MATCH STATS
- No. 11 Michigan State def. Maryland 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-17)
- Michigan State moves to 15-4, 8-2 B1G; Maryland falls to 14-8, 3-7 B1G
- College Park, Maryland
- Attendance: 3,427
- Box Score
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – No. 11 Michigan State hit at a nearly .400 efficiency in a road sweep of Maryland to extend its win streak to three matches and stay in the hunt for the Big Ten title.
Redshirt senior outside hitter Brooke Kranda put down 11 kills and hit at a match-high .588 clip to lead the Spartan attack. senior middle blocker Alyssa Garvelink chipped in 10 kills on a .562 effort, while redshirt senior outside Autumn Bailey just missed a double-double with eight kills and nine digs. Senior outside Holly Toliver added seven kills and 12 digs, while redshirt senior middle Megan Tompkins notched a team-best four blocks and six kills. Freshman libero Jamye Cox paced the defense with 17 digs, followed by Toliver (12) and senior setter Rachel Minarick (10). Minarick wrapped up a double-double with 39 assists, which put her over the 4,000 career assist mark, making her just the third Spartan ever to achieve the milestone.
Sophomore outside Gia Milana downed nine kills to lead the Terrapins, while three other players notched five or more putaways. Senior middle Hailey Murray (6), freshman outside Samantha Drechsel (6) and freshman outside Erika Pritchard (5) made up the group. Pritchard and freshman middle Jada Gardner each tallied two blocks, while freshman libero Samantha Burgio pulled up a team-best 12 digs. Milana followed with seven saves.
MSU outdid Maryland in every statistical category: hitting percentage (.381 to .103), kills (46-31), aces (4-1), blocks (5-2) and digs (56-37).
The Spartans jumped ahead 10-3 in Set 1 with kills by six different players. The lead teetered between six and eight over the next several serves. Back to back Bailey putaways made it 20-12 MSU. The Spartans closed out the win with a 5-1 run, including two Kranda kills.
Michigan State scored four of the first five points and later trailed by five at 12-7 in Set 2, before scoring five straight to grab a 13-12 lead. Murray tallied three kills in the go-ahead run. MSU countered with a 13-4 run to steal away the 25-17 win. Kranda downed three kills and five Maryland miscues aided the final run.
The teams split the first 10 points of Set 3, before MSU pulled away with a 10-2 run. Five miscues and three Kranda putaways helped lift the Spartans to the 15-7 edge. Maryland was within five at 16-11 after two Drechsel kills and a stuff by Gardner and Pritchard. Michigan State earned its first match-point try at 24-14 as a Terp service error capped an 8-3 run. Maryland kept the match going with a 3-0 run, inclduing two Spartan hitting errors, but an Alyssa Chronowski kill ended the night at 25-17.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Michigan State Athletics
No. 10 Michigan State earned another road win on Saturday with a 3-0 victory over Maryland in College Park. The Spartans improved to 15-4 overall and close the first half of Big Ten play with an 8-2 record, while Maryland is 14-8, 3-7 through the first half of the Conference schedule.
The Spartans secured a season sweep of the Terrapins, as MSU won the matchup in East Lansing on Sept. 29 3-0. It is the second series sweep of a B1G opponent for MSU this year, as the Spartans also beat Wisconsin twice (3-2, 3-1).
MSU took a commanding 25-13 win in the opening set, generated almost entirely on their own side of the net to the tune of 20 kills, a block, and a service ace. The second set was closer, as Maryland took its first lead of the day at 13-12; MSU called time out and proceeded to close out the set on a 13-4 run and took a 25-17 decision to take a 2-0 match lead into the intermisison. MSU took a sizeable lead in the third and went to its bench, and despite the home team fending off match point three times, MSU closed out the match with a 25-17 victory in the final frame to win its third straight match.
Rachel Minarick became the third player in school history and 45th in the Big Ten to record 4,000 career assists, and had 39 helpers, three kills, hit .400, posted 10 digs, and an ace in the match to earn her fifth double-double. Minarick spread the offense among her hitters: Brooke Kranda had 11 terminations and hit .588, Alyssa Garvelink had 10 kills, hit .562, and posted a block and two digs.
Gia Milana had nine kills to lead the Terps, who hit .103 in the match (31-19-117).
Michigan State opens a three-game homestand on Friday, hosting No. 7 Nebraska at Jenison Field House. The game will air live on BTN at 8 pm.
QUOTABLE
“We’re getting into the portion of our schedule where sometimes it can feel like a grind – so to see the sense of urgency we had when we came out and set a strong tone in the opening set was a really good sign. We’ve played six of our 10 Big Ten matches on the road, plus six of our nine pre-Conference games – so we’re looking forward to playing at home next weekend for sure.
As for Rachel’s [Minarick} reaching 4,000 assists – it is truly a sign of the dedication that she has had to our program over her career. Milestones like this are impressive, because it means that you have to be a go-to-for your team over the course of time. Rachel has certainly been that for us, and I know that her main priority is team success. She will certainly go into our history books as one of the top players in school history.
