Spartans Outlast No. 14 Purdue, 3-2

Nov. 25, 2015

SPARTAN SYNOPSIS
MSU rallied from a 10-12 deficit in the fifth set to post a 3-2 road victory over No. 14 Purdue (25-21, 22-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-13) on Wednesday night in West Lafayette, Ind. Holly Toliver had a career-best 18 kills and hit .400 with four service aces, while Allyssah Fitterer had 16 kills (.324) and Chloe Reinig rounded out the trio in double figures with 15 terminations and a .290 hitting percentage.

MSU hit .282 as a team and out-blocked the Boilermakers 12-7, overcoming a season-high 16 service errors with a season-best 12 service aces. Purdue hit .257 in the match, which included a .391 performance in the fifth set - but MSU hit .360 in the final frame and got a pair of service aces to help it close out a third straight victory. MSU is now 17-13 on the year, and 9-10 in the Big Ten with one match remaining; the 14th ranked Boilers fall to 23-8, 13-6 B1G.

SET ONE: MSU started quickly, running out to a 7-3 lead, but the home team battled back to tie it and the teams engaged in a point-for-point battle, as the home team would go up by no more than two points and the Spartans would battle back to knot it. Tied at 16, Abby Monson produced an ace to give MSU the lead for the first time since 7-6, and then a Purdue error gave MSU a two-point edge at 18-16. This time, the Boilermakers battled back from the two-point deficit. to make it 18-18 - setting up a reeled off three straight kills - from Rachel Minarick, Alyssa Garvelink, and Holly Toliver - to give the Spartans a 21-18 lead, which forced Purdue to use its second and final timeout. Toliver matched MSU's largest lead (22-18) out of the break, but the home team battled back with two straight to cut the lead to two . MSU finished off the set with a pair of blocks, taking the first set and a 1-0 lead over their hosts. The Spartans hit .435 with 14 kills and had four blocks in the frame, winning the set 25-21.

SET TWO: A 5-0 run for the home team turned a one-point deficit into a 7-3 lead for the Boilermakers, a run stopped by consecutive kills by Fitterer and Reinig followed by a solo block by Reinig and a stuff by Megan Tompkins and Rachel Minarick tied it at 7. The teams began a point-for-point dance that brought the squads through six tie scores and no lead larger than two points for either team until the Spartans called timeout, trailing 19-18. The Boilers came out of the break with four straight points, which made it a 6-0 run for the home team and a 23-18 lead. Minarick and Garvelink put up a big block to stop the Purdue run, but a Sam Epensa kill got the home team to set point at 24-20. A Purdue service error, a block by Reinig and Garvelink, and another ace by Monson fought off set point three times, but a hitting error handed the Boilermakers a 25-22 win in the second set.

SET THREE: The Boilers came out of the locker room and got off to a hot 7-2 start, which forced Cathy George to call a quick timeout. The Spartans went on a 8-4 run that brought them within a point, getting three kills from Holly Toliver in that run, at which point the home team called a timeout. Out of that break, the Boilers ripped off three straight points - on a block and pair of kills - to push their lead back to four, at 14-10. Toliver halted the run with a kill, then a Purdue error and pair of Toliver aces knotted it at 14-14. Tied at 18-18, the Spartans commited another service error - their 11th of the match - and the home team pulled ahead 20-18 on a kill by Annie Drews, at which point MSU called its second and final timeout. MSU rallied to tie it at 21-21 on a pair of kills and an ace, then outscored its hosts 4-2 - including a Toliver ace, her third of the set - to clinch it, 25-23. MSU hit .424 in the third set with six aces - which erased five service errors.

SET FOUR: MSU took a 5-2 lead, but a 6-0 Purdue run (fueled by two MSU errors and two Purdue aces) allowed the home team to pull ahead 8-5. The home team built to its largest lead of the night at 13-7, but MSU came roaring back on a 4-0 run with two kills from Toliver and one from Tompkins. A pair of Fitterer/Garvelink blocks brought MSU within a point at 16-15, and back-to-back kills by Garvelink and Reinig tied the set at 17-17, capping a comeback from six points down in the early point of the match. A lengthy stoppage for an official timeout gave both teams a breather, and the teams once again traded points before the Boilers put up back-to-back kills to take a 20-18 lead. Purdue maintained a two-point lead until Annie Drews' kill made it 23-20, and MSU called a timeout. An attack error by MSU and a block by Adelaja and Drews gave the Boilers a 25-20 win in set four. MSU outblocked their hosts 4-1 in the frame, but hit just .125.

