No. 11 Michigan State Throttles Rutgers

Match Stats

• No. 11 Michigan State(17-4, 6-3 B1G) easily sweeps Rutgers(4-18, 0-9 B1G), (25-15, 25-13, 25-16)

In the first set, the teams exchanged points back and forth, until 12 all, when a Rutgers service error and a Chloe Reinig block and kill put Michigan State ahead by three. From there, the Spartans took off, expanding their lead to 18-13, eventually ending the set 25-15.

The second set was like the first up until 5-4, when Michigan State went of a run leading 10-5. The run continued until the Spartans were ahead 20-11. A 5-2 run at the end put Michigan State ahead 2-0 in the match.

In the third, the Spartans held a 22-14 lead over the Scarlet Knights, two kills and an ace led Michigan State to the set and match.

For the Spartans, Chloe Reinig and Holly Toliver each put down 10 kills, while Allyssah Fitterer and Autumn Bailey each added six. Michigan State hit for .463 against Rutgers, their season-best.

Meme Fletcher led the way for the Scarlet Knights with 10 kills and two blocks. Rutgers posted a season-high five aces against the Spartans, with Taija McKnight posting her career-best two aces.

Press Release

Courtesy of Michigan State Athletics

SPARTAN SYNOPSIS
No. 11 Michigan State swept Rutgers on Wednesday night at Jenison Field House, dispatching the Scarlet Knights in straight sets (25-15, 25-13, 26-16). MSU improves to 17-4 with its fifth win in six tries, and is 6-3 in Big Ten play. Rutgers falls to 4-18, 0-9 B1G.

Chloe Reinigand Holly Toliver each had 10 kills on the night, andAllyssah Fittererand Autumn Bailey each had six for MSU, which hit .463 as a team, a new season high. Toliver registered a career-best .533 hitting percentage, one of five players with five kills or more who hit .500 or better on the night. Meme Fletcher led the Scarlet Knights with 10 kills, two blocks and three digs.

MSU heads on the road to Columbus on Saturday for a rematch with No. 19 Ohio State, a team MSU swept earlier this season in East Lansing. The match is a 6 pm start time at St. John Arena.

• SET ONE: The teams traded points early in the frame with only a one-point lead for either team through 12-12 tie. After a Rutgers service error, a solo block and kill by Reinig pushed MSU out to a three-point lead, and Rutgers called time out. MSU extended its lead to five (18-13), and called time out on the heels of consecutive points by Reinig (kill) andAllyssah Fitterer (ace). MSU kept its foot on the gas, pulling away with an overall 9-2 run since the 12-12 tie to make it a seven-point advantage at 21-14 – which is when Rutgers called its second time out of the frame. A Garvelink kill – her first of the night – got MSU to set point, and Kristen Brashear delivered an ace to close out the first-set win, 25-15. Reinig had two blocks and four kills on 10 swings, while three other players had two kills each. MSU hit .375 without an error (12-0-32), while Rutgers hit .189 (12-5-37). MSU out-blocked its visitors 4-0.
• SET TWO:Holding a 5-4 advantage, MSU built to an 10-5 lead on the stronng serving of bothHolly Toliver andAutumn Bailey, at which point the Scarlet Knights called their first time out of the set. Rutgers got the sideout at 12-6, and proceeded to serve up an ace from Karysa Swackenberg, but the Spartans halted any thought of a run with a roll shot from Reinig. MSU used a 5-1 run and ran its lead up to 18-9, and Rutgers called its second time out when MSU held a 20-11 edge. With MSU up 22-12, Megan Tompkins had a kill and a block to get the Spartans to set point, and Maggie Midgette ended the frame with a block to give MSU a 2-0 lead. Autumn Bailey led the Spartans with four kills in the set, while Reinig and Toliver each had three terminations. MSU hit .500 in the set (14-1-26) and added two blocks for a match total of six through two sets. 
• SET THREE: Trailing 3-2 to the Scarlet Knights, MSU went on a 6-1 run fueled by three kills by Toliver and one each from Fitterer and Alyssa Garvelink to pull ahead 8-4. MSU got a firm control of the frame, and saw Toliver go off for six kills, including her 10th of the night that gave MSU a 22-14 advantage. Out of a Rutgers time out, Garvelink and Autumn Christenson delivered kills to get the Spartans to match point, and Midgette closed it out with MSU’s 10th service ace of the night to win the third set 25-16. MSU hit .542 in the frame despite five hitting errors (18-5-24), with five errors after just one in the first two sets combined. Tolivers six kills led the Spartans in the frame.Quoteable:
  ” We’ve enjoyed a lot of success here at home, and tonight was a continuation of that. We hit well, and were able to get a lot of our bench in to get some experience – which will really make us deeper and better in the long run. We now get to spend the rest of the week on preparing for a big match at Ohio State on Saturday, and they will certainly have that match circled on their calendars after losing to us here at Jenison earlier this year. Every win in the Big Ten is a good win, and now we need to focus on getting the next one.”

