Oct. 6, 2006

Box Score

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois volleyball team came up short against an aggressive Michigan State squad, falling 3-0 at Jenison Field House in East Lansing, Mich., by game scores of 30-25, 30-22, 33-31 on Friday night. Despite a grueling effort in game three, Illinois could not find their rhythm in a match where the Orange and Blue were plagued by errors.

Redshirt sophomore Kayani Turner paced the Illini at the net with 18 kills on the match, marking her 10th time to lead Illinois in the category. Junior Vicki Brown tossed in 13 kills from the middle, while freshman Ashley Edinger led the way on defense with 11 pickups.

"We came out very timid," head coach Don Hardin said. "When you come out on your heels against a team like Michigan State, they are going to take control of the match. We just never played our style of volleyball. This was an important game for us, but we still have to keep in mind that we have 15 matches left in conference play and are still in the hunt."

In game one, Illinois looked a little shaky in the early goings, giving Michigan State an early lead at 12-9. The Orange and Blue kept within striking distance of the Spartans for most of the game, however, the Spartans remained aggressive at the net, finishing the game with a .444 hitting percentage. Illiniois could not get any closer than two points in the game at 20-18, before MSU kicked into another gear to close out the game 30-25. The story of the game was errors for Illinois, who committed four service and 11 attacking errors in the opening affair, to only 17 kills and one ace.

The Spartans picked up where they left off in game two, jumping out to a quick 9-4. Illinois countered with a string of points of their own to close the game to within two off a Turner kill. However, Illinois played most of the game out of system, as Michigan State applied an aggressive and fast-paced offense to keep Illinois playing from behind the entire game. At 20-17, MSU settled into a strong rotation where they rattled off four straight points to make it 24-17. The lead would turn out to be too great to overcome as Illinois fell behind 2-0 in the match on a 30-22 game-two loss. In the game, the Illini found themselves at the mercy of the Michigan State attack, which posted a match-high .516 hitting percentage in the game, to just a .159 for the Orange and Blue.

With the fate of the match at hand, Illinois found a rhythm in game three, managing to keep Michigan State trailing for most of the game. Illinois turned up its pressure on serve, while defensively nailing passes in transition to allow sophomore setter Lizzie Bazzetta to spread around the offense. Bazzetta finished the match with 42 assists and three digs. However, the strength of the Big Ten's kills per-game leader, Katie Johnson of MSU, proved too much to overcome. Johnson finished the match with 24 kills, eight of which came in the final game. On Illini side of the net, Turner helped Illinois hold the lead for most of the final game, pounding down eight of her 18 kills in the final stanza to give Illinois a 20-17 lead. The Illini led by as many as five midway through the contest, but a feisty Spartan defense helped them sneak back into the lead at 24-23. Taking advantage of badly-timed errors by Illinois, Michigan State earned two game points before they were able to seal the sweep with a 33-31 game-three victory.

The Spartans out-blocked the Illini 10-5, which proved to be the turning point for Michigan State in winning game one. On the offensive side, MSU posted an impressive .402 attack percentage to a .192 hitting percentage for Illinois.

The Illini now look to bounce back as they take on the Michigan Wolverines on Sunday, Oct. 8, in Ann Arbor, Mich., at 2 p.m. (EST).