Michigan State Defeats In-State Rival Michigan In Four

Match Stats

• No. 15 Michigan State def. No. 17 Michigan 3-1, (25-23, 28-30, 25-23, 25-22)
• Michigan State improves to 23-5, 12-4 B1G, Michigan falls to 21-7, 10-6 B1G
• Hosted by Michigan State

In front of a sell-out crowd, Michigan State took out in-state rival Michigan in four sets, to win their sixth straight match.

Autumn Bailey produced a double-double with 19 kills and 20 digs, each her seasons best. Alyssa Garvelink added nine kills and a match-high eight blocks.

For the Wolverines Abby Cole put down 16 kills, while Claire Kieffer-Wright added 12 kills and seven blocks.

Press Release

Courtesy of Michigan State Athletics

SPARTAN SYNOPSIS
No. 15 Michigan State treated a sellout crowd to a 3-1 defeat of No. 17 Michigan (25-23, 28-30, 25-23, 25-22) on Saturday night at Jenison Field House. Junior Autumn Bailey led the Spartans with 19 kills and 20 digs – both her season bests – while Alyssa Garvelink posted nine kills and a match-high eight blocks.

MSU wins its sixth straight match, and improves to 23-5 overall and 12-4 in the Big Ten, and sits alone in fourth place in the Big Ten standings with four matches left to play. Michigan is now 21-7 and 10-6 in Conference action. Abby Cole led the Wolverines with 16 kills, while Claire Kieffer-Wright had 12 kills and led her team with seven blocks.

All four sets were tight, with only the fourth set settled by more than two points. The match featured 32 tie scores and 13 lead changes overall. Michigan State had a volleyball record-attendance crowd of 6,838 fans, believed to be the largest non-basketball crowd in Jenison Field House history

MSU’s four seniors – Kristen Brashear, Autumn Christenson, Allyssah Fitterer and Chloe Reinig – were honored at the conclusion of the contest for their Spartan careers. This was the final regular-season match at Jenison Field House.

The Spartans have a four-match road swing to close out Big Ten play and the regular season. The first challenge for the Spartans will be No. 3 Minnesota on Friday night at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis.

• SET ONE: Michigan jumped out to a 4-0 lead out of the gate, but MSU settled in and tied it at 7-7. MSU tried to pull away, but the Wolverines would halt any attempt at a Spartan run, as MSU’s largest lead was two until MSU used a 7-2 run to turn a 13-13 deadlock into a 20-15 advantage. Michigan called its second time out, UM used a 6-1 out of that break to knot the score at 21-21. MSU came back with a Holly Toliver kill and a block by Minarick and Fitterer to pull ahead 23-21. A Bailey ace gave MSU set point, but after the Wolverines fended off set point with a Cole termination, the serve from setter MacKenzi Welsh sailed long and MSU took the opening frame 25-23. Autumn Bailey led all players with four kills and added seven digs, as MSU hit just .043. Michigan hit .027 with just eight kills and seven errors, led by Carolyn Keiffer-Wright and Cole, who each had three kills.
• SET TWO: The Spartans built a 10-3 lead in the second set, but a 4-0 Michigan run trimmed it down to 10-7 . MSU maintained a two to three point lead until Michigan used a pair of blocks to knot the set at 14-14, and UM took its first lead of the frame on a Cole block at 17-16. The teams engaged in a point-for-point battle, as neither team held more than a one-point advantage from 14-14 until UM pulled ahead 23-21 on a kill by Ally Davis and an ace by Welsh. After an MSU time out, Welsh got a fortuitous bounce off the tape for a second straight ace and three-point lead and set point, but she served it long to get MSU the sideout. A block by Bailey and Garvelink made it a one-point deficit for the Spartans, and UM called time out. The Spartans tied it up on a violation called against the Wolverines, but Cole came back with a block to give the visitors a 25-24 lead. Bailey tied the game for MSU at 25-25 and 26-26, but the teams traded errors and found themselves tied at 28-all. A Spartan error set up a kill by Ally Davis termination to seal the second set for the visitors, MSU got seven kills and five digs from Bailey in the frame, as MSU hit a marginally improved .116. Michigan hit .323 and was led by Cole’s four kills and pair of blocks. The Wolverines also out-blocked MSU by a 6-2 margin in the frame.
• SET THREE: The home team trailed by as many as four points (9-5), but battled back to take a 13-12 lead on a sequence that saw Garvelink tally a pair of kills and a block. Consecutive MSU errors gave the visitors a 15-14 lead, but a 3-0 Spartan run, which included two Bailey terminations, gave the Spartansa two-point lead. After a UM time out, the Wolverines countered with a 3-0 run of their own, but MSU stayed the course and tied it up at 19-19. The teams traded points to 22-22, as MSU tied the score on a Kranda kill; she and Reinig followed with back-to-back terminations to get to set point, and Michigan called time out. A blocking error was called on what would have been MSU’s set point after a lengthy review, but a tremendous swing by Garvelink sealed the 25-23 victory for MSU to gie them a 2-1 edge in the frame. Garvelink’s set-cincher was her team-best fifth of the frame, and she added two blocks; Bailey and Kranda each had four as MSU hit .268. UM hit .154 and had four kills each from Kieffer-Wright and Cole.
• SET FOUR: MSU used three kills and a pair of blocks to build a 9-3 lead in the early part of the fourth set, and a Reinig swing made it 10-3 out of the Michigan time out. The Spartan lead was as large as six (11-5), but the Spartans called time out when the Wolverines trimmed it back down to four. Out of the break, MSU went on a 5-2 run, extending their lead out to seven (16-9), which included kills by Bailey and Fitterer and a Garvelink block, her seventh of the match. The teams traded runs, and back-to-back kills by Bailey made it 18-13. Five points would be the largest MSU lead of the frame, as the Wolverines chipped away at it to make it a two-point deficit at 2918 after a block by Cole and Cori Crocker, followed by a kill from Kelly Murphy. The Spartans were able to get it back out to four on a Reinig termination and Toliver ace that made it 24-20, but following the script of the match, a Murphy kill followed by a Kieffer-Wright block allowed Michigan to pull back within two. A Murphy service error at 24-22 gave the Spartans their set point and the match, 3-1. Bailey and Fitterer each had four kills in the set, but Garvelink’s four blocks was the top stat of the frame. MSU hit just .125 in the final frame, but had 16 digs and four team blocks to close out the victory. Cole had five kills in the frame to push her match total to 16. TOP PERFORMERS
• Autumn Bailey notched her seventh double-double of the season with 19 kills and 20 digs, both season bests.
• Alyssa Garvelink had nine kills and eight blocks.
• Rachel Minarick had 47 assists, eight digs, and three blocks. STATS AND STORYLINES
• MSU won its sixth straight match, its second-longest streak of the season after a seven-match string back in September.
• The Spartans closed out the regular season with a 14-2 record in matches at Jenison Field House.
• MSU is now to 17-4 in three-set matches this season, is 4-0 in four-set matches and 2-1 in five-set affairs.
• With 10 team blocks, MSU has had 12 double-digit blocking efforts this season, including seven in Big Ten play (and three straight). MSU was out-blocked by the Wolverines (16-10), the most blocks allowed to an opponent this season and just the ninth match in 2016 that MSU had fewer blocks.
• MSU’s 66 digs is a season high for the squad, bettering its previous high of 56.
• Holly Toliver had 11 digs, five kills (5-0-7, .714) and added an ace.
• Abby Monson posted 17 digs along with four assists.
• Brooke Kranda had 10 kills, three aces, and two digs.

