Michigan State University
Minnesota
Volleyball Falls to No. 22 Minnesota, 3-0, Friday
11/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 21, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State volleyball dropped its match with No. 22 Minnesota, 3-0, in Jenison Field House Friday, 20-30, 26-30, 23-30. MSU is now 18-9 on the season and 10-7 in the Big Ten, while Minnesota moves to 20-9, 13-4 in league play. State had not lost in three games since falling by an identical score to Illinois in East Lansing on Oct. 17.
"We weren't in system all night," said head coach Chuck Erbe. "We had no offensive rhythm at all, and we just didn't have any offensive spark. We were totally out of synch, and it was apparent that they hadn't played with each other all week long in practice because of injuries. Our timing and communication was off, but we can't dwell on this. It was a bad match, and we have to bounce back and beat Iowa tomorrow night."
Minnesota dominated the match from the start, hitting .404 as a team in the three-game set. The Golden Gophers had 55 kills and 11 errors on 109 attacks, and out-blocked MSU, 13-6. The Spartans posted a team attack percentage of .211 (44K-21E-109TA). Kim Schram led MSU with 12 kills on .200 hitting, and added a service ace, three block solos and eight digs. Nikki Colson had 28 assists to go along with two kills, two service aces and four digs. Jenny Rood and Sara Villwock both added eight kills for the Spartans.
The Spartans honored former All-American Erin Hartley in a pre-game ceremony. A banner was raised in the Jenison Field House rafters in her honor, making her the fifth former Spartan volleyball player to be honored in Jenison.
MSU hosts Iowa Saturday at 8 p.m. The Hawkeyes lost, 3-0, at Michigan Friday night and are 6-21 overall, 1-16 in the Big Ten. Iowa's lone win came against Purdue last weekend.
