Spartans Strong in 3-1 Win Over Northwestern

Nov. 18, 2015

SPARTAN SYNOPSIS
Michigan State used a dominating fourth-set performance to seal a 3-1 (28-26, 20-25, 25-23, 25-9) victory over Northwestern on Wednesday at Jenison Field House. MSU is now 15-13 overall and 7-10 in the Big Ten, while Northwestern falls to 13-15, 5-12 in Conference play. MSU earned a split in the season series with the Wildcats, who took a 3-1 decision in Evanston on Halloween. More importantly, the Spartans snapped a seven-match losing streak with two road games and just one at home remaining in the Big Ten schedule.

Symone Abbott had a career-best 25 kills and hit .352 for the visitors, and was a handful for MSU to handle. However, the Spartans got double-digit kill efforts from Chloe Reinig (18) and Allyssah Fitterer (11) and a career-best nine blocks from Megan Tompkins to post the home victory.

SET ONE: The teams traded slim leads of no more than two points, as Northwestern got their points on 11 kills, while MSU had a lesser hitting percentage with just five terminations on 22 swings, but had four service aces and a pair of blocks as it built to its largest lead at 16-13. NU got one back after calling timeout to trim the lead back to two, but two Megan Tompkins kills and a Wildcat error gave MSU a five-point edge (19-15), forcing the visitors into a second timeout. MSU continued to push, and Holly Tolver followed Tompkins' lead with consecutive kills to give MSU its largest lead at 21-15; Northwestern stormed back with a 4-1 run to cut it back down to three points at 22-19, at which point the Spartans called their first timeout. The Wildcats responded immediately with a pair of big blocks and an ace to pull even at 22-all, then got a big kill from Abbott to pull back into the lead and push MSU into calling its second and final timeout. The teams traded points, with the Spartans three times fighting off set point before finally pulling ahead 27-26 on a big block by Toliver and Tompkins at the left pin. Washegesic served set point for MSU, and Tompkins came up with the big block again, this time at the left pin with Rachel Minarick to seal the first set victory. Tompkins had four kills and four blocks in the frame, while Fitterer had three kills and three digs. MSU hit just .167, while the Wildcats hit .234 - but MSU outblocked their guests by a 4-1 margin and had four service aces.

SET TWO: The Wildcats steamrolled out to a commanding 16-7 lead in the second set, as seven of those 16 points came on Abbott kills the Spartans getting just three kills on their first 22 swings. After MSU called its second timeout, the Spartans got three straight kills from Autumn Christenson, Chloe Reinig, and Fitterer to trim it to 16-10; MSU kept the pressure on, as Fitterer made it 20-14 on a cross-court termination, but the Wildcats tried to keep MSU at arm's length, as the teams traded big swings and clutch defensive plays. The visitors led 23-17 when Autumn Christenson got her third kill of the match and the Spartans got a big block on Abbott by Fitterer and Garvelink to cut it to four at 23-19. Abbott gave her team set point, but MSU continued to fight, getting a line-kissing termination by Fitterer, but Abbott sealed it for her team with a kill off the block to tie the match at 1-1, 25-20. Abbott finished with 11 of her team's kills, while MSU got four each from Reinig and Fitterer.

SET THREE: NU took a 2-0 lead out of the locker room, but Chloe Reinig fueled a 10-3 run with five kills and a block as MSU took the 10-5 lead. The Wildcats fought back within a point with a 6-2 run, and stayed within striking distance. The visitors tied it up at 16-16 and got an ace from Rafae Strobos, but she followed it up with a service error to leave the teams tied at 17-17. With both teams hitting just under 14 percent and a 19-19 tie, , and the teams continued to trade points - and leads. Down 22-21, Fitterer and Tompkins put back-to-back kills on the board to nudge ahead 23-22. After an NU timeout, Kayla Morin knotted the game at 23-all. However, Reinig asserted her will and terminated back-to-back sets for a 25-23 MSU win. Reinig had nine kills and a block in the frame, pushing her match total to 15

SET FOUR: Any tentative play or mistakes of previous matches looked like a distant memory as MSU had its foot on the gas from the opening serve, consistently and steadily building to a 20-7 lead. A 10-0 run aided the Spartan effort, as MSU hit a scorching .517 (16-1-29) and posted four blocks. MSU closed it out with a 25-9 win, with five kills by Toliver and four blocks from Tompkins leading the charge.

QUOTABLE
"We started off playing a little tentative, and we addressed that after the first two sets. We made some adjustments that worked, but we also played with more confidence and poise in the final two sets. Getting that third-set win was important for us, and hopefully this helps us get back on the right track and to play the way we know how to play. We have our next two on the road, and there's no doubt that our backs are still against the wall. We'll want this to carry over when we take on Rutgers on the road on Saturday. "

-- Head Coach Cathy George

TOP PERFORMERS

Chloe Reinig tied her season-high with 18 kills, hitting .a match-best 357. She added four blocks and three digs.
Allyssah Fitterer 13 kills and hit .304, and also posted seven digs and four blocks.
Megan Tompkins led all players with nine blocks, tying her career best set earlier this year vs. Delaware. She also recorded seven kills.
Both Alyssa Garvlink and Holly Toliver posted seven kills and four blocks. Toliver added six digs, wile Garvelink hit .263.
Rachel Minarick posted her 10th double-double of the season with 45 assists and 15 digs, and added two blocks and an ace.
Autumn Christenson tied her season high with six kills in just two sets of action.
Kristen Muir had her third-straight double-digit dig match the match with a team-best 22 digs, while sophomore Abby Monson had 10 to round out the trio with double-digit digs.

STATS AND STORYLINES

MSU is now 37-34 all-time against Northwestern, and split the season series. Northwestern took a 3-1 win over MSU in Evanston on Oct. 31.
MSU snapped a seven-match losing streak, which was ts longest since 1993.
The Spartans hit .262 on the night, their highest since posting a .425 team hitting percentage against Rutgers on Oct. 17.
Five of MSU's last 13 sets have gone to extra points. Tonight's match opened with a 28-26 MSU win in the first set.
MSU had its third straight match with double-digit blocks for the first time this season. MSU out-blocked the Wildcats 13-7.
The Spartans had 70 digs, its second time in the last three matches recording 70 or more and its third-highest total this season.
Allyssah Fitterer had double-digit kills in three straight matches for the first time since having five straight to start the season.
Chloe Reinig's 18 kills tied her season best, previously accomplished vs. Butler on Sept. 4.
The Spartans have their next two matches on the road, traveling to Rutgers Saturday before a match at No. 15 Purdue next Wednesday.

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Team Stats

Chloe Reinig

Allyssah Fitterer

Megan Tompkins

Alyssa Garvelink

Players Mentioned

Autumn Christenson

Allyssah Fitterer

Rachel Minarick

Abby Monson

Kristen Muir

Chloe Reinig

Holly Toliver

Megan Tompkins