No. 4 Huskers Tame Spartans, 3-1

Wednesday, October 7

Lincoln, Neb.

8:00 PM

Michigan State University

10-6, 2-3Big Ten

Nebraska

13-2, 4-1Big Ten

Michigan State

Nebraska

10/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball

Box Score

Oct. 7, 2015

Final Stats

SPARTAN SYNOPSIS
A strong start against No. 4 Nebraska could not hold up for Michigan State, as the Spartans fell in Lincoln, 3-1 (25-23, 15-25, 26-28, 15-25). Both Rachel Minarick and Holly Toliver posted double-doubles, but some serving woes and hitting just .132 for the match wouldn't allow the visitors to keep pace with the Huskers. MSU is now 10-6, 2-3 in Big Ten play, while Nebraska is 13-2, 4-1 in Conference action.

SET ONE: MSU jumped out to a hot start, getting off to a 6-1 lead and forcing the home team into a timeout. The Husker ran off three straight kills out of the break to trim MSU's lead to two (6-4). Nebraska tied it up on a Spartan error at 11-11, having used a 4-1 edge in blocks to that point to even up the score. MSU refocused in the timeout, and stormed back with three straight points to go up 14-11. The Huskers kept trying to even it up oncce again, but called another timeout with MSU holding a 20-17 advantage after a long shot by Foecke. After MSU got to set point at 24-20, the Huskers three times fought off set point before a Husker error gave MSU the opening-set victory.

SET TWO: Nebraska maintained a 4-5 point lead through the early part of the match, and moved ahead 16-11 for its largest lead after MSU called its second timeout. The Huskers got three big blocks to help build their lead, and the Spartans hit just .136 through that timeout. Aided by a couple of tape-kissing service aces, the Huskers went ahead 18-12. Nebraska's midas touch continued, using a 9-1 overall run to get a 10-point edge at 22-12. The Spartans turned a corner with a 3-0 run, but could not overcome the significant lead - a Spartan shot sailed long for set point, and then Nebraska's ninth block of the match tied it up at 1-1.

SET THREE: A 4-0 Husker run turned a 7-6 deficit for the home team into a three-point lead, and the Spartans stayed within striking distance, trailing by two (15-13) at the TV time out. With Nebraska leading 19-17, a pair of Spartan miscues and a kill by Kelsey Fein gave the home team a five-point edge, and MSU called a time out; MSU came out with kills by Minarick and Kranda to trim it to three, 22-19, and NU called its first time out of the frame. Kadie Rolfzen put down a powerful swing to bring the Huskers within two points of a 2-1 lead, but MSU kept fighting back into it, with a kill by Kranda getting the sideout, and an ace by Minarick pulling MSU within 23-21. On Kadie Rolfzen's next swing, the official called a touch, which would have given the home team set point; however, after the challenge, the call was overturned to bring MSU within a point. The next Husker swing went into the net, tying the frame at 23-all. A Kadie Rolfzen kill gave the home team set point, but the next attempt by Nebraska sailed long to knot it at 24-24. Reinig got the next Spartan kill to knot it at 26-26, but a roll off the tape gave the Huskers set point, and they sealed it 28-26 on a Fein kill.

SET FOUR: Tied at 5-5 after a Kranda ace, the Huskers rolled off four straight points on a pair of kills, a block, and an ace by Alicia Ostrander. Kills on four of the next six points trimmed it to an 11-9 deficit, but a 8-3 run allowed Nebraska to pull away, 18-12. Nebraska scored seven of the final ten points of the match to close out the Spartans.

QUOTABLE:
"We knew that we had our challenges with their lineup, and they were just more consistent tonight. We won't use injuries as an excuse. Its a matter of getting re-focused to bring a strong performance to Iowa and try to close out this week on a better note ."

- Head Coach Cathy George

TOP PERFORMERS

Holly Toliver had her first career double-double, as she contributed 10 kills , a career-best 11 digs, two assists and a block.
Rachel Minarick had 40 assists, and added 11 digs and four kills, running the 5-1 in the absence of senior captain Halle Peterson.
Allyssah Fitterer and Alyssa Garvelink each had four blocks to lead the Spartan effort at the net, and both had five kills as well.
Chloe Reinig had 12 kills and three blocks, sharing the match high in kills with Kranda.
Abby Monson had double-digit digs for the 11th straight match, posting 15. Kristen Muir had 13, her most since Sept. 5 vs. Miami.

STATS AND STORYLINES

MSU was out-blocked by a 13.0-8.5 margin in the match.
Minarick's double-double was her fifth of the season, and first since her triple-double at North Carolina in the final pre-B1G weekend.
The 63 digs by the Spartans was the most for MSU in a Big Ten match, and fourth-most in a match this season. MSU had four individual double-digit dig performances.
MSU committed a Big Ten season-high 13 service errors. MSU's season high is 15, against Virginia Tech.
MSU is now 10-3 when taking a first-set victory this season. All three losses are in Big Ten matches to No. 20 Purdue, No. 23 Michigan, and No. 4 Nebraska
The Spartans complete a three-game road swing at Iowa on Saturday.