Next Match:
Penn State
10/28/2023 | 7:00 pm
Oct. 28 (Sat) / 7:00 pm
Penn State
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State volleyball tested No. 2-ranked Wisconsin early, but was defeated in straight sets on Friday night, 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-16), from inside the Breslin Student Events Center.
“I thought we fought well in all three sets tonight,” Michigan State head volleyball coach Leah Johnson said. “I was proud of our serve and pass game forcing Wisconsin to play out of system for a large portion of the match.”
The Spartans move to 13-9 overall and 5-6 in the B1G with a loss. Wisconsin improved to 19-1 overall and 10-1 in conference action.
Michigan State was led by nine kills from each of its right-side hitters, sophomore Evie Doezema and junior Aliyah Moore. Fifth year middle blocker Amani McArthur posted seven kills along with four blocks and freshman middle blocker Zuzanna Kulig had five kills and a trio of stuffs.
Junior setter Julia Bishop led the team with 18 assists along with six digs while junior setter Rachel Muisenga had 14 assists and five digs. Senior libero Nalani Iosia led the Spartans with 10 digs and freshman outside hitter Taylah Holdem posted a pair of service aces.
Wisconsin out-hit the Spartans .371 to .178 overall. MSU out-pace the Badgers in set one however, hitting .220 to Wisconsin’s .182 after a slow start by the Badgers.
Michigan State showed a lot of promise in set one opening an early 7-1 lead over Wisconsin following two kills and a pair of blocks by McArthur. The Badgers brought their deficit to just one, with MSU leading 13-12, but back-to-back kills by Doezema and junior outside hitter Grace Kelly put the Spartans back up three. Doezema and Kelly teamed up once again with consecutive kills late to put MSU up 22-20 over Wisconsin, but the Badgers would close out the set on a 5-1 run. Doezema had five of her nine kills in the first hitting .500 for the frame.
Despite trailing by as many as six points early in set two, a double block by McArthur and Doezema brought the Spartans back within three points late, 18-15. A service error by the Badgers kept MSU within three at 19-16, but five consecutive Wisconsin points put them on set point, 24-16, and forced a Spartan timeout. Doezema found a kill out of the break, but a service error ended the frame in favor of the Badgers, 25-17.
Both sides traded point early in set three before a 6-2 Wisconsin run saw the Badgers take a 16-11 lead over MSU just past the mid-way point. Back-to-back Spartan points out of a timeout cut Wisconsin’s lead to four late, 18-14, after a kill by Moore and a double block by Moore and McArthur. Wisconsin ended the set on an 7-2 run to take it, 25-16.
UP NEXT
Michigan State wraps up its weekend with a home match against No. 13-ranked Penn State from the Breslin Center at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28. Penn State improved to 15-5 overall and 9-2 in B1G action with a 3-1 win over Michigan in Ann Arbor on Friday.
2023-10-28 02:39:40
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