Michigan State Volleyball Opens the Season with a Win in Florida!

Volleyball Opens Season With 3-0 Win Over North Florida

Spartans limit opposition to school-record 43 total points.

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Michigan State volleyball team opened its 2011 season on Friday, Aug. 26 in Orlando Fla., with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-18) win against North Florida. Senior Jenilee Rathje led the Green and White during the opening match of the UCF Classic with 19 kills, more than doubling UNFâ€™s leading killer on the afternoon. Rathje hit .324 for the afternoon on 37 attacks.

â€œItâ€™s always great to start the year with a win,â€ said MSU head coach Cathy George. â€œThere were moments this afternoon where we looked really good, and there were moments we had some work to do. In the end, it was great to see the girls work together and get through the tough times for this opening win to this season.â€

MSU opened the match by taking the first four points of set one following a long opening rally. Senior Kyndra Abron brought the score to 5-2 with a thunderous kill down the line. After UNF pulled within one at 5-4, Abron capped off a 4-0 run for the Spartans with a strong block in the middle of the court. After North Florida cut it back within one for the final time during the set at 9-8, the Spartans rattled off five straight to force UNF into a timeout at 14-8. Six of the next eight points went to the Green and White to allow MSU to double North Floridaâ€™s score at 20-10. With the score still a 10-point advantage for the Spartans, the Ospreys called their final timeout of the set at 23-13. Abron posted a strong kill to conclude the set at 25-14. Both Abron and classmate Rathje tallied a team-best four kills for the set.

After dropping the opening point, MSU took the next three points to hold a 3-1 advantage. The Green and White remained in control of the match at 7-4 before back-to-back blocks by sophomore Alexis Mathews and junior Amy Dentlinger made it 9-4. Three consecutive Spartans points made it a 12-4 set, causing UNF to call a timeout following a kill by Dentlinger in the middle of the court. Back-to-back kills by Rathje kept MSU poised for its first win of the season with the Ospreys calling their second timeout of set two at 18-6. The Spartansâ€™ lead became 11 at 21-9 following an impressive kill by Abron, as she reached far behind her head to kill the ball. Mathews was involved in back-to-back blocks with junior Gina Lang and Abron to give the Spartans set point at 24-11. Abron terminated the final ball of the set to end the set at 25-11. Rathje led MSU with six kills during set two.

The Spartans looked poised to finish the set in three as they got out to the early 4-0. After the Ospreys pulled within one at 5-4, UNF took control of the set to gain the 7-6 lead. North Florida pushed its lead to four at both 11-9 and 15-11 before the Spartans clawed back within one at 15-14. The Green and White tied the set following a kill by Rathje, before gaining the 17-15 advantage. Dentlinger made it 19-17 with a kill to bring force UNF into its first timeout of the set. Rathje caused the second North Florida timeout with a big kill in the middle of the net at 22-18. The Spartans closed out the set and match by taking the final three points out of the timeout to end the set at 25-18. Rathje once again paced the team with nine kills during the set.

Juniors Gina Lang and Stefanie Shiramizu and freshmen Ryian Hubbard and Kori Moster all made their regular season debut for the Green and White against the Ospreys.

Both senior Natalie Emro and sophomore Kristen Kelsay tallied 15 assists for the match. At the service line, senior Carli Weiler joined Kelsay with two service aces. Defensively, Weiler paced the team with 17 digs while Mathews led the team at the net defensively with eight blocks. Dentlingerâ€™s three blocks is a career-best mark for the Arcadia, Iowa, native.

The Spartans return to action tonight when they face tournament host UCF at 8 p.m. in Orlando, Fla.

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