EAST LANSING – After dropping the first game of the season to Michigan, Michigan State was focused on keeping the State Pride flag in East Lansing.
It was a tough task for the Spartans, as they not only had to defeat Michigan but also needed a 3-0 victory.
Michigan entered the match on a five-game losing streak, giving the Spartans confidence to pull off the upset.
“We are hungry for more wins, and they’ve had a tough injury that’s affected their trend,” MSU head coach Leah Johnson said.
MSU and Michigan played back-and-forth to start the match, with the first set tied at 5-5.
Momentum shifted, as Michigan won five straight rallies to extend its lead to 10-5. The Spartans could never fully recover, cutting the deficit to two before Michigan ultimately won the first set 25-20.
“We missed a few key assignments that we discussed in the scout report,” Johnson said. “As we started hitting our assignments, the points started developing, but just a little too late.”
Something clicked for the Spartans in the second set, as they refused to let Michigan pull away. The set was tied 9-9 after a block by junior middle blocker Evie Doezema.
Doezema’s block sparked Spartan domination, as they took the lead and never gave it back, winning the second set 25-17.
The Spartans went on a 16-8 run led by junior outside hitter Akasha Anderson and senior outside hitter Aliyah Moore. The duo combined for six kills during the run, including back-to-back kills by Anderson that put MSU up 11-9.
“We started using our back-row attack a little more, which exploited a different part of their weakness in defense,” Johnson said. “It opened up our offense differently and changed how we could attack, and our offensive efficiency climbed every set.”
This new strategy helped MSU find offensive success for the rest of the match, as it’s hitting percentage increased from .119 after the first set to .250 by the end.
Michigans last lead came in the third set before an ace from senior setter Rachel Muisenga tied the set at 6-6, giving the Spartans the momentum they needed to close out the set.
The Spartans were cruising until Michigan fought back to make it 14-13, but an assisted block from Anderson and sophomore middle blocker Zuzanna Kulig shut them down. She led MSU to an 11-5 run, giving them the third set 25-18.
MSU ended the match with 10 blocks, led by Doezema and Kulig, who each tallied five.
“I was proud of our blockers because they tipped a lot, which allowed us a softer ball to try and manage and convert back for points,” Johnson said. “To come up with 10 blocks is huge.”
After winning back-to-back sets, MSU had no issues closing out the match. The Spartans led the entire fourth set, ultimately winning 25-18 on a Michigan attack error.
With a 3-1 MSU victory, the Spartans won back-to-back games for the first time since Sept. 20, giving them momentum as the regular season winds down.
“Winning begets winning,” Johnson said. “I thought this was an excellent performance of that, to just create momentum.”
The Spartans will be back in action Sunday at 3 p.m. in Iowa City, looking to extend their win streak to three as they battle the Iowa Hawkeyes.
