Oct. 9, 2010
Box Score | Quotes
Michigan State 3, Wisconsin 2
East Lansing, Mich.
| |
| |
 |
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Michigan State
| 25
| 25 | 17
| 17 | 15 | Wisconsin
| 18
| 18
| 25
| 25 | 11 | | | | Stats Leaders
| Michigan State
|
| Wisconsin
| Karaba - 15
| Digs | Kuzma - 22
| Kelsay - 33
| Assists | Gabrielsen - 37
| Rathje and Schatzle - 12
| Kills | Hickey - 15
| Kuipers - .583
| Hit % | Gabrielsen - .381
| Mathews - 6
| Blocks | Mitchell - 6
| | Stats Comparison
| MSU | WIS
| Kills
| 62 | 61 | Hitting Pct.
| .255 | .273
| Assists
| 61
| 53
| | Service Aces | 7
| 3
| Service Pct.
| .898
| .908
| Digs
| 63 | 56 | Total Blocks
| 12.0 | 11.0 | | |
| |
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The Badger volleyball squad (11-6, 0-6) fell in a heartbreaking five set match to Michigan State (10-7, 2-4) on Saturday night. A change in the lineup after the first two sets gave Wisconsin big results, but the Badgers weren't able to finish off the match as MSU took the 25-18, 25-18, 17-25, 17-25, 15-11 win.
Fast Facts
| • Hickey had a career-high 15 kills and two blocks
| • Ording made a career-high 10 kills
| • Season high 11 team blocks
| |
Annemarie Hickey made a huge impact in the close match ending the night with a double-double including a career high and match high 15 kills and 10 digs. The freshman also added another career high with two blocks on the night.
Sophomore Mary Ording ended the match with a career-high 13 kills, the second highest total in attacks for the match.
Janelle Gabrielsen and Alexis Mitchell also added to the Badgers successful attacking with 10 kills apiece. In addition to her season high total for kills, Gabrielsen also contributed a match-high 37 assists to go along with seven digs and three blocks. Mitchell showed off her blocking skills by tying a match high with six in the loss.
"It was a nice balanced attack," head coach Pete Waite said after the match. "We liked everything except the result. We battled and came back from a huge deficit."
Jenille Rathje and Megan Schatzle led Michigan State with 12 kills apiece, with Becca Zlabis and Kyndra Abron close behind with 11 each. Setter Kristen Kelsay ended the night with 33 assists while Alexis Mathews added six blocks.
The stat line ended similarly for the two teams with Wisconsin ending the match with 61 kills while MSU ended with 62. The Badgers outhit the Spartans .273-to-.255, but Michigan State ended with 61 assists in comparison to UW's 53. MSU also stood out with seven service aces while Wisconsin ended with three. The Spartans recorded 12 total blocks, while the Badgers had a season-high 11 on the night.
The Spartans momentum hurt Wisconsin in the first set as MSU was able to go on three big runs to take the 25-18 win. MSU got things started after UW scored the first point of the game, 1-0, to go on a 5-0 run, and then a 4-0 run when the score found itself at 6-3 in favor of Michigan State. The Badgers stayed with it though when they found themselves down 12-4 with big blocks by Hickey and Mitchell. They brought the deficit to 13-9 but unfortunately that wasn't enough to hold the Spartans as they went on a 6-2 run to eventually take the early win.
The stats stayed close in the first with Michigan State out-killing Wisconsin, 14-10. Hickey led the Badgers with five kills and two blocks. Kelsey Kuipers had four kills for MSU.
The second set was a similar story for Wisconsin, as the Spartans found themselves with an early 8-2 lead. Hickey, Walch, Gabrielsen, and Mitchell showed their leadership as they teamed up for a couple of big kills to bring the score to 15-9 for the Spartans. Michigan State took off from there to take the 25-18 win.
Hickey stepped up in the third set, and her contributions showed. Wisconsin got off to an early 8-5 lead with three big kills by the freshman. MSU then closed the gap to 11-8 with Wisconsin still in the lead but there was no going back at that point. With the score at 17-14, the Badgers went on an 8-3 run and ended the set with a big kill from Hickey once again, to take the match to a fourth set.
The score stayed close for the majority of the fourth set with eight ties. It wasn't until the score was set at 16-15 with the Badgers with the small lead, that Wisconsin was able to take control. A 9-2 run gave the Badgers the win ending at 25-17.
The fifth set stayed close until a 10-10 tie when the Spartans were able to finish the match. Big blocks by MSU's Rathje and Zlabis proved to be huge. Michigan State ended the match with a kill by Natalie Emro for her third on the night after a 5-1 run for the 15-11 win.
It was much better than how we've been doing," Waite added. "It's progress but we still need to get over the hump and keep fighting."
The Badgers find themselves with a 0-6 record in the Big Ten after the loss but once again look to turn things around in the coming week. The team will have a couple days off before playing host to Indiana on Friday, Oct. 15, and Purdue on Sunday, Oct. 17, at the Field House.
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Julie McKay
UW Athletic Communications
