Volleyball Takes Down Northwestern on Senior Night
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State volleyball honored its senior class on Wednesday night in a 3-1 (25-16, 25-22, 29-31, 25-12) victory over Northwestern at the Breslin Student Events Center. Senior libero Nalani Iosia posted 20 digs to surpass the 2,000 career dig mark, becoming just the second player in program history to reach 2,000 digs for their career (Kori Moster, 2,218).
"I was proud of how we came back in set four and really pushed," said Michigan State head coach Leah Johnson. "Aliyah (Moore) had a great match offensively and she really put together two back-to-back matches to close out her career at Breslin."
MSU improves to 13-17 (6-13 B1G) and has won five of its last six matches. Northwestern falls to 5-22 (3-16 B1G). Michigan State's season will conclude on Saturday, November 30 when it faces No. 7-ranked Wisconsin on the road at 9 PM ET on Big Ten Network.
Senior opposite Aliyah Moore saved her best for last posting a season-high 14 kills on 31 swings to hit .387. Joining Moore in double figure kills were junior outside Taylor Preston with 12 and sophomore outside Karolina Staniszewska with 11. Preston tallied a season-high 13 digs for her third double-double and Staniszewska had 10 digs for her second.
Sophomore middle blocker Zuzanna Kulig recorded a team-high six blocks, and senior setters Julia Bishop and Rachel Muisenga split the assists 22 to 20 respectively. Muisenga tied her career-high with 11 digs to finish her fifth double-double of the year.
MSU out-hit Northwestern .212 to .100, holding the Wildcats to -.143 hitting in set one. The Spartans hit greater than .216 in each of the final three sets and sided out at a 91 percent clip in set four. Michigan State out-aced Northwestern 9-to-5 behind Bishop's career-high tying three aces.
With set one tied at 11-11, Michigan State used a 6-0 scoring run to take the lead for good up 17-11. The Spartans took advantage of three Wildcat hitting errors during the run, capped off by a Iosia ace. A 4-1 Northwestern swing cut MSU's advantage to three, but MSU responded by finishing the set on a 7-1 scoring stretch of its own. Moore especially started to make her mark late in the first with two kills and two blocks over MSU's final seven points in a 25-16 victory.
The Spartans erased an early deficit to take set two, 25-22. Northwestern led by as many as three mid-way through the frame, 11-8, but a 4-1 Spartan run tied the set at 12-12 on a kill by Kulig. With the set tied at 13-13, MSU outscored the Wildcats 6-1 to build a 19-14 lead following consecutive Preston kills. A Preston ace and a Northwestern error put Michigan State on set point before the Wildcats tried to make things interesting late. Northwestern scored three straight to force a Spartan timeout leading 24-22, but Staniszewska's eighth kill of the night ended set two.
A back-and-forth third set featured seven lead changes and 13 tied scores as the team's went deep into extra points. Michigan State led early in the stanza, 13-7, after back-to-back kills by junior opposite Akasha Anderson. Northwestern responded with a run of six straight points however to it up 13-13. MSU led late, 20-17, following a Preston kill, but the Wildcats forced a Spartan timeout with the set tied at 20-20. An ace by freshman libero Mya Bolton put MSU on match point, 25-24, but the point trading battle was just getting started. A Moore kill and a Northwestern hitting error once again put MSU on match point, 29-28, but three straight Wildcat points ended set three in their favor, 31-29.
Set four was all MSU after Northwestern pulled within one point early at 8-7. The Spartans then went on an 8-0 run to blow the doors off the set and take a 16-7 least. MSU got three kills from Moore over that span. The Wildcats got the score back within single digits, 19-10, but a solo block by junior middle blocker Evie Doezema and Bishop's third ace of the night stopped any momentum. Michigan State ended the match on a 4-1 run thanks in part to senior middle blocker Kaya Hood's first Spartan kill.
Recap courtesy of MSU Athletics.
