Michigan State University
Illinois
Spartan Volleyball Sweeps Illinois In Big Ten Action
10/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 28, 2006
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Michigan State volleyball team improved its record to 15-7, 6-6 in Big Ten play, posting its second sweep of the weekend with a 3-0 win over Illinois on Saturday night. MSU won by scores of 30-26, 30-16, and 30-22. With the loss, Illinois falls to 13-9, 4-8 against conference opponents.
Setter Allison Ianni tallied 39 assists in the match, directing the Spartan offense to a .425 attack percentage, its highest of the Big Ten season. The duo of Katie Johnson and Ashley Schatzle tallied 14 and 10 kills, respectively, while middle blocker Jessica Hohl added eight kills for the Green and White.
Michigan State won the battle at the net, posting 12.0 total blocks against just 4.0 by the Illini defenders. Freshman middle blocker Vanessa King led the Green and White with seven block assists, while Hohl, Heather McDaniel and Johnson each contributed four blocks in the win. Libero Nicole Colaluca anchored the Spartan backcourt with 12 digs, while Hohl and Johnson added eight and five, respectively.
Kayani Turner led the Fighting Illini offense with 14 kills, while setter Lizzie Bazzetta spread out 34 assists, adding four digs in the loss.
Michigan State used a 10-3 run to take a 12-5 lead in the early goings of game one. Illinois answered, scoring nine of the next 11 to knot the score at 14-14. The teams matched points three times before MSU put together a 7-1 run late in the set to take the 30-26 victory. Johnson and Schatzle led the Green and White with six and five kills, respectively, while King contributed three kills and three block assists in the set.
State capitalized on poor hitting by the Illini offense to take a 16-7 lead midway through game two. MSU extended its lead to 24-12 and scored six of the final 10 points for a 30-16 game-two victory. The Green and White dominated at the net, posting 5.0 total blocks against just 12 kills by the Illini offense. Ianni spread out 11 assists, directing the Spartans to a .520 attack percentage compared to the -.027 effort by the Illini.
Illinois trailed 13-22 and scored three straight to pull within five of the Spartan lead at 17-22 late in game three. State used its first timeout of the set leading the Illini 24-20, and finished the match on an 6-2 run to close its second consecutive Big Ten sweep with a 30-22 game-three win.
Michigan State returns to East Lansing to host No. 12 Minnesota on Friday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. The Spartans conclude weekend action against No. 14 Wisconsin on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m. Fans who hold a ticket stub from Saturday's Michigan State-Purdue football game will receive free admission to the match.
