Prior to the MSU volleyball team’s Green & White game Saturday, head coach Chuck Erbe called the inter-squad scrimmage a “coming out party.”
Anyone who listened to the radio or was in attendance at Jenison Field House didn’t have much of an argument. Each of the three games, two to 30 and another to 15, were competitive from the first serve to the last kill.
“I wanted to crush them,” senior outside hitter Kyla Smith said of the MSU White team. It was the senior’s first Green & White win.
Green came back from a first-game defeat to beat White 26-30, 30-28 and 15-9.
Hundreds of fans, families and friends packed Jenison Field House to watch the No. 15 Spartans and the team didn’t disappoint them.
“This gave us the opportunity to show our fans how hard we’ve been working over the summer,” said Kim Schram, a sophomore outside hitter who had a .345 kill percentage on the night.
“Basically, this was just for our fans and parents, to show them what we’ve been up to.”
But as he watched from the media porch, Erbe was looking at his options for the upcoming year, getting another look at the good, the bad and the ugly.
Erbe was pleased with nearly all parts of the game, but he said he did see some problems.
“We missed 25 serves in three games. You can’t be competitive with that kind of serve,” said Erbe,who is in his 10th season at the helm. “Serving has been our Achilles in the preseason for a while and this was just an extension of that.
“Putting the serving aside, I thought we had some great defense and some great rallies.”
Junior setter and co-captain Nikki Colson led both sides with eight digs while White teammate and senior co-captain Emily Engel chipped in seven. Freshman defensive specialist Marley Bellwood led Green with seven digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Diana Steplyk also helped out Green on the defensive side with two block solos.
“I thought our defense was really good today and that was something we have been working on,” Schram said. “I think our serve receive was very good and we kept the ball going for longer rallies.”
Offensively, the Spartans managed 63 kills altogether, 33 on the Green side and 30 on the White. Schram led both teams with 13 kills.
“I was very pleased with our attack, especially Kim Schram,” Erbe said. “Kim Schram is going to be a major force.”
Junior outside hitter Sara Villwock, who transferred from Colorado, was second in kills with 11 for Green.
Also for Green, Smith and junior middle Jenny Rood registered nine kills apiece. Senior middle Angela Morley chipped in six kills for White.
“I thought Villwock was a strong force too,” Erbe said. “You can see her maturity on the floor. She is a player.”
Erbe will have his work cut out for him this week. After choosing his starting six from the 18-player roster, he will have to work on MSU’s weaknesses as the season approaches.
The Spartans’ first match is Friday against Georgetown in the Coca-Cola/MSU Volleyball Classic. MSU plays two more games in the Classic on Saturday against Oakland and South Carolina, who are a few votes shy of being in the USA Today/AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll.
“I think all the pieces are there,” Erbe said. “But there is still a lot to work on. Again, this was just Green & White - a lot of players were playing with players next to them that they’re not used to playing with.
“I thought for the Green & White, I saw a lot more positives than negatives.”
