Spartans Fall in Five-Set Battle at Maryland

Saturday, October 5

College Park, Md.

7 pm

Michigan State University

11-3, 2-2B1G

Maryland

9-7, 1-3B1G

Michigan State

Maryland

Michigan State Athletics Announces Kristen Kelsay Contract Extension

Monday, December 29

Kulig Named CSC Academic All-District

Tuesday, December 16

Staniszewska Earns AVCA All-North Region Honors

Tuesday, December 09

Karolina Staniszewska Named Second Team All-Big Ten

Tuesday, December 02

Next Event

Nebraska

L, 1-3

Oct 11 (Fri)

8 pm CT/ 9 pm ET

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Team Stats

MSU

UMD

Kills

Errors

Attempts

165

156

Hitting %

.158

.192

Points

76.5

70.5

Assists

Aces

Blocks

12.5

13.5

10/5/2019 9:35:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

College Park, Maryland -- Michigan State dropped a heartbreaker on the road at Maryland on Saturday, falling 3-2 to the homestanding Terps. It was the first-ever win for Maryland over Michigan State in the all-time series (11-1), and avenged a five-set Spartan win on Maryland's home floor last season.

MSU is now 11-3, and falls to 2-2 in Big Ten play. Maryland is 9-7 and 1-3 in Conference action.

MSU fell behind early and couldn't find its rhythm, dropping the first set 22-25 after trailing by as many as five points. The Spartans started to find themselves late in the second set and seemed to hit their stride in the third with a commanding 25-14 set victory, but the home team climbed back into it in the fourth (25-19) and took the fifth (15-12) with some help from three service aces and two service errors for the Spartans on the other side of the net.

Naya Gros had 13 kills, hit .417, compiled a career-best six digs, and shared the team lead with six blocks for MSU, while Rebecka Poljan had eight kills and six blocks. Meredith Norris had 17 kills and 12 digs for a double-double, adding a pair of blocks.

Katie Myers led Maryland with 14 kills and hit .542, while Ericka Pritchard added 13 kills and 14 digs. Rainelle Jones led the match with eight blocks (one solo), as Maryland out-blocked MSU 13.5-12.5.

The Spartans wrap up a stretch of eight of nine matches on the road next weekend, starting Friday at Nebraska in a game that will air live on BTN.

PLAYER HIGHS

Meredith Norris had her second double-double of the season with 17 kills and 12 digs.
Naya Gros delivered 13 kills, six blocks and hit .417, adding a career-best six digs.
Lauren Swartz had a season high nine kills and a career- best six blocks.

STATS & STORYLINES

The Spartans had 77 digs in the match, a new season best. The previous season high of 71 digs came against Duke in the season opener.
MSU's 24 digs in the third set was the most in a set for the Spartans this season. MSU had 23 vs. Charleston in the second match of the season.
Maryland, which leads the Big Ten with 1.92 service aces per set, had six in tonight's match (three in the deciding fifth set) after the Spartans were a perfect on serve-receive a week ago when the teams met in East Lansing.
The Spartans were held to 18 points in a fourth set loss, just the second time this season that MSU failed to reach 20 in a 25-point set.
Elena Shklyar had a season-best 30 assists (27 vs. Duke) and added nine digs and three aces.
Biamba Kabengele came off the bench late in the fourth set and had four kills on nine swings (4-1-9), including three kills in the fifth set.

SET SYNOPSIS

SET ONE: The home team raced out to a 3-1 lead, but the Spartans countered with strong serving and pulled ahead 4-3, only to see the home team reel off four straight points to go up 7-4. The Terps held on to the three-point edge to 10-7, and extended it to four at 13-9, hitting .333 (7-1-18) and holding the Spartans to 5-5-17. MSU called time out to try to stem the momentum for the home team. Maryland pushed its lead out to five at 17-12, but MSU came back within three and trailed 20-17 before a 3-1 run – capped by a Shklyar ace – that brought MSU within a pair at 21-19. A Pritchard kill was followed by terminations from Gros and Chronowski to trim it to 22-21, but a tight call at the net went the way of the Terps to put them back up a pair. A block out of bounds got Maryland to set point at 24-21, and despite Gros fending it off once, the Terps took the first set by a 25-22 margin. The home team hit a blistering .441 (17-2-34), and MSU had to overcome that slow start and still managed to hit .226 (13-6-31). Gros had six kills on eight swings to lead the Spartans.