  — Head Coach Cathy George

  TOP PERFORMERS

• Chloe Reinig posted 10 kills, shared the team lead with three blocks, and a hit .500 (10-0-20).
• Holly Toliver had 10 kills and hit a career-best .533, adding three digs and an ace.
• Allyssah Fitterer and Autugmn Bailey each had six kills. Bailey hit .500 and added six digs, Fitterer hit .545 and add a pair of aces and two digs in addition to a block.STATS AND STORYLINES
• MSU hit .463 in the match, bettering its previous season high of .400, set against Maryland-Eastern Shore on Sept. 17.
• MSU improved to 7-0 all-time against the Scarlet Knights, all by 3-0 scores.
• MSU is now 13-3 in three-set matches, with 16 three-set affairs in 21 matches overall.
• MSU held Rutgers to a .132 hitting percentage on the night. The Spartans held the Scarlet Knights to .067 in the first meeting of the teams on Oct. 1.
• The Spartans had 10 service aces, one short of the team’s season high of 11, which they have accomplished three times.
• Held to just seven blocks, MSU failed to reach double-digit team blocks for the first time in four matches.
• Abby Monson had 10 digs, her 10th double-digit kill performance of the season, and had a pair of assists.
• Rachel Minarick recorded 33 assists, four digs, a solo block, and a pair of aces..
• Kristen Brashear contributed five digs and had a season-high three service aces.

Press Release

Courtesy of Rutgers Athletics

EAST LANSING, MICH. – In a rematch on the road, the Rutgers women’s volleyball team was swept by No. 11 Michigan State on Wednesday night at Jenison Field House. The Spartans (17-4, 6-3 Big Ten) topped the Scarlet Knights (4-18, 0-9 Big Ten) by set scores of 25-15, 25-13, and 25-16.

Junior outside hitter Meme Fletcher led RU with 10 kills in the match, along with two blocks. Senior right side Lauren Cloyd followed with five kills of her own.

The Spartans were led by Holly Toliver with 10 kills to go with a .533 hitting percentage. Chloe Reinig also added in 10 kills and a .500 hitting clip to guide MSU.

Rutgers and Michigan State opened set one trading points with neither team generating a margin larger than one point. After nine ties on the board, an ace for sophomore middle blocker Tiaja McKnight put the Scarlet Knights in front, 10-9. The score would be tied on three more occasions before the Spartans tacked on three consecutive points to generate a 16-12 edge, the largest for either side during the span. Although a Cole Trimble kill ended the run, MSU held a lead for the remainder of the set en route to a 1-0 advantage.

Although Rutgers kept the margin within one at 5-4 at the start of the second frame, it was as close as the Scarlet Knights would come. From there, Michigan State never let up control of the scoreboard, claiming its second consecutive set win in the contest. Moving into the third, MSU’s momentum kept RU out of its groove. The teams traded points late in stanza, but the margin was too large for the Scarlet Knights to overcome as the Spartans picked up the victory in the third and final set to close the match.

UP NEXT
Rutgers welcomes Maryland to the College Ave Gym on Saturday, Oct. 22 for its annual PINK OUT for Breast Cancer Awareness. First serve is set for 7 p.m. on BTN Plus.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Rutgers made its second appearance on the Big Ten Network this season. The Scarlet Knights made their season debut on the network at No. 22 Purdue on Saturday, Oct. 15.
• RU competed in its seventh match of the year that featured a ranked opponent and its second match of the season against a ranked Michigan State squad. All ranked matches have come against a conference foe.
• Rutgers matched is team-high in a conference match with five aces, having two Scarlet Knights finish with two aces. RU last posted five aces against No. 22 Purdue.
• Tiaja McKnight matched her career-high for the second time this season with two service aces.

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