State Dominant In Victory Vs. Iowa

MSU vs. Iowa
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Oct. 1, 2005

IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Spartan volleyball squad continued Big Ten action tonight facing Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. In exciting fashion, State took the 3-2 match victory improving to 9-5, 2-2 Big Ten for the year. Iowa falls to 11-6, 1-3 Big Ten in 2005 with the loss. Leading the way for MSU was Katie Johnson, Megan Wallin and Ashley Schatzle who all recorded 20 kills in the win, while Brooke Langston and Jessica Hohl added 11 and nine kills respectively. Mickey Davis posted a floor-high 74 assists, while libero Nicole Colaluca added 30 digs and one ace for the Spartans.

State battled the Hawkeyes point-for-point until Davis took serving duties at the 8-9 mark leading the Spartans to 11 consecutive points to take the 19-9 upperhand. The Iowa offense posted just nine points for the remainder of the opening set as the Spartans took the 30-18 victory to take the 1-0 match advantage. Johnson recorded two block solos and five kills in game one, while Wallin and Schatzle added four kills each. Davis (5) and Colaluca (7) combined for 12 of the Spartans' 18 digs in the set, as State out-blocked the Hawkeyes 3.0 to 1.0.

The Spartan momentum continued into the second set of the night as State held the 9-8 advantage and scored five of the next eight to extend its lead to 14-11. A strong rally by the Hawkeye front court ensued, as the home team took the 18-16 advantage. A Langston ace equaled the contest at 18-18, however the teams continued to match points as the set was again tied at 24-24. MSU would score four consecutive points to extend its lead to 29-25 behind the service of defensive specialist Marley Bellwood, before Schatzle tallied her eighth kill of the match giving State the 30-25 win. Through two games, Davis tallied a floor high 33 assists, while Colaluca added 12 digs defensively for MSU.

Iowa opened up a 6-4 lead early in the third set of the night, before a Langston block solo neared the score at 6-5. Behind the service of Catherine Smale, Iowa extended its lead to 16-9 forcing Spartan head coach Cathy George to take her first timeout of the set. The lead extended to 19-10 before the Spartans made a run. Johnson and Kohl had back to back kills closing the score to 19-13. With Colaluca serving, MSU scored six straight to even the score at 19-19 and force a Hawkeye timeout. After the break, Iowa won four of the next five points before a Davis block solo narrowed the Iowa lead to 23-21. State would trail by only a point at 27-26, but wouldn't get any closer, losing game three 30-27.

After trailing 15-10 in the fourth, a Johnson block solo and Miken Trogden ace, narrowed the Hawkeye lead at 16-15. The Hawkeye offense continued to dominate as it would extends its lead to 25-20. Although State posted 18 kills and 19 digs in the set, the Hawkeye offense proved too strong taking the 30-24 win forcing the match to the deciding fifth game. In the fifth, State took the early 5-3 lead after a Davis ace. Iowa refused to settle, as it evened the score at 6-6 behind strong defense at the net. The point-for-point play continued, before a Schatzle kill evened the contest at 8-8. Two consecutive kills by Langston extended the Spartan lead to 13-9 where a strong effort at the net propelled MSU to the 15-12 match victory.

MSU will host Purdue and Illinois, Oct.7 and 8 respectively at Jenison Field House in East Lansing. Both conference contests are scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.