Match Stats
- #16 Michigan State def. (RV) Illinois 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-22)
- Michigan State moves to 21-5 (10-4 Big Ten); Illinois falls to 14-11 (7-7 Big Ten)
- Lansing, Michigan (Michigan State hosted)
The Illinois women, ranked as high as 22nd in the country this season, continued their slide with a 5th-straight Big Ten loss. The latest came on Saturday at the hands of the surging Spartans, who have simultaneously won 4-straight to move into 4th place in the conference behind only the big three (AVCA #1 Nebraska, AVCA #2 Minnesota, and AVCA #3 Wisconsin).
Illinois played the Spartans tight at the beginning of the 1st and 3rd sets, but 5 Michigan State aces and a dominant defensive performance for the home team prevailed. Michigan State hit .290 on the game, while Illinois was held to .181 (albeit an improvement after a .057 struggle in set 1).
Michigan State led Illinois by a wide margin in aces (5-1), team blocks (14-9), and digs (40-32) in the game. That defensive performance was led at the net by junior 6’4″ middle blocker Alyssa Garvelink. The in-state product had 10 blocks in the game, which was her career high and tied the school record for a three-set match. She ranks 5th in the Big Ten this season with 1.31 blocks/set.
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Courtesy Michigan State Athletics:
SPARTAN SYNOPSIS
No. 16 Michigan State took a three-set win from (RV) Illinois on Saturday, (25-16, 25-20, 25-22). The Spartans win their fourth consecutive match and improve to 21-5, 10-4 in Big Ten play, tied for fourth with Penn State in the Big Ten standings. The Illini falls to 14-11 and 7-7 in Conference play after dropping both of its matches this weekend in Michigan.
Chloe Reinig had 11 kills and tied her season best with six blocks, while Alyssa Garvelink had six kills, hit .375 (6-0-16) and set a new career best with 10 block assists. Senior Allyssah Fitterer hit a scorching .727 (8-0-11), and the two middle blockers (Fitterer and Garvelink) combined for 14 kills and no errors on 27 swings. For the Illini, Ali Bastianelli had eight kills and seven blocks.
Illinois, which entered the match as the second-ranked blocking team in the Big Ten (2.88 per frame), found itself out-blocked by the home team by a 14-9 margin, and was held to a .181 hitting percentage. MSU hit .290 on the night and finished just shy of its season high with 14 blocks.
The Spartans host a midweek match vs. Purdue on Wednesday at Jenison Field House. First serve is at 7 pm.
SET ONE: The visitors held a 6-3 lead out of the gate, but after MSU knottted it up at 6-6 and went on a run that saw the Spartans open up a 12-7 advantage. Illinois called a timeout to regroup, and trimmed it down to three (14-11). MSU methodically built to a five, then six, and eventually eight point lead, when Holly Toliver terminated cross-court to get the Spartans to 24-16. The junior served for set point, and the Spartans ended the rally with a block by Garvelink and Reinig. Garvelink had her hand on five of MSU’s six blocks in the frame and added a pair of kills, while Chloe Reinig had three kills and four blocks. THe Spartans hit .355 in the frame and limited the Illini to .057, and sided out at 81%.
SET TWO: MSU continued its roll in the second frame, pulling out to an 8-2 advantage on a 7-0-11 hitting clip (.636), and Illinois called a time out. A tool off the block by Naya Crittended stopped the 5-0 Spartan run at 10-3. Right after an Autumn Bailey block made it 14-8 – MSU’s ninth block of the match – Illinois countered with a pair of blocks followed by an ace by Bastianelli to trim MSU’s lead back to five (14-9), and made a 6-2 run to pull within two at 19-17. MSU called time out, and out of the break, the teams traded points until MSU went back up three, 21-18, on a blocking error by Illinois. A backrow attack by Bailey made it 22-18, and Illinois called another time out. MSU got its 10th block of the night followed by a kill on the slide from Fitterer to get to set point at 24-19, and after the Illini got a block to stave off set point, a service error by Illinois handed MSU the second set, 25-20. MSU added four more blocks in the frame, and got four kills each from Bailey, Reinig, and Garvelink as MSU hit .355 for the second set in a row. Illinois rebounded with a .281 hitting percentage and also had four blocks.
