EAST LANSING- A day after sweeping in-state foe Eastern Michigan 3-0 on Monday, Spartan volleyball took the floor and looked to take the momentum they gained in Ypsilanti back to East Lansing in their matchup with Purdue Fort Wayne.

They did just that, starting off strong, taking the first two sets of the match and using that strong start to defeat the Mastodons in four sets (25-14, 25-19, 21-25, 25-22).

In the first set, the Spartans took an early 3-2 lead and quickly expanded it to 7-2 thanks to a nice 4-0 scoring run. 

The Spartans scoring was helped all throughout the first by Mastodon errors, with Purdue Fort Wayne committing nine in set one. 

Akasha Anderson and Taylah Holdem both had four kills in the first set, with Holdem hitting .500 going 4/8 on attempts. After Purdue FW settled in and closed in on the MSU lead to make it 12-8 in favor of Michigan State , the Spartans again used a strong offensive surge to have subsequent runs of 5-0 and 4-0 to balloon the lead to 21-10. 

A little back and forth ensued towards the end of one but the Spartans took set one handedly, 25-13.

In the second set, the Mastodons started to find their footing, putting themselves ahead 5-4 and early thanks to three three errors by MSU and after some back and forth action, the Mastodons kept up and held the lead throughout the set. 

Anderson and Holdem continued their offensive performance early in the second, with two kills a piece early to give MSU an 8-7 lead, and after some scoring by both squads MSU used a 4-1 run to take a 15-13 lead, forcing Purdue Fort Wayne head coach Steve Florio to call a timeout to talk things over. 

Whatever was said worked for a little, as after MSU scored a quick one out of the timeout, PFW went on a scoring run of their own, taking three straight to tie it at 16. 

MSU used a nice 5-0 run to give themselves a 23-18 lead after things were tied up 18 all. After the Mastodons scored one off a Mya Plemons kill, MSU scored two in a row to take the second set by a score of 25-19.  

Evie Doezema shined in the second and led the Spartans with six kills. Set three saw an early service ace by MSU star libero Nalani Iosia to help her squad jump out to a 6-3 lead. 

The Mastodons scored two straight and then MSU used a 4-0 scoring run to make it 10-5, which led to a timeout by PFW. MSU made it 15-8 after steady play to keep and slowly expand their lead. 

Purdue Fort Wayne closed in and slowed down the Spartan push thanks to a couple of attack errors by Anderson and Doezema, and closed back in using a coinciding 4-1 run to make the score 17-14.

After a Mastodon service ace by Nicole Jones made the score 19-17, Spartan head coach Leah Johnson decided to call her first timeout of the set to try and settle her team back in. 

Out of the timeout, PFW continued their sudden surge, tying the set at 19, and eventually taking a 22-20 lead. Due to an Abby Stratford kill and a Panna Ratkai service ace, coach Johnson decided to call another timeout to try and weather the storm that the Mastodons decided to create late in the third. 

The timeout did not work for the Spartans, as PFW scored two more to make it set-point for the Mastodons, who completed the comeback to take set three, 25-21.

Set four saw Purdue Fort Wayne continued their late success, giving themselves an early 5-3 lead. 

Taylor Preston scored three straight for MSU, helping them tie it 7-7 after some back and forth action. MSU kept it up, increasing their lead to 11-7 thanks to another short 4-0 offensive outburst by MSU, which led to a Mastodon timeout. 

Back and forth went both teams for a while, but a little Mastodon surge tied it up at 14. Taylor Preston had two straight kills, (her fourth and fifth of the set), to put MSU back ahead by two, but the Mastodons quickly responded with two kills of their own. 

Both squads traded points back and forth, one by one as the game was once again tied at 21 late in the fourth. MSU scored three straight points out of a PFW timeout to make it match-point, and the Spartans MSU prevailed, winning the fourth set 25-22 to take the match. 

Taylor Preston helped lead the Spartans to victory in both the set and match with seven kills in set four and 14 overall.

Iosia Nalani led MSU with 22 digs in another nice defensive performance. Senior setter Rachel Muisenga led the Spartans in assists with a solid 27. 

Three spartans were tied for the lead in kills during the match, with Taylor Preston, Evie Doezema, and Taylah Holdem all notching 14. 

For the Mastodons, Riley Rosneck led the team in kills, with 14. Londynn Betts led Purdue Fort Wayne in digs with 22. The assist leader was Nicole Jones, who had 18 in the match.

The victory makes two in a row for Michigan State (6-3), who is looking to head into conference play with a solid record to build off of. 

An opportunity for a pair of quality non-conference wins awaits as they head down to the Tar Heel State later this week to take on both Duke (Sep. 20) and North Carolina (Sep. 22) before starting conference play at arch-rival Michigan on September 27th.

For the Mastodons (4-6), they are looking to right the ship after the loss to Michigan State made it three in a row for Purdue FW. 

They will have a chance to bounce back when they host a tournament next weekend. Friday, they will take on St. Francis (PA), and on Saturday they will matchup against in-state rival Indiana State in the morning, and the Eagles of Eastern Michigan in the evening.