Michigan State University
Iowa
Volleyball Sweeps Iowa In Big Ten Play
10/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 14, 2006
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State volleyball team improved its record to 13-5, 4-4 in Big Ten play on Saturday with a 3-0 sweep versus Iowa in conference action. State won by scores of 30-21, 30-22, and 30-25. With the loss, the Hawkeyes fall to 12-8, 1-7 against Big Ten opponents.
"We played with a very balanced attack tonight," Spartan head coach Cathy George said. "Our team played the first two games very solid and we played tough in the third game to win the match and improve our record in the Big Ten."
Despite a season-high 17 service errors in the match, the Spartans posted a .357 team attack percentage and tallied 60 kills against just 26 by the Hawkeye offense. A trio of Spartans tallied double-digit kill totals, led by outside hitters Katie Johnson and Ashley Schatzle with 15 each, while middle blocker Jessica Hohl contributed 12 for the Green and White. Setter Allison Ianni added nine kills, four digs, and spread out 48 assists, a season-high for three-game matches.
State dominated every statistical category except total blocks, where Iowa held the edge with 24 block assists (12.0 total), compared to two block solos and 12 block assists (8.0 total) by the Spartan defenders. Freshman middle blocker Vanessa King continued to impress at the net, posting a team-high four block assists, while Johnson and Hohl added three and two, respectively. The Green and White backcourt combined for 34 digs, led by libero Nicole Colaluca with 14, while defensive specialist Miken Trogdon and Schatzle each contributed seven digs on the night.
"Our team is really focusing on taking small steps, and our offense, passing, and serving are really starting to pull together," junior co-captain Katie Johnson said. "Two hard-fought wins this week really gives our team momentum as we hit the road for our next four matches."
Leading the Hawkeyes was Catherine Smale with seven kills in the match, while setter Kiley Fister added 22 assists and four digs. Middle blocker Melanie Meister tallied a floor-high seven block assists, while outside hitters Jen Barcus and Megan Schipper each contributed four blocks in the match.
Ianni tipped a ball over the Hawkeye defenders capping a 5-2 run to push the Spartan lead to 15-7 midway through the opening set. Trailing 16-27, Iowa scored four of the next five points to pull within eight at 28-20, but MSU won the set, 30-21, on back-to-back kills by Johnson and Schatzle. Ianni tallied 17 assists, as MSU out-hit the Hawkeyes, .417-.161, in the set. Johnson and Schatzle each contributed five kills, while Colaluca added eight digs in the Spartan backcourt.
King connected on consecutive swings to push the Spartan lead to 22-15 late in game two. MSU scored seven of the next nine, and Iowa fought off three straight game points before Johnson recorded her third kill of the set for the 30-20 game-two victory. King tallied three kills and one block assist, while Schatzle paced the Spartan offense with six kills on 10 attempts in the stanza.
Iowa started game three trailing 2-0 after team delay penalties before Michigan State put together a 7-2 run to push its lead to 9-3. MSU led 21-17, but the Hawkeyes scored three straight to pull within one at 21-20. The teams matched four-point runs late in the set, but State scored five of the final six points to win game three, 30-25. Johnson led the Spartans with seven kills, while Hohl added five kills and one block assist.
Michigan State begins a stretch of four conference road matches, traveling to No. 16 Ohio State (Oct. 17) and No. 2 Penn State (Oct. 18) next weekend. Both contests are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET.
