Michigan State University
0-1
Kentucky
1-0
Spartans Fall to No. 15 Kentucky, 3-2
8/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
SPARTAN SYNOPSIS Michigan State opened its 2015 season with a five-set loss (27-29, 25-15, 22-25, 25-23, 12-15) to No. 15 Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington.
The Wildcats took the opening set 29-27, despite 12 attacking errors by the home team. MSU, which hit .100 in the opening set, hit .308 in the second frame, as Alyssa Garvelink and Chloe Reinig each had three kills and a pair of blocks. The teams battled through the third set, and with the match tied at 21-all, the home team scored four of the next five points to take a 2-1 match advantage. MSU opened up a four-point lead early in the fourth set, and never relinquished the lead, managing an advantage between two and three points until the Wildcats pulled within 24-23; Brooke Kranda forced the fifth set with a big kill from the left side. MSU had six errors in the fifth set, falling behind by as many as five points before making a late charge, falling 15-13 in the final frame to drop the match, 3-2.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Junior Allyssah Fitterer had 15 kills and five blocks, hitting .a match-best .462. Sophomore middle Alyssa Garvelink contributed a game-high seven blocks and nine kills.
- Junior transfer Autumn Bailey opened her Spartan career with a double-double, posting 11 kills and 12 digs. She also added two blocks.
- Sophomore setter Rachel Minarick also posted a double-double, with 48 assists, 12 digs, and three blocks.
- Redshirt sophomore Brooke Kranda got her first career start and posted 11 kills, and also added five blocks.
KEY STRETCH
Kentucky took a five-point lead (11-6) in the fifth set, but the Spartans fought back to trim the deficit to 12-10. After a UK time out, the Wildcats outscored MSU 3-2, closing out the match on a pair of kills by Kaz Brown. The Spartans hit a match low .032 in the final set, while Kentucky hit their match-high .280 (8-1-25).
QUOTABLE
"There were some good things we saw, and obviously things that we've identified that we need to continue to work on. We're encouraged by the emergence of some of our players for sure. I'm not sure any coach will ever be happy and feel like their team is in the place they'd like to be on opening night, but we're going to continue work on battling through adversity and paying attention to the small details. Tomorrow is a big day, as we'll play twice and will want to see some improvements in some areas. "
-- Head Coach Cathy George.
STATS AND STORYLINES
- Michigan State is No. 19 in the AVCA pre-season poll, and Kentucky is No. 15.
- The Spartans are now 5-2 against the Wildcats all-time; the teams last met in the 2013 NCAA second round, a 3-1 MSU victory that sent the team into the Sweet 16.
- Kentucky committed 12 errors in the opening set, and had 34 in the match overall . MSU had 30, but six of those came in the deciding fifth set.
- MSU out-blocked their hosts by a slim margin (14.0-13.5)
- With 15 kills tonight, Allyssah Fitterer had her third double-digit kill game in Memorial Coliseum in her career. She had 15 vs. Kentucky and 18 vs. Penn State in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
- Rachel Minarick, who led the Spartans with six double-doubles in 2014, had her seventh tonight with 48 assists and 12 digs She also added three blocks and three kills.
- Kristen Muir had a career-best 26 digs, bettering the 17 she had last September at Oregon State.
- In her first official game as a Spartan, junior transfer Autumn Bailey had 11 kills and 12 digs.
- Brooke Kranda had a career high in all statistical categories before the intermission. The redshirt sophomore saw limited game action in 2014, earned her first career start, and had posted five kills and a block, hitting .400 over the first two sets.
- Four Spartans finished with double-digit digs. In addition to Muir, Bailey, and Minarick, sophomore Abby Monson recorded 10.
- MSU plays twice on Saturday. The Spartans take on Little Rock at 12:30 pm; the Trojans are receiving votes in the AVCA preseason poll and were 30-5 a year ago. At 5:30, the Spartans tangle with IUPUI, a 20-game winner in 2014.
