Michigan Wins Tight Battle in Ann Arbor, 3-1

GAME CAPSULE

Michigan State lost a dogfight at Michigan on Sunday afternoon, falling 3-1 in a four-set battle (22-25, 25-23, 22-25, 26-28). The match featured 31 tie scores and 13 lead changes throughout the afternoon. Michigan is 8-3, 1-1 B1G, while MSU falls to 7-4, 0-2 in Conference play.

No set was settled by more than three points as both teams had to show resiliency in both battling back or maintaining a lead. Michigan hit .255 on the afternoon (.176 for MSU) and held the blocking edge 10-7, while MSU recorded 13 service aces, including five from Biamba Kabengele to tie her career best. Kabengele also had eight kills, seven digs and a pair of blocks.

MSU got career bests from two other players - Sarah Franklin's 25 kills were bolstered by 14 digs and two aces, while Celia Cullen tied her career best with 50 assists. Cecilee Max Brown had a double-double with 13 kills, 10 digs, and three aces.

Paige Jones and Jess Mruzik each had 16 kills in the match and Jacque Boney led all players with eight blocks.

Michigan State is back on the road next weekend with matches at Iowa (Friday) and Nebraska (Sunday).

PLAYER HIGHS

Sarah Franklin had her a double-double of the year, posting a career-best 25 kills and 14 digs.
Cecilee Max-Brown delivered 13 kills and 10 digs for her third double-double, and she also contributed three aces.
Celia Cullen had 50 assists to tie her career best.

STATS AND STORYLINES

Celia Cullen tied/beat her previous career best of 50 assists
Max-Brown and Franklin each collected their third double-doubles of the season.
MSU finished with 13 service aces on the afternoon, a season best.
Naya Gros had seven blocks and added four kills.
Biamba Kabengele had five service aces for the second time in her career, matching the five she had against Maryland in February 2021.

SET SYNOPSIS

SET ONE: As one would expect in a rivalry match, the teams were tight early, with the Wolverines pulling ahead at 10-8 on a block at the left pin. MSU evened it up with back-to-back kills. Michigan had four early blocks leading to a .158 hitting percentage for MSU (7-4-19), and Michigan was hitting .188. The Spartans went from a two-point deficit to a 16-12 lead on a 6-1 run, which was fueled by three aces – one from Max-Brown and two others from Cullen. May Pertofsky returned the favor, as she served up back-to-back aces after a Paige Jones kill to bring the home team within a point, 17-16. MSU countered with a run to go up 20-17, but Michigan once again took the lead on a 5-1 stretch to take a 22-21 advantage. Two straight MSU errors got the home team to set point, but the Spartans fended it off with a kill from Franklin out of the back row.

SET TWO: MSU went up 4-2 on back to back Franklin terminations, and then used a 6-1 run to pull ahead 11-6 and force the home team into a time out. The Spartans picked up a pair of big blocks in that stretch, along with kills from Franklin and Max-Brown. MSU continued to build a lead, going up 17-9 on a Kabengele ace, MSU's ninth ace of the match. The Spartans won the race to 20 for the second straight set, and two kills from Max-Brown made it 21-10. The Wolverines climbed back into it with a 4-0 run which brought them within seven (23-16), and the Spartans called time out; it could not stop the UM momentum as the Spartans were forced to call another time out when Michigan pulled within three, and then MSU got to 24-23 before they committed a service error to allow the Spartans to escape, 25-23. Franklin had six kills to lead all players, while Max-Brown had four kills and four digs. Gros had a pair of stuffs.

SET THREE: The teams were tied at 5-5, 7-7, and 9-9 – each time with MSU pulling ahead by two and Michigan answering to tie things up. No more than two points separated the teams until MSU took a 18-14 lead on a 5-1 lead that featured two kills from Max-Brown and a Franklin ace. Michigan called time out to regroup, and was able to come back within a point at 18-17 with some help from a pair of Spartan errors. Michigan tied things up at 19-all, which triggered an MSU time out. Tied again at 21's and 22's, UM took a one-point lead each time and MSU answered until Jess Mruzik and Paige Jones went off the block on back-to-back attempts to give the Wolveirnes set point at 24-22. After an MSU time out, the Wolverines got a let serve ace from Pertofsky to seal a 2-1 match lead. The Spartans hit .250 in the frame compared to just .182 for Michigan. Franklin compiled five kills and six digs.

SET FOUR: The Spartans opened up a 10-7 lead in the fourth set on the strength of seven kills and an ace, but following the previous scripts, the teams were fighting point for point and were tied up at 18-18. MSU scored three of the next four points, thanks in part to two big Wolverine swings that sailed long and forced a UM time out. MSU went up 23-20 on a Franklin kill and Kabengele ace, but Michigan scored the next three to knot things up and the Spartans called time out. Poljan gave MSU the lead with a tip from the right pin, UM countered with a Jones kill, her 16^th. Michigan scored two of three of its points on big blocks to take a 27-26 advantage, and a Spartan in the net gave the fourth set to the Wolverines, 28-26. Franklin had nine kills in the final set for her game total of 25, as MSU hit .195 in the final frame with nine digs and a pair of blocks.

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Team Stats

Sarah Franklin

Cecilee Max-Brown

Biamba Kabengele

Rebecka Poljan

Players Mentioned

Celia Cullen

Sarah Franklin

Naya Gros

Biamba Kabengele

Cecilee Max-Brown