Champaign, Ill. - Unforced errors cost the Spartan volleyball team a perfect weekend, as it settled for a split after Illinois swept MSU 3-0 in Champaign, Ill., on Saturday.
The Illini handled the Spartans for all three games of the match winning 30-27, 30-26 and 30-22.
The Spartans (11-4, 4-4 Big Ten) suffered more serve and pass breakdowns against the Illini, recording 12 service errors and 13 return errors.
The Fighting Illini (11-5, 4-4) had four of each and contrasted the inconsistent Spartan game with steadiness, especially in their passing and serving games, Illini head coach Don Hardin said.
“Our steady serving and passing really paid off for us tonight,” he said. “And it hurt MSU that they weren’t consistent in that part of the game.”
Spartan head coach Chuck Erbe said he blamed the errors for the three-game loss.
“It’s inconsistency and lack of execution,” Erbe said. “You cannot give up 25 points on serve-receive errors to their eight and be competitive.”
The Spartans never really challenged the Illini, especially with the way Illinois controlled the ball.
“They handled the ball better than us,” Erbe said. “We made the game really easy with all of our errors. They never had any pressure on them.”
The Spartans got double-doubles from senior outside hitter Erin Hartley, with 14 kills and 12 digs, and junior outside hitter Kyla Smith, who had 13 kills and 10 digs.
Middle blocker Lisa Argabright led the Illini with 12 kills. Outside hitter Shadia Haddad topped the team in digs with 15.
The Spartans began their weekend road trip well, dropping Indiana 3-1 Friday at Indiana‘s University Gym.
The team put together a better overall match and cracked the Hoosiers (4-12, 1-7) in four games.
MSU jumped out to a 1-0 lead behind a solid all-around performance from the entire squad. The Spartans finished the game with a .500 hitting percentage on 17 team kills in 30 attempts, with only two errors. They won game one 30-16.
Hartley led the charge for the Spartans, striking a game high eight kills and hitting at .700 efficiency. She finished the match was a season-high 22 kills.
“I thought Erin did a real nice job for them,” Indiana head coach Katie Weismiller said. “She not only did a nice job killing balls, but she didn‘t make a lot of unforced errors.”
The Hoosiers rebounded in game two with a 30-26 victory. The offense of outside hitter Christina Archibald and middle blocker Melissa Brewer paved the way for the Hoosiers.
Erbe said Archibald, a freshman, showed great poise playing in her first round of Big Ten matches.
“I thought their freshman middle Archibald is really an athlete and did a real nice job,” he said. “She was really solid for them in all areas, in the back row and front row.”
Archibald finished with a double-double with 16 kills and 10 digs, both team highs. Brewer had a double-double of her own with 14 kills and 10 digs.
The Hoosier’s defense in game two not only limited the Spartan attack, but triggered their offense, Weismiller said.
“I think defensively, we dug quite a few balls,” she said. “When we could dig a lot of balls and keep them in rallies, we were in pretty good shape.”
The Spartans fought through 10 hitting errors to comeback from a 23-18 deficit to win the third game 30-28.
Indiana held a lead as late as 28-26, before the Spartans reeled off four straight points to win.
Attack errors from Indiana outside hitters Nikki Hill and Meghan Stout and Spartan kills slammed by Angela Morley and Kim Schram closed out the Hoosiers in game three.
The Spartans left little chance for the Hoosiers to come back before pulling away to a 30-20 victory and a 3-1 match win.
“I thought we came through at crucial times, especially in game three when we were down,” sophomore setter Nikki Colson said. “That takes a lot of character, and I think this team pulled through and showed a lot of character.”