SET TWO: Maryland went up 6-4 on a pair of MSU errors that broke a four-all tie, but the Spartans countered with a 5-0 scoring run that featured three kills and a block. The Spartans got big at the net and used three blocks and a pair of aces from Elena Shklyar to build to a 16-12 lead, their largest of the night, and forced the home team into a time out. Maryland came out of the break and used a 3-0 run to cut MSU's lead in half on an ace by Samantha Snyder and a kill by Emma Schriner, but the Spartans got it back to four on a kill by Swartz and an ace by Jamye Cox (20-16). With a 22-18 lead, MSU's service error and a kill by Pritchard allowed the home team to pull within two, but with a 23-21 lead, Meredith Norris found the back right corner off a back row attack and then finished off the set with a kill at the left pin to even the match at 1-1. Norris had six kills, and Poljan had three kills and a pair of blocks. The Spartans had 19 digs in the set (six from Jamye Cox) and out-hit their hosts .184 (13-6-38) to .171 (11-5-31).

SET THREE: Michigan State looked to make a statement early in the frame. MSU carried over the momentum for the end of the second to take an 8-3 lead, putting down four kills and a block – one each from Gros and three terminations by Norris. The home team called an early time out to try to slow down the Spartans, but MSU was into its rhythm – diving digs, pop-ups, and strong team play allowed the visitors to pull ahead 12-4. The lead continued to grow, out to 10 points (17-7), with the fans treated to some highly entertaining rallies. MSU was hitting .308 (11-3-26) and held Maryland to four kills against four errors in that run, and maintained the 10-point edge to 21-11; with a 23-14 advantage, the Spartans closed out the set with back-to-back blocks – Poljan and Norris at the left pin, Poljan and Johnson at the right – to take a 2-1 match advantage. MSU got six kills, three digs, and a block from Norris in the frame, while Poljan and Gros each had two kills and two blocks. MSU held Maryland to a .-.024 hitting percentage (6-7-41), and had 24 digs in the frame compared to 14 for the home team.

SET FOUR: Determined to send it to five, Maryland opened up a 4-1 lead in the fourth set. MSU used a 3-0 run – including Shklyar's third ace of the night – to even it up. The home team went up three again at 9-6 on a pair of kills and two MSU errors, and led by as many as four before the Spartans used a 3-0 run to climb within point at 13-12. Maryland countered with a 3-0 run of its own to go back up four, and led 18-13 for its largest lead of the night behind four blocks and .300 hitting percentage. The Spartans climbed back within a pair at 19-17 after a block by Gros and Swartz, forcing the home team to call a time out. With the Spartans within two at 20-18, a Pritchard kill followed by consecutive MSU miscues allowed the Terps to go back up five, and the Spartans called their second time out. Maryland came back on the floor with a service error – their 15^th of the match – but MSU gave it back with another shot long to get the Terps to set point, which Pritchard finished off to send it to a fifth. Gros and Swartz each had three kills, and Gros added a pair of blocks. MSU hit -.048, thanks in part to 5.5 blocks for the home team.

SET FIVE: Both teams opened the frame a bit tight, putting attempts long and out of bounds in the opening points. Maryland took the first multiple-point lead at 7-5, despite MSU hitting 4-1-10 (.300) and the Terps 3-1-8 (.250). A kill by Pritchard gave the home team an 8-5 lead at the crossover, but the Spartans stormed back with a 4-0 run – two kills by freshman Biamba Kabengele and a block and a kill by Poljan gave MSU a 9-8 lead, forcing the home team to take a time out. Tied at 10's, the Spartans were whistled for a net violation, giving Maryland back the lead, and with the Terps up 12-10, MSU got a kill and a solo block by Lauren Swartz to tie things up. A Spartan service error – the second of the set - put the home team up 13-12, and a Meyers kill followed by an Allegra Rivas service ace sealed the win for the home team. MSU did hit .316 with nine kills in the frame, but the Terps had three aces to help their cause.

Michigan State Athletics Announces Kristen Kelsay Contract Extension

Monday, December 29

Kulig Named CSC Academic All-District

Tuesday, December 16

Staniszewska Earns AVCA All-North Region Honors

Tuesday, December 09

Karolina Staniszewska Named Second Team All-Big Ten

Tuesday, December 02

Next Event

Team Stats

Meredith Norris

Naya Gros

Lauren Swartz

Rebecka Poljan

Players Mentioned

Jamye Cox

Naya Gros

Biamba Kabengele

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Elena Shklyar

Lauren Swartz