Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Northwestern
Volleyball Wins 20th Match Of The Season.
11/27/1999 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 27, 1999
EVANSTON, Ill. - Michigan State defeated Northwestern 15-12, 15-12, 15-9 for its 20th win of the season on Saturday, Nov. 27 in Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Spartans are now 20-12 on the season, 10-10 in the Big Ten. Northwestern falls to 4-26 overall, 2-18 in the Big Ten. 1999 marks the fourth straight year MSU has tallied 20-or-more wins and the 11th time in MSU history.
Sarah Gustin led the team with 13 kills on .429 hitting and Angela Morley added 11, also hitting .429. Erin Hartley led the team with six blocks and nine digs while Morley and Jessica Sanborn added five blocks each. Vicki Basil tallied 35 assists, seven digs and a team-high three service aces. The Spartans outhit Northwestern .324-.267 and outblocked the Wildcats 11-5.
Led by three service aces from Basil and nine kills on .692 hitting and three blocks from Morley, MSU won the first game, 15-12. Down 2-3, MSU scored the next nine points to take an 11-3 lead behind four kills and three blocks from Morley in that stretch. The Wildcats then rallied to get to within 13-7. Another Morley kill gave the Spartans a sideout and a Northwestern hitting error brought MSU to 14-7. The Spartans experienced a meltdown after that and the Wildcats scored five straight to force MSU?s second timeout. After trading sideouts for a final time, Gustin ended the game with a kill down the pipe. MSU outblocked NU 3-2 but the Wildcats outhit the Spartans .459-.447.
MSU jumped out to a 4-1 lead in game two but Northwestern fought back to tie the score at four. The Spartans surged ahead again and led 11-7. NU sided out and scored three consecutive points to tie the game at 11-11 and took its first lead of the game since a 1-0 margin on a timely kill. Gustin tagged a kill for an MSU sideout and the Spartans scored four straight for a 15-12 win. Gustin had three of the final four Spartan points with two kills and a block assists. The Spartans outhit Northwestern .256-.208 and outblocked the Wildcats 4-2 in the game. Gustin tallied six kills in the game while Morley and Maren Witzel added two blocks each.
After an early tie at 3-3 in game three, MSU opened a 6-3 lead only to see Northwestern claw back to within one at 6-5. The Spartans then scored six straight to go up 12-6 only to see the Wildcats start a run of their own, scoring three to get to 12-9. A Northwestern service error gave the Spartans a sideout and MSU sewed up the game with two blocks each from Erin Hartley and Sanborn and a Witzel kill.
The NCAA selection show is at 10 p.m. on Sunday and will determine if the Spartans, with an at-large bid, reach the Tournament with for the sixth straight year. If the team is selected, the Spartans will play in the first round on Thursday or Friday, Dec. 2 or Dec. 3.
