Minneapolis - Too many unforced errors led to the Spartans demise against the Golden Gophers on Friday.
MSU (8-3) looked to give Minnesota (14-2) a run for its money in the early going, but could never take control because of service errors and miscommunication. MSU fell in three games, 30-23, 30-27 and 30-28.
The Gophers’ jump serve was one of MSU’s biggest problems. The Gophers landed six service aces and most of their other serves were difficult for the Spartans to handle.
When MSU had chances to land its own service ace, they squandered those opportunities. The eight service errors weren’t the most the Spartans have notched all year, but normally they have countered their errors with a significant amount of service aces. On Friday, they only had one.
The biggest error was a meltdown in game three. Having their chance to at least force a game four, the Spartans squandered an eight-point lead .
“This is the worst game we’ve played this year,” junior outside hitter Sara Villwock said. “I don’t think any of us played the same game we’ve been playing all season.”
Game three looked to be one of the better games MSU had played all year. That was until its 18-10 lead was erased. MSU started off the game with a 6-2 cushion and continued to keep Gopher fans seated in the stands when they extended that lead to 10-5 forcing a Minnesota timeout.
The Gophers reeled off three straight points forcing MSU head coach Chuck Erbe to use a timeout.
The timeout settled the Spartans down, and MSU used a 8-2 run to jump out to a 18-10 lead. Slowly the lead faded away.
Every time MSU would notch a point, the Gophers seemed to tally two. Finally, Erbe used MSU’s second timeout to try and stop the comeback. It was to no avail.
“I just think they got a huge bit of momentum from their serving,” Villwock said. “I just don’t know what else to say.”
After the Spartans took both meetings last year 3-0, Gopher outside hitter Cassie Busse said this win felt like revenge.
“I definitely think it is,” said Busse. “After losing like we did last year, this does feel sweeter.”
The Spartans hung with the Gophers out of the gate. However, they didn’t find themselves in front very often. In fact, after MSU took a 5-4 lead, they were either tied or behind the rest of the way.
The Gophers forced the Spartans to use both of their timeouts, but not even a pep talk could help MSU.
Minnesota downed the Spartans in game one, 30-23, mostly in part to the Spartans’ dismal .114 hitting percentage. The Gophers hitting percentage of .235 wasn’t spectacular, but it was enough to pick up the win.
Game two mirrored the start of game two. However, MSU wanted a different ending. The Gophers began to pull away at 22-18 but that’s when the Spartans caught some fire.
MSU reeled off three straight points, forcing a Minnesota timeout. But MSU used a Colson-and-Rood combo to block a Minnesota kill attempt to tie the score at 22. That is when the wheels fell off.
A Villwock service error gave the Gophers the lead, and though Schram would tie the score with a kill on the following play another service error killed the rest of MSU’s momentum. The Gophers went on to take a 30-27 game two victory into intermission.
“It was just like a big blur,” said senior middle Angela Morley, who tallied her 750th kill on the night. “We just didn’t play well in all areas.
“But we’re just going to have to put that behind us and shift our focus to Iowa.”
The Spartans will look for better results when they travel to Iowa for an 8 p.m. contest Saturday.
