EAST LANSING- Since Nov. 8, the Michigan State volleyball team has surged, winning four of their last five matches in a stretch headlined by a Saturday night sweep of Maryland.
In their penultimate match of the 2024 season, the Spartans will look to continue their winning ways when they host Northwestern for some senior night festivities in East Lansing.
MSU accrued a staggering .320 hitting percentage in its last outing, managing to hit over .300 in all three sets against the Terrapins. MSU was spurred to victory by double-digit kills from junior outside hitter Akasha Anderson (for her fifth-straight game with 10+ kills), junior outside hitter Taylor Preston, and senior outside hitter Aliyah Moore, including a season-high 12 kills for Moore.
After racking up 18 against Maryland, senior setter Julia Bishop is 15th in the Big Ten in assists, joining fellow senior setter Rachel Muisenga in notching double-digit assists. Bishop, a native of Dearborn, has reached double-digit assists in all but two games of her senior campaign.
Sophomore middle blocker Zuzanna Kulig has led the charge all season on the defensive end for the Spartans, with her six blocks marking her highest sum since a Nov. 7 clash with the Terrapins in College Park. Kulig’s 146.0 blocks are second in the Big Ten, trailing only Purdue’s Raven Colvin.
In her final season in a Spartan uniform, senior libero Nalani Iosia tallied career highs in digs (479) and digs per set (4.56) to extend her Big Ten lead. Iosia’s volleyball career will not come to an end after the festivities, as the Long Beach, California native was selected in the Pro Volleyball Federation draft on Monday.
Iosia, who is just 17 digs away from 1,000 in her career, was selected by the Orlando Valkyries with the seventh pick in the fifth round as the 39th overall selection.
On the opposite side of the net, Northwestern is sitting at 5-21 overall and 3-15 in conference play, undergoing a slump of its own. Its last victory came on Nov. 10 against Iowa, but put up a good fight in their last outing in a four-set loss to Iowa on Saturday.
The contest will also be a homecoming of sorts for Northwestern graduate setter Alexa Rousseau, who amassed a double-double consisting of 30 assists and a season-high 18 digs. Rousseau, a native of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, has been one of the lone bright spots for a Northwestern team that has struggled mightily in conference play.
While the Spartans are surging, they will be tasked with keeping a dormant Wildcat offense at bay, with Northwestern second-to-last in kills and dead last in the conference with a .173 hitting percentage.
MSU possesses a 44-38 all-time record against the Wildcats including a 24-14 advantage in East Lansing. MSU has seen a recent bout of success against their Big Ten foe, winning six of their last ten against Northwestern, though the Wildcats prevailed in their last meeting in October 2023.
The Spartans and Wildcats will face off at 6 p.m. in MSU’s final match in front of the Breslin Center crowd of 2024.
