Spartans Fall to No. 21 Illinois, 3-1

Oct. 30, 2015

SPARTAN SYNOPSIS
Michigan State opened up a four-game road trip with a tough four-set loss to No. 21 Illinois (17-25, , 25-23, 15-25, 19-25) at Huff Hall in Champaign on Friday night. The two teams own an identical 14-8 overall records, while MSU is 6-5 in the Big Ten. Illinois is 5-6 in Conference play. Double-doubles by Holly Toliver and Rachel Minarick and a dozen kills by Chloe Reinig couldn't overcome 26 team hitting errors and 10 service errors on the night, as the Spartans hit .165.

SET ONE: As they did against Penn State, the Spartans fell behind early, trailing 6-0 to the Illini before calling their first time out of the set. The Spartans had trouble keeping their shots and serves down, and it helped the Illini build a 13-3 edge as three MSU shots and two serves sailed long. Trailing 16-6, MSU bagan to get back into the match, the Illini kept their foot on the gas. The Spartans twice fought off set point at 24-15, but seven hitting errors and four service errors in the frame, MSU had just too large a hole to overcome and fell 25-17. Holly Toliver and Alyssa Garvelink each had four kills. The Illini won the battle at the net with two blocks to MSU's zero, and also hit a scorching .423 in the frame (12-1-26).

SET TWO: The Spartans got a much better start to the second set, as the teams were tied at 8-8, and again at 13-13, but a 5-2 run turned that into an 18-15 edge for the home team on a kill by Naya Crittenden and a pair of Illini blocks. After a timeout, the Spartans came back with three straight points to knot the score at 18-all, and with the match tied at 19, MSU used a 5-2 run (fueled by a pair of kills by each Toliver and Chloe Reinig) to get to set point, 24-21. The home team twice fought off set point, but a kill by Toliver iced it for MSU, allowing the Spartans to tie the match, 1-1. Kranda, Toliver, and Reinig each had four kills in the frame, while Alyssa Fitterer had three along with a hand on each of MSU's two blocks.

SET THREE: Illinois took an immediate 5-1 lead on a pair of blocks and two kills, and MSU tried to get back into it, but Illinois maintained its four-point edge. The 10th block of the match, for the Illini followed by a service ace, gave the home team a 16-9 edge, its largest since the first set, and a 7-2 run for the Illini made it a 19-10 advantage, forcing the Spartans into a timeout. The Illini closed it out with a 25-15 win, recording 15 kills and hitting .433 int he frame compared to just nine kills and a match-low .138 hitting percentage for MSU. Fittrer was the top kill producer with three for MSU, while Toliver had a pair with two blocks.

SET FOUR: Illinois used a 8-1 run to turn a 10-8 deficit into a 17-13 lead in the fourth set, and built it to a 20-15 edge. MSU countered with a 4-1 run and trimmed it to two at 21-19, forcing the home team into a timeout. Out of the break, the Illini got back to back kills and then back to back blocks by Ali Bastianelli (polishing off her match total of nine) to seal the 3-1 victory for the home team.

TOP PERFORMERS

Holly Toliver had her third double-double of the season, posting 10 kills and a career-best 14 digs, as well as a career-best three assists.
Rachel Minarick recorded 40 assists, 10 digs, and a pair of kills., her eighth double-double of her sophomore season.
Alyssa Garvelink had nine kills, hitting a team-best .389 adding a pair of blocks.
Allyssah Fitterer had eight kills and a team-best three blocks on the night.
Chloe Reinig had 12 kills to lead the Spartans, hitting .222.
MSU had four players with four digs for the fourth time this season, led by Kristen Muir's 15. Abby Monson also had 12.

STATS AND STORYLINES

MSU is now 25-47 all-time against Illinois, and dropped its third straight in the series - all by 3-1 scores.
The Spartans are now 2-6 against ranked teams this season.
The Spartans were out-blocked by a 14-5 margin, its largest deficit this season. MSU is 4-3 when being out-blocked this season.
MSU had 59 digs in the set, their third-most in a Big Ten match in 2015. MSU had 63 vs. Nebraska and 60 against Maryland.
The Spartans take on Northwestern on tomorrow evening in a match that will air live on the Big Ten Network. Gametime is 7 pm ET.

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Team Stats

Chloe Reinig

Holly Toliver

Alyssa Garvelink

Allyssah Fitterer

Players Mentioned

Allyssah Fitterer

Alyssa Garvelink

Rachel Minarick

Abby Monson

Kristen Muir

Chloe Reinig

Holly Toliver