Michigan State fell in a heartbreaker in its season finale, dropping a 3-2 dogfight to Northwestern (25-16, 26-28, 24-26, 25-15, 13-15) at Jenison Field House on Saturday evening,
The Spartans had to battle back from a 2-1 deficit after the visitors took both the second and third sets in extra points, winning decisively in the fourth (25-15) to send it to a deciding fifth. The Spartans were twice up three points, but found their opponent as determined on the other side of the net, and fell by two points.
The Spartans finish the 2021 campaign at 11-18, and 4-16 in Big Ten play. Northwestern also completed their season on Saturday with a 12-19 record and 7-13 mark in B1G action.
MSU had four players in double-digit kills, led by sophomore Sarah Franklin with 22 kills and 15 digs, hitting .465 on the night. Both Naya Gros and Molly Johnson had 11 kills in the finale, with Gros adding nine blocks and Johnson six.
Sophomore setter Celia Cullen established a new career best with 55 assists.
MSU honored its five seniors (Talia Edmonds, Lauryn Gibbs, Naya Gros, Molly Johnson, and Rebecka Poljan) after the match.
PLAYER HIGHS
- Sarah Franklin posted a double-double (22 kills, 15 digs), hitting .465 and adding a pair of blocks.
- Molly Johnson had season highs with 11 kills and six blocks, and hit .348.
- Naya Gros had 11 kills and nine blocks to just miss double-double, hitting .333 in her final game of the season
- Celia Cullen established a new career high with 55 assists, and added seven digs and three stuffs
STATS AND STORYLINES
- Sarah Franklin had a double-double for the 11th time this season, with nine coming in Big Ten play.
- Rebecka Poljan had five kills, hit .444, and added three blocks and a pair of aces in the finale.
- Lauryn Gubbs ad 15 digs in her finale, while classmate Talia Edmonds had six.
- MSU out-blocked Northwestern 12-5, posting its sixth double-digit blocking effort over the last eight matches.
- The Spartans hit a season-best .322, and also held the edge in aces (7-3)
- SET ONE: The teams battled early, with neither able to stake more than a two-point advantage until MSU pulled ahead 14-11 on back-to-back long attempts by the NU standout Thomas-Ailara. MSU built upon its lead from here, hitting a scorching .409 as it won the race to 20 on the strength of 11 kills and three blocks. The Spartans played scrappy defense digging up 14 balls in the first set to set a tone and won the set 25-16. Sarah Franklin had five kills and seven digs in the set, while Molly Johnson had four kills and a block – without an error between them. MSU ended up hitting .375 (15-3-32) as Northwestern hit .105 (12-8-37).
- SET TWO: The teams were once again knotted up in a tight battle early in the frame, until a Sarah Franklin tool off the block gave the Spartans an 11-8 edge. Northwestern pulled within a point at 12-11, and then tied it up at 15-all as both teams had 10 kills and were hitting .350 or better. In all, a 5-0 run for the visitors turned a 15-12 deficit into a 17-15 lead, but MSU took back control to score the next two and tie things up at 17-all, and then regained the lead at 19-18 on a Kabengele ace. A big swing by Thomas-Ailara – her tenth kill of the game – put the Wildcats on top again 22-21, and the Spartans called time out; a service error out of the break tied things at 22-all, and the squads battled into extra points. Tied at 26-26, NU got consecutive kills from Leilani Dodson and Thomas-Ailara to close it out 28-26 and even the match at 1-1. Both Biamba Kabengele and Franklin had four kills in the set, and Johnson contributed three terminations and three blocks. Thomas-Ailara had seven kills in the set for NU.
- SET THREE: The Wildcats opened up a 9-5 lead in the third set, putting down eight of its first 11 attempts without an error. MSU got within a point at 10-9, but the Wildcats went back up 13-10. MSU tied things at 13-13 on a Johnson/Gros block and Franklin kill – and it was the last multiple-point lead for either team. The squads reached 24-24, but Ella Grbac and Hanna Lesiak closed it out with consecutive kills to give Northwestern the second consecutive set in extra points. NU hit .421, compiling 20 kills against four errors; Lesiak had five for the to lead her squad. Meanwhile, MSU hit .306 (15-4-36), as Kabengele, Franklin and Gros all had four kills. Johnson and Gros each put up two blocks.
- SET FOUR: MSU raced out to a 4-1 lead behind a pair of blocks from Molly Johnson, and led 9-3 when the Wildcats called their second time out. The visitors regrouped and used a 7-2 run to pull within a point at 11-10, and tied it up at 12-12 on an MSU miscue. MSU regained control, putting together a 5-0 run that resulted in an 18-13 lead – and won the race to 20 on a Franklin kill. Needing the set win to force a fifth set, MSU kept up the pressure, getting two blocks by Gros and Franklin sandwiched around an NU error, to get to set point. Gros got the kill shot into the back right corner to seal the set victory 25-15 and force a fifth. Franklin put down six kills and a pair of blocks without an error, while Gros blocked three balls to push her match total to eight.
- SET FIVE: MSU raced out to a 6-3 lead on the emotion of the previous set, but the Wildcats battled back into it at 7-6 before MSU scored back-to-back kills from Emma Monks and Kabengele, re-establishing a three-point lead (9-6) and forcing Northwestern to call time out. The Wildcats responded with a 3-1 run to pull within a point to trigger a Spartan time out, and Emma Monks came out of the break with two big tip kills – soft roll shots over the blockers – to put MSU within three points of the win (12-9). Kabengele served up an ace on a let serve, but the call was overturned to replay the point; the Wildcats got an emotional lift after the call went their way, and used a 5-1 run to take the lead at 14-13, and MSU called their time out with the match on the line. Northwestern got a kill by Rousseau to end it, giving the visitors the come-from-behind victory. Both Monks and Franklin had three kills in the final frame, in which MSU hit .368; NU hit .529 to counter, getting four kills from Rousseau in the frame overall.
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November 28, 2021 at 10:50AM
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Spartans Drop Five-Set Heartbreaker In Season Finale - Michigan State Athletics
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