Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Illinois
Volleyball Shocks No. 20 Illinois In Three
10/22/1999 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 22, 1999
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Michigan State?s volleyball team, which has spent the last few weeks soul searching, found itself on Friday, Oct. 22, shocking No. 20 Illinois, 3-0, Huff Hall on the campus of the University of Illinois. The 15-9, 15-6, 17-15 MSU victory snapped the Illini?s five-match winning streak while State notched its third straight win after a four-game skid.
Outside hitter Erin Hartley had match-highs of 21 kills and 13 digs to pace the Spartans, hitting .385 for the match and blocking four Illini hits. Middle Jessica Sanborn also hit .385 with 12 kills, eight digs and three blocks. Sanborn tallied the 500th kill of her career on her 12th and final kill of the match, while middle Angela Morley tied her career high with nine blocks. She also had six kills and no errors, hitting .667 for the match. Setter Vicki Basil played her best match of the season, tallying 46 assists, 10 digs and four blocks, while outside hitter Tammy Vonderheide tallied nine digs and two key service aces. Sarah Gustin, while not having a hot hitting night, was huge on the block, collecting six for the match including two solo blocks.
The Spartans jumped out to a fast 4-1 lead in game one before Illinois roared back, scoring six straight points to take a 7-4 lead. MSU fought back and battled Illinois to a 8-8 tie. From there the Spartans controlled the game, cruising to a 15-9 victory. Basil tallied the 1,698th assist of her career in the game to move into sixth on the MSU career assist chart.
Game two started with both teams trading points, tying the game at 3-3 and 4-4 before State used its superior blocking and accurate hits to break open the game and go on to a 15-6 win.
The Spartans refused to lose in game three as the teams went toe-to-toe. The lead changed hands five times, the score was tied seven times and MSU played match point eight times before Hartley came up with a big kill to end the game and match, 17-15.
Michigan State outblocked Illinois 16-6 and outhit the Illini .262-.139.
The Spartans are now 14-7 on the season and 4-5 in the Big Ten. Illinois falls to 11-4 overall and 7-2 in the conference. MSU returns to action on Oct. 23 at Indiana at 7 p.m. CT.
