Spartans Drop 3-2 Hearbreaker to No. 8 Nebraska

SPARTAN SYNOPSIS Playing in front of its home crowd for the first time since Oct. 24, Michigan State battled No. 8 Nebraska to the absolute wire, but came out

SPARTAN SYNOPSIS
Playing in front of its home crowd for the first time since Oct. 24, Michigan State battled No. 8 Nebraska to the absolute wire, but came out on the short end of a 3-2 decision, (19-25, 29-27, 25-23, 18-25, 14-16). MSU falls to 14-12 overall and 6-9 in the Big Ten. The Huskers are now 21-4, 12-3 in Conference play.

The match featured 35 tie scores and 13 lead changes as the potent Husker attack would assert itself, and the Spartans showed a resiliency they hadnt shown in recent matches to continue to get up off the mat and push Nebraska to the limit.

SET ONE: In what has become a troublesome trend, the Spartans once again fell behind early in the set, and MSU had called both its timeouts by the time Nebraska had the ball to serve with a 14-7 lead. Th, e Huskers pushed their lead out to 17-8 before MSU staged a four-point rally, fueled by a pair of kills from Allyssah Fitterer and one from Autumn Christenson. An error and consecutive aces by Nebraska gave the vistiors a 21-13 edge, but Chloe Reinig stopped the rally with a kill, a Garvelink and Fitterer block, and another Fitterer termination allowed the Spartans to once again cut into the lead. A 5-2 lead brought the Spartans to a five point deficit (23-18), but a service error gave the Huskers set point. Garvelink and Reinig fended off set point, but a Kadie Rolfzen termination sealed the set for Nebraska, 25-19. Fitterer led the Spartans with four kills, while Garvelink had three blocks.

SET TWO: A set featuring 19 tie scores and six lead changes was the backdrop for the second frame. A 4-1 edge was a welcome sight in light of the early struggles for the Spartans in recent sets, and the teams treated the fans to exciting defensive plays and length rallies. Tied at 9-9, the teams battled to trade the lead, and with both battling sub-.100 hitting percentages, neither team could build a sizeable lead. Some disagreement on a touch call led to a lengthy discussion between officials, and the eventual call went Nebraska's way to givve the visitors a 20-18 edge. MSU called a timeout, and out of the break scored three straight points (two on a kill and a block by Megan Tompkins) to regain the lead at 21-20. MSU got its first set point at 24-23, but the teams kept trading points until Nebraska fought off set point at 26-25, then took a 27-26 lead on a Kelsey Fein service ace. The Spartans called a timeout to regroup, and scored three straight out of the break - from Tompkins, Holly Toliver, and a block by Fitterer and Tompkins to earn a hard-fought 29-27 decision. Reinig finished the set with a team-best five kills, Christenson contributed four, while, Tompkins and Fitterer each had four blocks in the frame.

SET THREE: Holly Toliver reeled off three big swings from the left pin to give MSU an early 7-2 advantage, but the visitors countered with an 10-2 run to take a 12-9 lead. MSU trimmed it to one before the Huskers re-eastablished it to three points at 14-11, but a big block from Reinig made it 14-12 and stopped the Husker rally. The visitors pushed it back out to five at 19-14, forcing MSU into a timeout; the Spartans responded with two straight points out of the break, a Toliver kill and an ace by Minarick, and got it back to a tie ballgame at 20-20. A similar point-for-point dance ensued as it did in the second frame, and with the teams tied at 23, a Nebraska shot sailed long to give MSU set point, and the Spartans sealed it with a Garvelink block to take a 2-1 advantage. Reinig and Toliver each had four kills, with Reinig adding two blocks, while Muir had eight digs in the frame.

SET FOUR: Tied early in the set at 5-5, a 5-1 Husker run forced MSU's first timeout in the fourth set. The visitors continued to pad their lead until they had an eventual 10-point advantage at 20-10 - but the resilient Spartans reeled off five straight to cut the lead in half and force Nebraska into a timeout. Reinig added another big swing and the Huskers committed an error to make it a 7-0 Spartan run,trumming the lead to just three points. MSU kept coming, countering a Rolfzen kill that halted the rally with a Fitterer block that made it 21-18 in favor of the Huskers. Three straight points for the Big Red gave them set point, and a shot went long for MSU that sent the match to a decisive fifth set. Fitterer led MSU with three kills and a block, as the Spartans hit just .079.

SET FIVE: An early 4-1 MSU lead turned into a 7-7 deadlock with a Husker rally, and a Fein kill gave the Huskers the slim 8-7 edge at the crossover. Despite back-to-back service errors, the Huskers were able to capitalize on a Kadie Rolfzen kill to pull ahead by two (10-8), forcing MSU into its timeout. A shot sailed long for the Spartans to give NU an 11-8 edge, but the visitors made back-to-back errors after a Toliver termination to make it 11-11 at the Nebraska timeout. Tied at 12-12, Toliver made an impressive play to keep the ball in bounds and the play alive, but the point eventually went to the Huskers on a Roflzen block. MSU twice fought off match point with back-to-back Toliver kills to knot the game at 14-14, but the HUskers got the last two points to take the final set by a 16-14 edge and the match by a 3-2 margin. Toliver had five kills in the final frame.

QUOTABLE We really challenged our team this week - and for the first time in a few matches, I really saw a fight in our team that we have to have to be successful. Tonight, we pushed a really good team to the limit, but at least we fought and really brought it to the floor. We're not satisfied with losses by any means - but this is a lot better than what we've been seeing. Now, its time for us to really buckle up and bring this type of effort - because there's just not that many games left."

-- Head Coach Cathy George

TOP PERFORMERS 

Chloe Reinig recorded a team-high 13 kills and added five blocks, one solo.
Holly Toliver posted 12 kills, hitting .273. Five of her kills came in the final set.
Allyssah Fitterer posted a team-best eight blocks (one solo) and added 11 kills, hitting .259.
Allyssah Garvelink posted six blocks and added four kills, while Megan Tompkins contributed six blocks and added nine kills, two off her season high.
Rachel Minarick posted her ninth double-double of the season with 30 assists, 14 digs, and two blocks, and Halle Peterson had 15 assists as MSU returned to a 6-2.
Kristen Muir finished the match with 23 digs,, while sophomore Abby Monson had 17.

STATS AND STORYLINES 

MSU is now 2-16-2 all-time against the Huskers, with both wins in the series for MSU coming at Jenison Field House. MSU's last win over the Huskers came in October of 2013.
MSU set a season best while holding a 15-12 edge over the Huskers in blocks. MSU's previous season-best total was 14, against Kentucky and Virginia Tech. MSU's previous Big Ten best was 12.5, set vs. Maryland. MSU was out-blocked in each of its last six matches after being out-blocked just twice in its first eight Big Ten contests.
MSU's 59 kills was the third-most for the Spartans this season, while its 54 assists is tied for its Big Ten high this season.
The Spartans had 72 digs in the match.its most since 83 vs. Kentucky in the season opener (Aug. 28).
Allyssah Fitterer had double-digit kills (11) for the first time since the match vs. Maryland (Oct. 14), where she had 13. Her eight blocks tied her season high set at Maryland.
Kristen Muir's 23 digs is her most since posting a career-best 26 in the season opener vs. Kentucky. Abby Monson's 17 digs was her most since 18 vs. Iowa on Oct. 10.
The Spartans head back on the road this weekend, heading to Bloomington to take on Indiana on Saturday at 7 p,m.