Spartans Finish Opening Weekend with Sweep of LIU

Saturday, August 29

East Lansing, Mich.

3 PM

Michigan State University

2-0,0-0Big Ten

LIU

0-2,0-0NEC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
LIU	13	14	12	0
Michigan St.	25	25	25	3

Photo by: Ynhi Le

8/29/2026 6:15:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score MSU 3, LIU 0

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State volleyball finished off a 2-0 weekend to start the 2026 season with a sweep over LIU Saturday afternoon inside the Breslin Center.

The Spartans improve to 2-0 (0-0 B1G) on the season, while LIU falls to 0-2 (0-0 NEC).

MSU hit .400 in the match, its best hitting clip since hitting .400 against Iowa on Nov. 4, 2023, and held the Sharks to -.014 hitting while leading LIU in kills (31-to-21), digs (20-to-19), total blocks (11-to-2) and service aces (13-to-3). MSU's 13 service aces tied for the fifth-most in a three-set match in program history.

Junior opposite Hayley Ogden continued her hot start to the 2026 season with a team-best .727 hitting performance, tallying eight kills on 11 swings without an error. Her .727 clip tied Emma Monks' record for the highest single-match hitting percentage by a Spartan inside the Breslin Center. She also led MSU with six total blocks and recorded a pair of service aces.

Senior outside hitter Karolina Staniszewska added six kills, while freshman outside hitter Madi Andrews tallied five and sophomore outside hitter Bianca Mumcular recorded four in her season debut. Senior libero Lia Schneider posted a team-leading five digs.

Redshirt sophomore setter Malayah Long led MSU in assists with 16, playing in 1.5 sets before redshirt freshman Kalea Norton took over setting duties for the remainer of the match. Norton provided 10 assists in her career debut and posted a team-best three service aces.

Eight different Spartans recorded at least one service ace Saturday – Norton (3), Schneider (2), Mumcular (2), Ogden (2) each had multiple service aces, while Staniszewska, Long and junior middle blockers Breccan Scheck and Carmen Waye each added one. Scheck also added five blocks.

After a 3-3 start to the first set, MSU used back-to-back Ogden aces, a Zora Hardison kill and Staniszewska kill to take a 7-3 lead. LIU cut the lead to three at 8-5, but a 4-0 MSU run finished off by an ace from Schneider forced a Shark timeout at 12-5. Schneider extended the MSU run to 5-0 with a second ace out of the timeout before an LIU attacking error and block from Waye and Ogden gave the Spartans a 15-7 lead at the media timeout. A kill and ace from Waye followed by two Shark attack errors then forced another LIU timeout at a 22-10 MSU lead. A pair of MSU errors cut the Spartan lead to 10 at 23-13, but an LIU service error and Mumcular kill helped the Spartans take the first set, 25-13.

The Sharks called a timeout after MSU opened up an 8-3 lead in the second set. The Spartans continued to dominate through the media timeout, taking an eight-point, 15-7 lead with kills from Staniszewska, Scheck, Mumcular and a Long service ace. MSU fired off three-straight points out of the media break with a Hardison and Ogden block and back-to-back Ogden kills and forced another LIU timeout after a third Ogden kill and Shark attack error at 20-8. LIU used a 3-0 run to cut the MSU lead to nine at 23-14, but a Shark attack error got the Spartans to set point before a Kalea Norton service ace ended the second set, 25-14. MSU hit at an impressive .476 clip in the second set, recording 11 kills on 21 swings with just one error.

MSU forced an LIU timeout after a 6-0 start in the third set and extended its lead to 8-0 with a Scheck and Mumcular block and Mumcular kill out of the timeout. The Spartans extended their lead to 14 points with a 15-1 lead at the media timeout, using a 7-0 run capped off by a Mumcular ace. The teams traded points back-and-forth throughout the following points until a four-point LIU swing cut the MSU lead to 22-10. A kill from Scheck got MSU to match point at 24-11 before a kill from Andrews ended the set and match, 25-11.

Up next, MSU travels to Ann Arbor to take on LSU (Sept. 1, 4:30 p.m.) and South Carolina (Sept. 2, 4 p.m.) in the inaugural Big Ten/SEC Challenge Week inside Michigan's Crisler Center. MSU's match against the Tigers will air nationally on Big Ten Network, while its match against South Carolina will stream on B1G+.