Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
3-3
Delaware
2-4
Spartans Roll over Delaware 3-0, Claim DU Invitational Title
9/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 6, 2008
Cathy
Allyson
Vanessa
NEWARK, Del. - The Spartan volleyball squad won the Delaware Invitational title after topping the Delaware Blue Hens 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-8) on Saturday night in the team's final game of the Invite at Viera Court in the Carpenter Sports Building. Several Spartans, Allyson Karaba (Muskegon, Mcih.), Natalie Emro (Wildwood, Mo.) and Vanessa King (Spring Lake, Mich.) would all earn All-Tournament honors with King taking home the Most Valuable Player Award. With the win, the Spartans improve to 3-3 on the season.
MSU came out and set the tone early, dominating play at the net and in the back row. Sophomore Jenilee Rathje (Mount Pleasant, Mich.) sent a spike to the back row on the Spartans first attack of the match. The team seemed ready to send a message, rallying behind Rathje, jumping out to a 13-6 lead. The Spartans appeared to be firing on all cylinders as the Blue Hens had no answer for anything that MSU threw at them. Karaba continued her torrid pace as of lately, adding 10 more digs to her stat line for the weekend. After a rough weekend by her standards, Rathje rebounded nicely in the first set, tying with Becca Zlabis (Wheaton, Ill.) for the team lead with five kills. Rathje also hit a team-best .500 in the first set.
Defensively, the Spartans were far superior to every team in the tournament and kept that trend going against Delaware. They held the Blue Hens to a .083 hitting percentage while compiling 19 digs in the first set.
The match became much more competitive in the second set, but the Spartans continued to dictate the play. Freshman setter Natalie Emro (Wildwood, Mo.) exploited a Blue Hen weakness several times by dumping a kill right to the middle of a vacant floor, helping the Spartans jump on top early. But with the home crowd behind them, Delaware would rally, taking the lead away from the green and white at 19-17. The Spartans would rally, knotting the score at 20, and from there the teams would exchange blows until DU would take a 23-21 lead. A kill by Zlabis kept the Spartans close until King knotted the score at 23. King would play the role of hero on the next point as well, slamming a kill from the middle, giving MSU set point at 24-23. Then, on what should have been a free ball at the least, Karaba and Kyndra Abron (Livonia, Mich.) teamed to get a ball to King at the middle of the net. King caught the Hens napping and killed the point, sealing the set for MSU.
King and Rathje displayed great leadership in the second set. King tallied the final three kills of the set, giving her 10 on the night. In fact, King had seven kills on nine swings in the second set. Rathje added four more kills pushing her match-total to nine. Karaba added five digs, pushing her weekend total to 64 as she played a critical role in keeping rallies alive for the Spartans.
MSU came roaring out of the gate after intermission, looking for the quick finish. Pushing the Hens back in their heels, the Spartans battled to a 12-1 lead. Delaware was forced to use their two timeouts before the 10-point mark, as the Hens were searching for answers. King and company would never look back. In fact, the Spartans more than triple the score of the Blue Hens at 19-6. The Spartans would hold the Hens to single digits in the third set, winning 25-8. The eight points allowed is the only time in school history in the rally scoring era that an MSU team has allowed under 10 points in a set.
Looking at the final stats, Karaba added 22 digs giving her 71 on the weekend. King finished with 14 kills while hitting .417. Emro added 38 assists in her first All-Tournament honor at the collegiate level. Rahtje added 11 kills while every player that saw time on the court, with the exception of Karaba, tallied a kill in the win.
Riding a three-game winning streak, MSU will host the Spartan Invitational next weekend as Connecticut, Florida A&M and Wisconsin-Milwaukee will make their way to Jenison Field House. The first match is slated for Friday at noon. Live stats and audio will be provided.
