Saturday, September 19
Durham, NC
6:30 PM
Michigan State University
8-3
3
at
0
Duke
5-5
1
2
3
F
Michigan State
25
25
25
3
Duke
17
22
15
0
MSU Sweeps Duke to Complete Pre-B1G Schedule
9/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 19, 2015 
SPARTAN SYNOPSIS
Michigan State completed its non-conference portion of the schedule with a 3-0 sweep (25-17, 25-22, 25-15) of Duke in Durham, NC on Saturday. The Spartans won their fifth straight match behind a game-best 14 kills from Brooke Kranda, while Holly Toliver had a season-best 12 kils (hitting .425) and sophomore libero Abby Monson finished with a career-best 22 digs and two service aces.
- SET ONE: As they did on Friday at North Carolina, the Spartans jumped out early (7-2), and were hitting .667 (8-0-12) when the Blue Devils called their first time out, trailing by six (11-5). MSU pushed its lead out to nine (21-12), continuning its sharp hitting, committing just one error on 24 swings against 15 kills. A 3-1 run for the Blue Devils brought them back within seven at 22-15, and at 24-15, the home team twice fought off match point before Megan Tompkins sealed it for MSU. Brooke Kranda and Holly Toliver each had four first-set kills, while three players each contributed three as MSU hit .425 in the frame (19-2-40). Abby Monson had 10 digs in the frame.
- SET TWO: The Blue Devils had a hard time stopping Kranda early in the second set, as she had each of MSU's first four kills as the Spartans jumped ahead 8-4. MSU kept its hot hitting going with six kills (.400) without an error, and got back-to-back blocks by Garvelink that pushed the visitor's lead to 13-7, forcing Duke into a timeout. The Blue Devils whittled down MSU's lead to two points (19-17) on a 7-3 run, but MSU came back on a kill and an ace by Toliver, pushing it back to a four-point advantage. The home team kept cutting into the lead, but could not overcome the Spartan front line and MSU sealed the second set 25-22 with a big kill by Allyssah Fitterer, her sixth of the night.
- SET THREE: The third set was tighter than the first two, as MSU's largest lead was three points until 17-14, and then the Spartans began to pull away, closing out the set on a 7-1 run to secure the sweep. Toliver had five kills and an ace in the final frame to secure her seaason-best 12 kills, and added an ace, while Monson had four digs and a pair of service aces, including one on match point.
- QUOTABLE:
"This was the goal - to have two strong performances this weekend and to prepare ourselves for the upcoming Big Ten schedule. Coming into strong environments and playing teams that will push us is what was going to make us better. I'm very proud of how far we've come and the obstacles we've overcome so far - and how our players pushed themselves to be ready for Big Ten play. We'll make the most of our four practices left to prepare for Indiana and Purdue."
- Head Coach Cathy George
TOP PERFORMERS
- Brooke Kranda led all scorers with 14 kills, and added two blocks and three digs .
- Rachel Minarick had 26 assists, and also added a match-high four blocks (one solo), four digs, and three kills.
- Holly Toliver had her season-high in kills (12) and hit her career-best .435 (12-2-23), while adding two digs and a pair of service aces.
- Abby Monson had 10 digs in the first set alone and finished the match with 22, her career best and one shy of a top-five performance in a three-set match.
STATS AND STORYLINES
- MSU has won five straight matches, its longest non-conference winning streak since nine consecutive wins by the 2013 team.
- The Spartans finish non-conference play with an 8-3 overall record, improving on the 7-4 mark from 2014.
- MSU entered the weekend receiving votes in the AVCA poll after entering the season at No. 19. North Carolina (No. 7) and Duke (No. 25) were also in the pre-season top-25, and also entered this weekend among teams also receiving votes. .
- Abby Monson established a new career-best with 22 digs, the third straight game she had a new career high. She had 16 digs vs. Delaware on Sept. 12, and 19 vs. North Carolina on Friday night.
- MSU out-blocked Duke by an 8-4 margin.
- The Spartans are a perfect 8-0 when winning the first set this season.
- MSU begins non-conference play next Friday when it hosts Indiana at Jenison Field House. The game serves as the backdrop for MSU volleyball's alumni weekend, and the 1995 Final Four team will be honored.
Team Stats
MSU
DU
Kills
49
42
Errors
9
20
Attempts
110
120
Hitting %
.364
.183
Points
61.0
46.0
Assists
47
41
Aces
4
0
Blocks
8.0
4.0
Game Leaders
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
12
Aces
2
Blocks
0
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
MB
/ VolleyballMB/OPP
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
MB
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