SET FIVE: Tied 2-2, Toliver served up her fouth ace of the night for a brief 3-2 lead, and another ace by Muir gave the Spartans a 5-3 edge. Purdue tied it with back-to-back kills, and tied 6-6, back to back kills by Minarick and Toliver gave the Spartans an 8-6 edge at the crossover. Purdue struck first after the switch, and tied it 8-8 with kills by Stahl and Drews, and pulled ahead on an MSU error and another Drews termination, and the 4-0 rally forced MSU to take a timeout. Down 9-11, Toliver pulled MSU within a point, but Drews countered; Fitterer pulled MSU back within a point, but a service error betrayed MSU's effort as they fell back by two again, 13-11. Fitterer and Reinig powered MSU back into a 13-13 tie, and a critical error by Drews gave the Spartans match point. After a Purdue timeout, Minarick fed Fitterer at the pin, and she knocked it down for the five-set victory.

QUOTABLE
"We certainly don't make it easy, but I am proud of how we handled tonight's pressure. It was a match that we absolutely needed to win if we wanted to keep our NCAA hopes alive, and we had players step up as we needed them to. We'll take some time to enjoy our families and friends with the holiday tomorrow, and get back to work for our match against Iowa on Saturday. It's a chance to close the regular season on a winning streak, to thank our fans in our final home game, and honor our seniors. I hope we have a great crowd at Jenison to close out the Big Ten season in a great way."

-- Head Coach Cathy George

TOP PERFORMERS

Holly Toliver had a career-best 18 kills, hitting .400 and adding four service aces and four digs.
Allyssah Fitterer hit .324 with 16 kills, adding five digs and four blocks.
Chloe Reinig had 15 kills on 31 swings (.290) along with three digs and four blocks.
Alyssa Garvlink posted six kills added a match-high seven blocks.
Rachel Minarick tied her season high with 48 assists, and added six digs, three blocks, and five kills, hitting .333
Megan Tompkins added four blocks and added four kills.
Kristem Muir had 15 digs, while Abby Monson contributed nnine.

STATS AND STORYLINES

MSU is now 30-51 all-time vs. Purdue, and has split the season series in each of the last two years. MSU defeated Purdue in East Lansing last season in the final night of the 2014 Big Ten campaign, 3-1.
MSU had 16 service errors on the night, a season high - but made up for it with 12 service aces, which is also the most in any match this season for the Spartans.
The win made MSU's record in five-set matches 2-3 this season, and 3-6 against top-25 teams. The victory was also MSU's third straight.
The Spartans hit a scorching .435 in the opening set, recording 14 kills and four blocks while limiting its hosts to .207. The Spartans also hit .424 in the third frame (17-3-33), and hit .360 in the final set - the only set that MSU won when out-hit by Purdue.
With a .282 hitting percentage, the Spartans have now hit .250 or better in each of their last four matches. MSU has also had double-digit blocks in four of the last five contests.
Holly Toliver's 18 kills was a career best, the second time this season she established a career mark against Purdue. She had 16 kills in the first meeting of the teams, which was her career best until posting 17 terminations at Indiana on Nov. 14.
Toliver had eight kills, three aces, and three digs in the third set alone, helping MSU rally for a 25-23 win in the frame.
Chloe Reinig had double-digit kills (15), her fifth straight match with double-figure terminations, her season high. She has had double-digit kills in nine of the last 10 matches.
Minarick, the reigning Big Ten Setter of the Week, had a season-best 48 assists. set in the season-opener at Kentucky.
Allyssah Fitterer has stretched her streak of double-digit kills to five straight matches , matching her season best. She had five straight double-digit kill matches to start the season.
The Spartans host Iowa on Saturday at 8 pm in the regular-season finale. MSU's three seniors - Maggie Halloran, Kristen Muir, and Halle Peterson - will be honored in a post-match ceremony.

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Players Mentioned

Allyssah Fitterer

Alyssa Garvelink

Maggie Halloran

Rachel Minarick

Abby Monson

Kristen Muir

Halle Peterson

Chloe Reinig

Holly Toliver

Megan Tompkins

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