GAME CAPSULE
Michigan State fell to Wright State 3-2 (25-19, 16-25, 18-25, 25-21, 13-15) in the finale of the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational on Saturday at Jenison Field House. Wright State was receiving votes in the preseason AVCA national poll.
MSU had three players with double-doubles – Cecilee Max Brown (14 kills, 10 digs), Sarah Franklin (12 kills 14 digs) and Biamba Kabengele (11 kills, 11 digs, .261 hitting percentage). Megan Alders was the only Raider in double-figure kills, putting down 22 – including the final point in the match to give Wright State the victory.
MSU took the first set 25-19, but Wright State battled back to take the next two frames and a 2-1 match lead. As the final match of the weekend pushed on, both teams were grinding it out to the end – MSU won a 25-21 decision in the fourth set, and came up just short in the final frame, by two points.
Both teams had significant errors from the service line – MSU compiled 15, and Wright State 13 – but the Raiders had eight aces to MSU's three. Wright State out-blocked the Spartans 11-6 on the night.
Michigan State heads to Provo, Utah next weekend to play in the Brigham Young Invitational. The Spartans will take on Dixie State, Weber State, and the host Cougars.
PLAYER HIGHS
- Three players posted double-doubles – Max Brown (14 kills, 10 digs), Franklin (12 kills 14 digs) and Kabengele (11 kills, 11 digs, .261 hitting percentage).
- Rebecka Poljan led the Spartans with a .333 hitting percentage on the night, with six kills and shared the blocking lead with Naya Gros (3). Gros and Poljan each had two solo stuffs.
- Freshman setter Julia Bishop played the final three sets, recording 27 assists, three digs, and three kills.
STATS AND STORYLINES
- Talia Edmonds had 13 digs and three assists on the night, and added an ace.
- The match featured 17 tie scores and eight lead changes, all coming in the middle three sets.
- Wright State is the first team to take sets from the Spartans, who had swept both Western Michigan and Canisius.
- MSU served up 10 aces and had just one reception error in the early match vs. Canisius, but the script flipped in the nightcap with just three aces vs. 15 errors.
- MSU hit just .140 for the match, with 34 hitting errors.
SET SYNOPSIS
- SET ONE: MSU raced out to a 9-3 lead on the strength of seven kills and an ace; Wright State trimmed it down to four (11-7) with a pair of Nyssa Baker kills. Wright State kept the pressure on and trimmed it to a two-point deficit at 13-11, capping a 8-4 run. The Spartans re-established a four-point edge at 19-15, and maintained it through 22-18 as the Spartans did a good job of keeping the Raiders out of system. MSU reached set point at 24-18, and sealed it at 25-19 on a Franklin termination. Max-Brown had six kills on seven swings, (.857), while Emma Monks had four on five. MSU hit .273 as a team compared to .179 for Wright State.
- SET TWO: The Spartans had a few self-inflicted wounds in the early part of the set, with six errors against just five kills – but found themselves tied at 8-8, thanks to limiting the Raiders to 1-1-11 hitting (.000) in the same span. With the frame tied at 10-10, the visitors used a 5-0 run to create some distance, helped by a pair of Spartan errors. MSU committed 13 errors in the frame and hit -.045 – Kabengele had four kills and Emma Monks four, while Naya Gros contributed two blocks. Wright State hit just .111 in winning the set, led by four terminations from Megan Alders.
- SET THREE: The teams traded points early in the set, but Wright State again used the middle third to pull away, taking an 18-13 lead on the strength of a .381 hitting percentage (8-0-21). MSU had seven errors against nine kills, but started to get back in it on a Rebecka Poljan kill and Molly Johnson ace. Back within three at 21-18, a Raiders time out stopped the Spartan run, and the visitors closed out the set 25-18. Bishop, who came on t start the third, had assists on 10 of MSU's 11 kills, and Max-Brown had five terminations.
- SET FOUR: Wright State wanted to start the fourth strong, and took a 4-1 lead – but was soon engaged in a tight battle, with the teams tied at 11-all. MSU took its largest lead at 17-13, and saw its guests pull within a point at 18-17. The teams traded service errors, after an WSU block that tied things up at 19-all, MSU got consecutive kills from Gros and Franklin, then kept its foot on the gas to win the set 25-21 and force a fifth. Kabengele (five kills, three digs) led all Spartans in the frame, while Sarah Franklin contributed four kills, a block, and three digs. Bishop had 12 assists and led MSU to a .312 hitting percentage in the set, and Poljan had three blocks – two solo. Callie Martin had five kills in the set for WSU.
- SET FIVE: The Spartans fell behind 2-0 on back-to-back Raider kills to start the frame, but got the sideout on a service error. Wright State used a 3-0 run to take an 8-4 advantage at the break, capped by an ace from Jenna Story. MSU came within a pair at 12-10, and got within one on an error by WSU that made it 13-12, but MSU returned the favor with a service ace. MSU gave the Raiders set point with another service miscue, and Megan Alders put down her 22nd kill to close the match.
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August 29, 2021 at 11:10AM
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Five-Set Battle Goes To Wright State, 3-2 - Michigan State Athletics
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