– Head Coach Cathy George
TOP PERFORMERS
Brooke Kranda had 11 kills and hit .588
Rachel Minarick had 39 assists, 10 digs, and three kills (3-1-5, .400)
Alyssa Garvlinek had 10 kills, hit .562, and added a pair of digs and a block.
Freshman libero Jamye Cox had 16 digs, an ace and an assist.
STATS AND STORYLINES
Rachel Minarick earned her 4,000th career assist with a helper on a Holly Toliver kill early in the second set. She is third all-time at MSU and is the 45th member of the B1G 4,000 assists club.
MSU won its third straight match, including two on the road.
The Spartans hit .381 (46-9-97), which included 20 first-set kills.
Megan Tompkins led MSU with four blocks and added six kills (6-01-11, .455).
GAME REPLAY
SET ONE: The Sprtans opened up the match by taking a 5-2 lead, and pushed it to 10-3 with six kills on nine swings. Minarick had two kills, four assists, and a pair of digs as the Terps called their first time out. MSU’s lead fluxuated between six and eight points, and leading 19-12, Cathy George challenged an out-of bounds call that she believed was touched by the Maryland blocker. George won the challenge to win the race to 20. MSU extended its lead out to 11 at 24-13 on a pair of kills by Brooke Kranda, and Holly Toliverfinished it off with a tool off the block. MSU had 20 kills, a block, and an ace in the frame to account for 22 of its own points, led by Autumn Bailey, Alyssa Garvelink, and Holly Toliver, who each had four terminations. Minarick had 17 assists, three kills, and six digs in the first set as well. The Spartans hit a scorching .486 in the opening frame (20-2-37) compared to .135 for the home team (9-4-37).
SET TWO: MSU took a 4-1 lead on a Holly Toliver kill, which as the 4,000th career assist for Minarick. A 4-0 Spartan run opened up a one-point second set and gave the visitors a 11-6 lead, but after a Maryland time out, the Terps rolled off a 5-1 run to come within a point at 12-11. MSU called its first time out of the match, but out of the break the home team got back-to-back kills to take their first lead of the night, 13-12. Kranda stopped the run with three straight kills to regain the lead, and MSU pushed it back to four with some help from a pair of Maryland errors (19-15) which made the home team call its second time out. The Spartans closed out the set on a 13-4 run to take the second frame 25-17, hitting .294 for a game percentage of .394. Kranda led MSU with five kills on six swings, while Megan Tompkins had four kills (five swings) and a block.
SET THREE: MSU trailed 4-5, and then used a 3-0 run to pull out to a three-point lead at 8-5, and started to pull away as Kranda and Garvelink put down big kills and put up big blocks that made it 13-7 Spartans, forcing the home team into a time out. MSU got right back to work out of the break and pushed it to a 15-7 advantage, but the Terps battled back with a 3-1 run to make it 16-10. After Jamye Cox delivered an ace that pushed MSU’s lead back to 18-11, the Terps called their second time out. MSU scored two straight to make it 20-11, and despite the Spartans allowing the Terps to fend off set point four times, MSU closed out a 25-17 win the third set to earn the sweep. MSU hit .346 in the final frame, led by five kills for Garvelink and three for Kranda.
Courtesy: Maryland Athletics
Freshman libero Samantha Burgio led the Terps with 12 digs as the Maryland volleyball team (14-8, 3-7 Big Ten) fell to No. 10 Michigan State (15-4, 8-2) in three sets (25-13, 25-17, 25-17) Saturday evening in the XFINITY Center.
“Michigan State is a really veteran, really skilled team,” head coach Steve Aird said. “I thought we did some things well, but we’re still really young. This is an elite league, but I love the direction we’re heading in.
Sophomore outside hitter Gia Milana led Maryland offensively with nine kills while freshmen Erika Pritchard and Jada Gardner each notched two blocks.
Pritchard pushed her streak to seven straight matches with at least one service ace. She leads the Big Ten with 0.52 aces per set and 40 total aces.
Tough serving helped the Spartans take a 10-3 lead in the first set. The Terps put together a couple short runs, but Michigan State used a 7-1 run to finish the game, 25-13.
Hailey Murray had five kills in the second set as the Terrapins fought back from another early deficit. Down 12-8, Maryland used a 6-0 run, including three Murray kills, to take a 13-12 lead. Michigan State responded with a 3-0 run but a Gardner-Pritchard block helped the Terps stay within one. A 7-1 run put the visitors up 24-16, and Michigan State was able to close he set, 25-17.
The teams started the third set trading points but the Spartans again used a run to take a 15-7 advantage. The Terps posted a late 5-1 run, but Michigan State held on to close the match with a 25-17 set win.
The Terps are back in the XFINITY Center Pavilion next weekend to host Indiana on Friday and No. 17 Purdue on Sunday.
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