EAST LANSING– After cruising to a win over Marist, Michigan State set its sights on an undefeated home weekend with a tough Loyola Chicago squad on deck. MSU earned its goal and completed a 3-1 win over the Ramblers.
The Spartans appeared confident throughout the first set. Despite the Ramblers benefiting from six MSU attacking errors, the Spartans always looked in control of the moment.
This can be owed to the continued dominance of junior outside hitter Akasha Anderson, who began the match with six kills and ended with 17.
“She started the match, and they had lined her up pretty well and we kept talking about that chess match,” MSU head coach Leah Johnson said. “I love how she counterattacked and added some different tools to her game.”
Senior outside hitter Aliyah Moore also had a breakout start, from the outside and in front of the net. She recorded one blocking assist along with three kills in the first, as the Spartans finished off the period with a 25-19 win.
Loyola aimed to test MSU to begin the second set and flip the script. The Ramblers took an early 8-4 lead defined by a massive block courtesy of junior middle blocker Ann Marie Remmes, assisted by freshman outside hitter Kate Maley.
This early lead for the Ramblers never faded, as Loyola stifled any MSU comebacks. The set was defined by a clean kill from senior opposite hitter Esma Ajanovic that made it a set point, and a MSU service error that clinched it for the Ramblers at 25-22.
“They’re [Loyola] used to winning, they don’t do anything without a fight,” Johnson said. “We started getting frustrated with what we weren’t doing, instead of confident and poised in what we could do.”
In a third set where it became either teams match to take, grabbing momentum became key. A big opportunity arose in the second point of the window, where junior outside hitter Taylor Preston outlasted the Loyola attack and finished an extended rally for the Spartans. She finished the match with nine kills.
From there, MSU jumped out to an 11-5 advantage and never looked back. While the Ramblers would close it to 24-20 with a 5-0 run, sophomore outside hitter Taylah Holdem finished the job for MSU.
Holdem made a major impact on the match with nine kills, including one in the third that painted the baseline.
MSU kept its momentum rolling with another controlling start. Including two major assisted blocks upfront from junior middle blocker Nil Okur. However, Loyola did not go away quietly, eventually taking the lead at 16-15.
MSU grinded it out from that point forward, as both teams continued to go back and forth. The stalemate wasn’t broken until MSU took three of four points to end the set and match at 25-23, with the finisher coming from Okur dumping a kill into the middle of the court.
“I thought Nil Okur came in, was a huge spark for us. No errors, hit over .500 I believe, had a good blocking presence” Johnson said. “She’s just so fast, so when she gets on the court it adds a different element.”
MSU improves to 4-2 on the season and will be back at the Breslin Center against Western Michigan on Sept. 11, with game time set for 6 p.m.