SET THREE: Trailing 7-6, MSU put up four consecutive blocks – three in a row from Garvelink and Toliver – to pull ahead by a 10-7 margin. MSU maintained that three-point advantage through 17-14, and Minarick extended it to four with a backhanded dump over the net. Up 19-15, MSU went on a 5-0 run – with a pair of kills by Reinig, and capped with a Toliver ace – to get to match point. The Illini roared back with five straight points (three on MSU miscues) to stave off an MSU win, and the Spartans called time out. Illinois got a sixth and seventh straight out of the break, and cut it down to 24-22 before a service error finally ended the match.
TOP PERFORMERS
Alyssa Garvelink set a new career high with 10 block assists, which ties the school record for block assists in a three-set match. She added six kills and hit .375.
Chloe Reinig had a match-best 11 kills and tied her season high with six blocks.
Allyssah Fitterer had eight kills (8-0-11) and hit a Big Ten-season-best .727, adding three blocks, a dig, and an ace.
STATS AND STORYLINES
MSU won its fourth straight match, its fourth winning streak of three or more matches this season.
The Spartans improved to 12-2 in matches at Jenison Field House.
MSU improves to 16-4 in three-set matches this season, is 3-0 in four-set matches and 2-1 in five-set affairs.
The 14 blocks for MSU was one shy of the team’s season best of 15, which came against Minnesota on Oct. 15 in a five-set victory.MSU has had 10 double-digit blocking efforts this season, including five in Big Ten play.
MSU’s win snapped a four-game losing streak against the Illini, which included a 3-0 loss in Champaign on Oct. 12.
Rachel Minarick cotributed 37 assists, four kills, five digs, and a pair of aces.
Garvelink’s school-record 10 block assists is also a career best for the middle.
Autumn Bailey just missed a second straight double-double with 10 kills and nine digs. She also added a pair of blocks.
Holly Toliver earned a start on Saturday, and had six kills, seven digs, four blocks, and two each aces and assists. Her four blocks tied her season best.
Abby Monson shared the team lead with nine digs, and added five assists.
Courtesy Illinois Athletics:
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Illinois volleyball team fell to No. 16 Michigan State, 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-22) on Saturday (Nov. 5) night in the Jenison Field House as sophomore Ali Bastianelli paced the Illini with eight kills on 15 swings and only three errors for a .333 hitting percentage to go along with seven blocks in the setback.
The Illini fall to 14-11 on the season and 7-7 in the Big Ten Conference, while the Spartans improve to 21-5 and 10-4 in the league.
Senior Michelle Strizak added a team-high nine kills and three blocks, while sophomore setter Jordyn Poulterturned in 31 assists and four blocks on the night.
It was a tight start to the opening set as both teams traded points for an early 7-7 tie, before the Spartans grabbed the momentum with a 6-1 run to build a 13-8 advantage. The Illini closed to within four at 19-15 on an MSU attack error, but the Spartans then finished of the first stanza by scoring the next six of seven points for the 25-16 win.
MSU continued its strong play to jump out to a quick 5-1 lead after a kill from senior Naya Crittendenopened action in the second set. Trailing 10-2, the Illini took the next four of five points to trim the deficit to 11-6, capped by a Bastianelli kill. After three-straight MSU points extended the lead to 14-6, the Illini fought back to cut the score to 19-17 after a 6-2 Illini run. The two teams went back-and-forth as a Strizak kill again brought the Illini to within 20-18, but four-straight MSU points set up set point for the home team at 24-18. A kill from freshman Jacqueline Quade, followed by a Crittenden solo block made it 24-20, before an Illini service error gave the Spartans a 2-0 lead in the match.
Out of intermission, it was another close start to the third as the Illini held a 7-6 lead before four-straight blocks propelled the Spartans to a 10-7 edge. Back-to-back Illini points cut the advantage to one at 10-9, but another three-straight points stalled the UI rally. A kill from senior Katie Stadick brought the Illini within 17-14, before a 7-1 run put MSU just one point from victory at 24-15. The Illini then rallied to fight off seven match points – including a pair of Strizak kills and three-straight blocks – to cut the lead to 24-22, but a serve into the net ended the comeback attempt and the match in favor of the Spartans.
The Illini were held to a .181 hitting percentage and nine blocks, while the Spartans registered a .290 hitting percentage and 14 stuffs in the match. Senior Naya Crittenden and freshman Jacqueline Quadeeach added seven kills for the Orange and Blue.
Junior Brandi Donnelly totaled a team-high 15 digs in the contest.
Illinois returns to Champaign next weekend to open its final four-match home stand of the season, taking on No. 3 Wisconsin on Friday (Nov. 11), before facing off against No. 2 Minnesota on Saturday (Nov. 12) night. Both matches are slated for 7 p.m. CT in Huff Hall.
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