Press Release

Courtesy of Michigan Athletics

Site: East Lansing, Mich. (Jenison Field House)
Score: #15 Michigan State 3, #7 Michigan 1 (25-23, 28-30, 25-23, 25-22)
Records: U-M (21-7, 10-6 B1G), MSU (23-5, 12-4 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Nov. 18 — at Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.), 7:30 p.m. CST

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Despite out-hitting its opponent and a 1-1 tie score going into the break, the No. 17-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team dropped a four-set heartbreaker at No. 15 Michigan State on Saturday night (Nov. 12) at Jenison Field House.

A double-block from Abby Cole and Kelly Murphy put the Wolverines on the board first in set one, and Michigan used the momentum to force a 4-0 lead. Despite the four-point edge, the Spartans rallied to come back and take a lead at 15-13, forcing a Michigan timeout. From there, the Spartans’ lead climbed to five, but a 3-0 rally ending with a double-block from Claire Kieffer-Wright and Ally Davis put the Wolverines back within two at 20-18 to force a Spartans timeout. A battle followed, as Michigan worked to tie to the score at 21-21 and fight off the set point, but Michigan State ultimately took the game, 25-23.

The second set of the night was another battle between the in-state rivals, though Michigan State jumpstarted the game on a 6-1 run. Michigan soon overcame the deficit however, using a .323 attack average to battle back and tie the score 13 times. Michigan took its first lead at 18-17 on a Spartan attack error, but neither squad led by more than two until two consecutive service aces from MacKenzi Welsh put the Wolverines up, 24-21. Never yielding, the Spartans fought off two game points and tied the score four more times, but a Michigan State attack error and a kill from Davis gave Michigan the set, 30-28.

With the match tied at one set apiece, Michigan State came out in the third set on a 9-5 run, but a 4-1 Michigan run put the Wolverines back in the game. From there, neither team gained more than a one-point edge, as the third set of the night featured 13 ties as well as a match-high seven lead changes. Despite the back-and-forth play, Michigan State took the set, 25-23.

Michigan State again took an early lead in the fourth set of the night, going up 9-3 to force a Michigan timeout. From there, the Wolverines worked in come-from-behind fashion, cutting the deficit to just two points at 22-20 and again at 24-22. Five team blocks and 14 kills were not enough for Michigan as the Spartans won the race to 25 with a 25-22 fourth-set victory.

In spite of the loss, Michigan out-hit its opponent on Saturday night, earning a .158 attack average to Michigan State’s .135. The Wolverines also matched their season-high 16 blocks and totaled seven service aces.

Overall, Cole led the Wolverines in kills with 16, while Kieffer-Wright also finished in double figures with 12 at a team-high .435 attack percentage.

Defensively, Kieffer-Wright and Cori Crocker each totaled seven blocks on the night, while Cole finished the day with five. The back row also had a solid performance, as three players ended the match with double-figure digs. Making her first start at libero this season, Tiffany Clark led the Wolverines with 17 digs on the night, while Murphy picked up 15, and Welsh added 10.

Following a week of practice, the No. 17-ranked Wolverines will continue a three-match road stretch with a stop at Wisconsin on Friday (Nov. 18). First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. CST in Madison, Wisconsin.