Spartans Tame Broncos for Sixth-Straight Win

Tuesday, September 8

East Lansing, Mich.

6 PM

Michigan State University

6-0,0-0Big Ten

Western Michigan

6-1,0-0MAC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Western Mich.	18	19	14	0
Michigan St.	25	25	25	3

Photo by: Ynhi Le

9/8/2026 8:40:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score MSU 3, WMU 0

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State volleyball earned its fifth-straight sweep and sixth-consecutive victory with a 3-0 win (25-18, 25-19, 25-14) win over Western Michigan Tuesday night inside the Breslin Center.

MSU moves to 6-0 (0-0) with the win, while Western Michigan, suffering its first loss of the season, drops to 6-1 (0-0). The Spartans have won 17-straight sets, their highest total since winning 23-straight sets during the 2018 season.

The Spartans hit .345 and held the Broncos to .138 hitting while leading in kills (40-31), digs (31-24), service aces (4-3) and total blocks (7-3).

Senior outside hitter Alanna Bankston put up her third-straight and fourth overall double-digit kill match of the season with a team-best 10 on a .304 clip. She also recorded five digs and matched a career-high three total blocks. Senior middle blocker Zora Hardison hit .750 with a season-high-tying nine kills on 12 swings without an error, while senior outside hitter Karolina Staniszewska added eight kills, junior opposite Hayley Ogden had six and junior middle blocker Carmen Waye posted five. Waye also led MSU with four total blocks and posted a team-high two service aces.

Redshirt sophomore setter Malayah Long led MSU in assists with 34 and added one service ace. Senior libero Lia Schneider tallied a team and season-high 14 digs.

MSU used a 5-1 run with kills from Waye and Ogden, a block from Waye and Bankston and two WMU errors to take an early 5-2 lead. Back-to-back Bankston kills and a Staniszewska kill followed by a Staniszewska service ace helped MSU to a 4-0 run and 12-6 advantage. The Broncos stopped the run with a kill, but the Spartans used a kill from Hardison and pair of Bronco errors to take a 15-7 lead at the media timeout. After MSU opened up a nine-point lead, its largest of the set, at 17-8, the Broncos fired off a 5-2 run to get within five at 19-13, but a Staniszewska kill and WMU error to follow extended MSU's lead back to eight at 21-13. After a WMU error, Bankston's fourth kill of the match ended the set, 25-18.

After a 3-0 start for the Spartans in the second set, the Broncos used runs to tie the set at 3-3 and against 5-5. Neither team was able to take more than a two-point lead until kills from Hardison and Bankston gave the Spartans an 11-8 advantage. Another Hardison kill and a WMU attack error then extended MSU's lead to four at 13-9. Three-straight WMU points cut the Spartan advantage to one at 13-12 before kills from Bankston and Waye took the teams to the media timeout at a 15-12 MSU lead. The Spartans extended their run out of the media timeout, using a service ace from Long, kill from Waye and a block and kill from Bankston with a WMU error to force a WMU timeout at 20-12. The Broncos fought off two MSU set points at 24-17 and 24-18 after a Hardison kill, but another kill from Hardison helped MSU to a 2-0 lead in the match, 25-19.

The Spartans took a 7-5 lead in the third set after a back-and-forth start with kills from Long, Hardison and Bankston. MSU used a 3-0 run with a pair of Staniszewska kills and a block from Ogden and Hardison to take a 15-10 lead at the media timeout and extended its run to a 6-0 run with a Waye service ace and two Bronco errors to make it 18-10. WMU responded with back-to-back points to cut the MSU lead to 18-12 before a 6-2 MSU featuring a Hardison kill and block from Madi Andrews and Hardison got the Spartans to match point at 24-14. A kill from Andrews ended the set and match, 25-14.

Up next, MSU travels to Morehead, Kentucky, to take on Cincinnati (Sept. 11, 4 p.m.) and Morehead State (Sept. 12, 2 p.m.) in the Morehead State Invitational. Both matches will stream on ESPN+.