Virginia Tech Stuns Spartans, 3-1

Sept. 4, 2015

SPARTAN SYNOPSIS
No. 19 Michigan State fell to 3-2 on the season with a tough 3-1 loss to Virginia Tech (25-27, 21-25, 25-21, 21-25). The Hokies improve to 5-0 on the season with the win.

SET ONE: The teams batted through a nip-and-tuck opening set, with MSU chasing the Hokies' one- and two-point leads. VaTech's largest lead came at 20-17, but the Spartans put together three straight kills - two from Reinig, one from Fitterer - to knot the game at 20-20. MSU took its first lead at 23-22 on a Reinig kill, but the teams battled to the very end, with the Hokies eventually getting the opening-set victory on a Spartan error at 25-all, and an Amanda McKinzie kill to seal the 27-25 win. The Spartans hit just .158 in the frame with 10 errors, compared to .273 for their guests.

SET TWO: Another tight set where the teams fought point-for-point. Virginia Tech took its largest lead of the set at 17-14 and 18-15, but both teams were hitting just over .100 as MSU tried to fight their way back into it. The Hokies went on a 4-2 run to push out to a 21-17 advantage; leading 24-19, the Spartans got back into it, on a Hokie error and a Minarick dump into the back right corner, but a service error sealed Virginia Tech's second set win. MSU hit .143

SET THREE: MSU came out on fire and estabilshed a 13-5 lead, but allowed the Hokies to put together a 10-2 run to knot the score at 15-15, and pulled ahead on a Spartan error, 16-15. With the the Hokies holding a one-point lead at 18-17, MSU reeled off three straight points to regain the lead, forcing the visitors into a time out. With the balance of the match hanging in the balance for MSU and the teams tied at 21, MSU scored the next four points, including a kill by Fitterer and a set point on a block by Minarick and Garvelink, to push MSU into a fourth set. Kranda, Fitterer, and Reinig each had three kills in the frame, with Fitterer adding a pair of stuffs.

SET FOUR: The visitors opened up an early 8-3 lead, but MSU used a 5-0 run to tie the game at 8-8 featuring a pair of Garvelink blocks and a kill, followed by a Kristen Muir ace, and big swing by Reinig. The visitors countered with a 5-2 run to extend their lead back to three at 13-10. The point-for-point dance between the teams commenced again, as MSU trimmed the lead to a single point at 18-17. However, the visitors dug deep and pushed their lead back out to four at the final margin, taking the set 25-21 and the match 3-1.

TOP PERFORMERS

Garvelink led MSU with a season-best eight blocks, adding eight kills.
Chloe Reinig led MSU with 12 kills, adding a pair of blocks. Fitterer pushed her streak to five straight matches with double-digit kills to start the year, recording 11 and hitting a team-best .273.
Rachel Minarick finished with 30 assists, and also had seven digs and six kills.

STATS AND STORYLINES

The Spartans held a commanding 14-7 lead in blocks, but hit a season-low .130 for the match and committed 31 errors, the most for the Spartans in a contest this season. MSU's block total tied its season best - set in the season-opening loss to Kentucky in five sets.
After clawing their way back into the match with a gutty 25-21 win in set three, MSU hit .049 in the fourth set.
Fifteen service errors also plagued the Spartans, who did come up with four service aces by four different players.
MSU has lost eight sets this season, three by four points, one by three, and four by two.
MSU concludes the Auto-Owners Invitational Saturday at 7 p.m. vs. Miami. Virginia Tech and Butler face off at 2:30 p.m.

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Team Stats

Chloe Reinig

Allyssah Fitterer

Alyssa Garvelink

Rachel Minarick

Players Mentioned

Rachel Minarick

Kristen Muir

Chloe Reinig

Virginia Tech Stuns Spartans, 3-1

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Team Stats

Game Leaders

Chloe Reinig

Allyssah Fitterer

Alyssa Garvelink

Rachel Minarick

Players Mentioned

Rachel Minarick

Kristen Muir

Chloe Reinig

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