Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan State
Volleyball Team Succumbs to Michigan State, 3-1
10/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 19, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - No. 23 Michigan State cruised to victories in the third and fourth games Saturday night on its way to defeating Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Spartans improved to 12-7 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten with the 30-26, 29-31, 30-19, 30-17 victory. The Wildcats fell to 12-8 and 5-3 with the loss.
Erika Lange (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) recorded 16 kills for Northwestern, which hit .119 in the match compared to .248 for MSU. Iwona Lodzik (Tarnobrzeg, Poland/Tarnobrzeg) addd a double-double for NU with 11 kills and a match-high 15 digs. Lizzie Carlson (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) added 14 digs for the 'Cats, who fell to 0-5 against ranked opponents this season.
Northwestern led 22-19 in Game 1 before a pair of NU attack errors and two service aces by Nikki Colson gave the Spartans a 23-22 lead. With the scored tied 24-24, MSU scored the next four points and six of the game's final eight to pick up the win.
Kyla Smith paced Michigan State with six kills in seven attacks in the game.
The Wildcats jumped out to an early 6-1 lead in the second game, before he Spartans rallied to within 12-11. Northwestern was able to hold the precarious lead and eventually pushed its advantage to 28-25.
However, MSU scored four of the next five points to tie the game 29-29. NU answered the run, as kills by Kelli Meyer (Madison, Wis./Edgewood) and Lange evened the match at one game apiece. Lange's five kills in six attacks led Northwestern to the win.
The third game was all Michigan State. With the score tied 9-9, the Spartans went on an 8-2 run to take a 17-11 lead. NU closed to within 18-14, but MSU dominated the remained of the game, closing it out on a 12-5 run.
The Wildcats posted just 11 kills with 12 errors in the game as the hit -.029 in the frame, compared to .310 for Michigan State.
The Spartans carried the dominance into the fourth game, cruising to an 11-1 lead. Four straight points by Northwestern got it to within six, but that's as close as it would get. NU hit .026 in the final game, while MSU hit .276.
The 'Cats had trouble hitting over the Spartan blockers all night long, as the visitors finished with 27 block assists, including 17 in Game 4.
Northwestern will return to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday when it hosts No. 18 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
