Michigan State Rolls Past Iowa in Big 10 Opener

SPARTAN SYNOPSIS
No. 20 Michigan State opened Big Ten play with a 3-0 sweep of visiting Iowa on Friday night at Jenison Field House. MSU wins its seventh consecutive match to improve to 12-1 overall and start Conference play 1-0., while Iowa falls to 10-3 and 0-1 in Big Ten play.The Spartans took their 14th consecutive victory over the Hawkeyes, and 12th straight by a 3-0 score. Kasey Reuter and Lauren Brobst led the visitors with eight kills each. For MSU, Autumn Bailey had 11 kills, hit .455, and added six digs; countryman Allyssah Fitterer had 10 kills and hit a match-best .643. Alyssa Garvelink tied her season best with seven blocks, four in the final set.Michigan State controlled the pace of play all night, withstanding the runs of 3-4 points that the Hawkeyes would put together to try to get back into the game. MSU held double-digit leads in each of the first two sets, and managed to keep the scrappy Hawkeyes at bay in the third when they were able to stay much closer with the Spartans than the first two frames.

A crowd of 3.443 fans took in the Friday night match, with another good crowd expected for the Spartans’ showdown with No. 1 Nebraska at 7 pm on Saturday evening. The Spartans will honor their alumni during Saturday night’s game, in particular the 1976 team which went to the AIAW Elite Eight. Saturday’s game is also a Children’s Cancer Awareness game, and the program will collect art supplies at the door for the pediatric ward playroom at Sparrow Hospital.

SET ONE: The Hawkeyes got the first point on the board, but MSU reeled off the next five to take the lead on a combination of strong serving and impressive play at the net. MSU never took its foot off the gas, hitting .556 through Iowa’s second time out at 18-6. The Hawkeyes hit -.062 to that point, and the Spartans didnt allow back-to-back points to the Hawkeyes until Iowa trailed 21-8; UI then put together a 3-0 run to make it 21-11. A big kill from Fitterer killed the Iowa momentum, and kills by Bailey and Allyssah Fitterer got MSU to set point. Iowa fought off set point by getting a block off the pin, a block out of bounds, and back-to-back kills by Lauren Brobst, and a Spartan error for a 5-0 run that trimmed MSU’s lead to make it 24-18, but Garvelink connected on her first kill of the night to seal the win, 25-18. Bailey and Fitterer each had four kills in the frame, while Garvelink had two blocks. MSU settled in to hit .346 in the frame.

• SET TWO: With some help from an impressive service run by Toliver that featured a pair of aces, MSU jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the second frame. MSU kept building its lead, taking its largest lead of the set at 17-9 and building from there to double up their visitors, 20-10. The teams traded points for the balance of the frame, as MSU got a kill from Kranda and an ace from Minarick to close it out for a 2-0 match lead. Kranda had five kills in the frame with a block, while Bailey had four and Fitterer three.
• SET THREE: With the set tied 6-6, Garvelink became a factor at the net, coming up with three blocks to help MSU pull ahead 12-8. Iowa trimmed it to 13-12 with a 4-1 run, but MSU pushed it back out to five at 20-15. Iowa trimmed it back down to three with consecutive kills from Reghan Coyle, but back-to-back kills by Garvelink pushed it back to a five-point match. at 23-18, Kranda sent one off the hands of the Iowa back row to get to match point, and a block by Garvelink and Bailey sealed the win. TOP PERFORMERS
• Autumn Bailey had 11 kills and added six digs, hitting .455
• Allyssah Fitterer had 10 kills, hit .643, and had two each blocks (one solo) and digs.
• Alyssa Garvelink had five kills and added a team-best seven blocks, tying her season high. STATS AND STORYLINES
• MSU’s winning streak has reached seven straight games, bettering the Spartans’ longest winning streak in each of the last two seasons.
• MSU’s record of 12-1 is the best start to a season since the 2013 team also went 12-1.
• MSU had nine service aces, and has 42 over the last four matches combined (3.5 per set)
• Brooke Kranda and Rachel Minarick each had three service aces. For Kranda, it was her fourth match this season with her career-best three, and the second straight match with a season-high three for Minarick.
• Kranda had si kills, hit .250, and added three blocks and two digs.
• Rachel Minarick contributed 31 assists, three aces, three digs, four kills (4-0-5) and added a block.
• Fitterer had her second match this season with double-digit kills. She posted her season high with 14 vs. Marist in the third match of the season. She also pushed her career block total to 298.
• Abby Monson had her seventh double-digit dig match (10), and fifth in the last six games.
• Alyssa Garvelink had seven blocks for the second straight match and the third time this season. She now has 294 career blocks.

Press Release

 Courtesy of Iowa Athletics

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The University of Iowa volleyball team fell to No. 20 Michigan State, 3-0, Friday evening at Jenison Fieldhouse. The Hawkeyes fall to 10-3 overall and 0-1 in Big Ten action with the loss.

Serving proved to be a difference maker in the match. The Spartans registered nine service aces, while the Hawkeyes recorded nine errors at the serving line.

“We told our group that we needed to serve and pass well,” said UI head coach Bond Shymansky. “Instead we put up nine service errors and they put up nine aces. They are the top serving team in the conference and one of the top five in the country, but we have to fight that off. That’s the mental toughness part. We have to keep working on that as a group.”

Michigan State’s offense came out firing in set one, using three early aces and five kills to take a 13-4 lead. The Spartans continued to control the momentum, leading by as many as 13, before the Iowa rallied. The Hawkeyes utilized a 6-1 rally to pull within six. Kills by seniors Lauren Brobst (2) and Ashley Mariani (1), junior Jess Janota (1), and redshirt sophomore Kasey Reuter (1) aided the Iowa rally. The Hawkeyes couldn’t overcome the deficit; however, as Michigan State went on to win the set, 25-18.

The Spartans used a 4-0 run to take an early, 9-4, lead in set two. They never trailed from there, using a 7-1 swing late to create distance and win the match, 25-15. The Spartans hit .361 with 16 kills in the set.

After trading points early, Michigan State used a 6-1 run to take a 12-7 lead in the third set. The Hawkeyes came storming back; however, using a 5-1 swing to pull within one (14-13). Reuter (1) and Janota (1) added kills to the rally, sophomore Molly Kelly served an ace, and Mariani, Reuter, and sophomore Reghan Coyle each registered blocks. Following the media timeout, the Spartans outscored the Hawkeyes, 4-1, to establish distance. They held on from there, winning the set, 25-18.

Reuter and Brobst paced the Iowa offense with eight kills apiece. Reuter was the most efficient, hitting .421 with eight kills in 19 attempts with no errors. Senior setter Loxley Keala dished out 29 assists, junior Annika Olsen led the team with 13 digs, and Mariani and Coyle added three blocks apiece.

“Kasey is one of our team captains, and she’s just a great addition to what we are doing,” said Shymansky. “She’s so dynamic as an attacker, and great teammate out there. She’s been working hard to show her uniqueness and find a way to contribute and add value. Her spark was great for us, and we think we can get that from any of our players on the bench. They just have to know what they are capable of contributing.”

The Hawkeyes return to action tomorrow night with a 6 p.m. (CT) contest against the 22nd-ranked Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Michigan.