No. 22 Spartans Take Down Wildcats in Four

Saturday, October 17

Evanston, Ill.

8 PM ET/7 PM CT

Michigan State University

15-3,5-3Big Ten

Northwestern

7-12,0-8Big Ten

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Michigan St.	25	21	25	25	3
Northwestern	16	25	21	19	1

Photo by: Ynhi Le

10/17/2026 10:31:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score MSU 3, Northwestern 1

EVANSTON, Ill. - No. 22 Michigan State volleyball took down Northwestern in four sets (25-16, 21-25, 25-21, 25-19) Saturday night inside Welsh-Ryan Arena.

MSU moves to 15-3 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten with the win, while Northwestern drops to 7-12 and 0-8.

The Spartans hit .313 for the match and held the Wildcats to .212 hitting while leasing in kills (59-48), service aces (10-4), digs (59-41) and total blocks (11-4).

MSU was led in kills by freshman outside hitter Madi Andrews, who posted a career-high 17 on .400 hitting while adding six digs, two service aces and a pair of block assists for a 20-point night. Senior outside hitter Alanna Bankston added 13 kills and senior middle blocker Zora Hardison posted nine on a .533 clip while adding five total blocks. Junior middle blocker Carmen Waye had seven kills and a team-high four six total blocks, while sophomore opposite Bianca Mumcular posted seven kills and nine digs.

Redshirt sophomore setter Malayah Long led MSU with 46 assists and posted a team-high three service aces. Senior libero Lia Schneider tallied a season-high 23 digs.

After Northwestern opened the set with a 4-2 lead, MSU fired off a 6-0 run with a trio of Northwestern errors, Ky Clayton service ace and Waye kill to take an 8-4 lead and force a Wildcat timeout. Northwestern scored back-to-back points out of the timeout to get within two at 8-6, but MSU responded with an Andrews kill and Waye service ace to extend its lead back to four at 10-6. Andrews followed with three kills and back-to-back service aces to take the teams to the media timeout at a 15-8 MSU advantage. The Wildcats got as close as four at 18-14 before MSU used a kill and service ace from Breccan Scheck and Andrews kill to force another Northwestern timeout at 21-14. The Wildcats stopped MSU's first set point at 24-15 after a block from Andrews and Hardison before an Andrews kill ended the set, 25-16.

Northwestern held as large of a lead as four in the second set before a Wildcat error, a Bankston kill and back-to-back Waye kills tied the set at 12-12. A service ace from Sarah Vellucci then gave MSU its first lead of the set at 13-12. An Andrews kill and Northwestern attack error helped the Spartans to a two-point lead at 15-13 at the media timeout. Northwestern scored three-straight points out of the timeout to take a 16-15 lead before a Hardison kill tied the set again at 16-16. MSU took a timeout after the Wildcats followed with a 5-2 run to take a three-point lead at 21-18. The Spartans used kills from Bankston, Mumcular and Waye for a 3-2 run to force Northwestern into a timeout of its own at a 23-21 Wildcat lead. Northwestern scored the final two points of the set to take the second, 25-21.

MSU took a timeout after the Wildcats jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the third set. The Spartans got within a pair at 12-10 after kills from Andrews and Long and a Northwestern service error, but the Wildcats responded with three-straight points to take a 15-10 lead at the media timeout. A Bankston kill and back-to-back service aces from Long helped MSU to a 3-0 run out of the timeout to get the Spartans within two at 15-13. After the Wildcats extended their lead back to three at 21-18, MSU fired off two-straight points with a Northwestern service error and Bankston kill to force a Northwestern timeout at 21-20. Back-to-back blocks from Waye and Long then gave MSU its first lead of the set at 22-21 to force a second Northwestern timeout. Kills from Waye and Bankston and a block from Waye and Bankston finished off MSU's run at 7-0 to end the set in comeback fashion, 25-21.

The Spartans took their first lead of the fourth set at 11-10 with a 3-0 run from Andrews and Hardison kills and a block from Hardison and Long. The Wildcats tied the set back up at 11-11 before a 4-1 MSU run with kills from Hardison and Andrews, a block from Hardison and Long and a Northwestern error gave the Spartans a 15-12 lead at the media timeout. The Wildcats responded with a kill out of the timeout to get back within three before a Northwestern service error and block from Karolina Staniszewska and Waye forced a Wildcat timeout at 17-13. The Wildcats took another timeout after back-to-back errors gave the Spartans a six-point lead at 21-15. Northwestern scored two points out of the timeout to cut MSU's lead to four before a service ace and kill from Mumcular extended the lead back to six at 23-17. Northwestern once again put up back-to-back points to cut the lead to four, but a Wildcat error and block from Staniszewska and Hardison helped MSU finish off the set and match, 25-19.

Up next, MSU travels to Rutgers on Friday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. on B1G+.