University of Illinois
13-2, 5-0Big Ten
Michigan State
9-7, 1-4Big Ten
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 25 | 20 | 19 | 25 | 15 | 3 |
| Michigan State | 18 | 25 | 25 | 15 | 13 | 2 |
No. 6 Illinois Survives Five-Setter at MSU
October 8, 2010 | Volleyball
Oct. 8, 2010
East Lansing, Mich. - Michelle Bartsch had a career-high 25 kills as No. 6 Illinois escaped with a five-set 25-18, 20-25, 19-25, 25-15, 15-13 victory at Michigan State (9-7, 1-4 Big Ten) Friday night. The Spartans led the Illini in every statistical category and used a balanced attack to take the match to the limit. The win keeps Illinois perfect in the Big Ten at 5-0 and extends its overall record to 13-2, a game lead in the league over Northwestern, Michigan and Minnesota, all of which are 4-1. The Illini try to stay perfect at No. 18 Michigan on Saturday night.
Michigan State led Illinois in kills (60-57), attack percentage (.200-.169), assists (57-53), digs (71-58) and blocks (12-8), but Illinois pulled out the win.
"To be honest, we didn't deserve to win this match," said Illinois head coach Kevin Hambly. "They out-played us. We'll take the `W,' but we have to play a whole lot better."
Trailing two sets to one, the Illini got back to rhythm, led by Bartsch, who had eight kills in the fourth set. Junior Jackie Wolfe served the critical points. With Illinois leading 10-8, the Illini scored six straight points, five on the Wolfe serve and two on kills by Colleen Ward to go in front 15-8. The Illini had its best attacking set in the fourth, hitting .333 compared to Michigan State's .118. Illinois extended the lead to 21-10 before closing out the set.
Set five had six ties and two lead changes. Michigan State jumped to a 10-8 lead off the arm of middle blocker Jenilee Rathje, who had five kills in eight swings in the set. After a time-out, though, Illinois scored four straight points, two on kills by Ward and Bartsch and two on a pair of blocks - a solo from Ward and an assist from Ward and Bangert. Bartsch finished off the match with a kill off the block and the Illini pulled it out.
"Michelle made a ton of big plays late in the match," Hambly said. "Michigan State did a good job of loading up our left and Michelle picked it up when we needed it."
Laura DeBruler had 17 kills and 13 digs, Bartsch and DeBruler combined for 42 of Illinois' 57 kills and 108 of the Illini's 166 attacks. Bangert was in on four of Illinois' eight blocks on the night. Hillary Haen tallied 48 assists.
Michigan State had a balanced attack. Rathje and Becca Zlabis had 14 kills apiece while Kynda Abron and Megan Schatzle had 12 kills apiece. Abron was in on 10 of Michigan State's 12 blocks.
Illinois broke open a tight first-set, which had nine ties and three lead changes. The set was tied 17-17, but the Illini scored eight of the final nine points, the final five on the serve of Jennifer Bonilla (13 digs), who had two of her match-high three aces in the rally.
The middle two sets belonged to Michigan State, who trailed just twice in those sets. The Illini combined for just 19 kills in those sets while hitting a combined .057.
Illinois, which had lost to Michigan State last season, survived a night in which four of the five Big Ten home teams won, including Purdue, who knocked off No. 4 Penn State in five sets in West Lafayette.
"The reality is that we found a way, that's what our leadership does," Hambly said.
