.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Sides traded points early in the first before a 6-1 Wildcats run put Northwestern up 16-10 over MSU mid-way through the set. A late 3-0 Spartan run following a pair of kills by Holdem and one by Moore brought Michigan State back within two late in the set at 22-20 to force a Northwestern timeout. The Wildcats would end the set on a 3-1 run however to take the first.
What started as a back-and-forth second set was blown wide open thanks to a 6-0 Spartan run that saw MSU take a 23-16 lead over the Wildcats. Bishop went on a serving streak of seven consecutive points as Holdem had three kills over the stretch. Okur ended the run with a solo block. Northwestern battled back within three using a 4-0 run of their own, but MSU secured back-to-back points to take the second.
Neither team led by more than two in set three as each side grinded for every point. A 3-0 run by the Spartans forced a Northwestern timeout as MSU took a 21-19 lead, but the Wildcats were quick to tie things up. Northwestern was on set point, 24-23, before a kill by Kelly once again tied things up. With the set tied at 25-25, a kill by McArthur and a service ace by Kelly ended the third in favor of the Spartans. Kelly’s serve was returned off the bottom of the center-hung scoreboard in Welsh-Ryan, resulting in an ace.
A late run by Northwestern was the difference in set four after a 3-0 run by the Spartans put them up 23-21. The Wildcats closed the set out on a 4-0 run, that included a successful coaches challenge, to force a fifth set. Northwestern had briefly led by three earlier in the set before a 5-1 Spartan run provided MSU with a 19-18 advantage, its first lead in the frame since 5-4.
Michigan State led 8-4 as teams switched sides in the fifth and led by as many as six in the set as the Spartans took a 13-7 advantage following a Northwestern service error. The Wildcats would fight back to tie the set up at 13-13 however using a 6-0 run. A pair of timely Northwestern miscues on the final two points of the match provided MSU with the victory.
UP NEXT
The Spartans return to East Lansing for a match against Rutgers at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 1. Rutgers enters the match 8-5 overall and 0-3 in B1G play. Sunday’s match will be broadcast nationally on Big Ten Network with Connor Onion and MSU volleyball alum Elena Shklyar ’21 calling the action.
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2023-09-30 04:41:37
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