The Spartans had more trouble then they would have liked with the Hawkeyes on Saturday.
But in the end, MSU (9-3 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) defeated Iowa (6-6, 0-2) in four games, 30-26, 30-25, 19-30 and 30-27 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“I think we were very fortunate to win,” MSU head coach Chuck Erbe said. “I am pleased with the win even though it was ragged.”
The Spartans were without junior outside hitter Sara Villwock who sat out the game because of a sore foot. With one of their left side hitters on the bench, MSU had to change up the lineup.
MSU’s statistics showed the new lineup took some time getting use to. The Spartans finished up with a .215 hitting percentage and 32 attacking errors. Three Spartans landed double digit kills. Sophomore outside hitter Kim Schram led the way with a career-best 21 kills while junior middle Jenny Rood and senior outside hitter Kyla Smith were right behind with 17 and 14 kills, respectively.
Junior setter Nikki Colson also had an impressive showing, totaling 58 setting assists while also notching 14 digs.
Game one started the way it was expected to - with Spartan domination. MSU started out with a 7-4 lead, but the Hawkeyes weren’ t going to be a pushover. They tied the score at 9 and then kept the score close for the rest of the game.
Lucky for the Spartans, a .317 hitting percentage and 20 kills were enough to snag the 30-26 victory.
The Hawkeyes dominated the start of game two but the Spartans didn’t use a timeout. Erbe yelled instructions from the sidelines in hopes of reawakening his team. Slowly but surely, it worked.
With Iowa ahead 19-18, MSU went on a tear. With Angela Morley serving, the Spartans picked up seven straight points to take a 25-19 lead.
Unlike Friday night when MSU lost a 25-19 lead to No. 8 Minnesota, MSU held on to take game two 30-25, going into the locker room up 2-0.
Game three was a seesaw performance filled with many controversial calls. MSU trailed for most of the match and it wasn’t often Erbe stayed in his seat.
Erbe got in the officials face on three occasions about what he felt were miscalls. The Hawkeyes looked to be over the net a couple of times on their attack and had what seemed to be a couple of lift calls according to Erbe. But the referees saw otherwise and Iowa easily took game three, 30-19.
MSU switched the lineup around a bit in game four. Bellwood, who was playing as a defensive specialist, changed jerseys and was now the libero. Sophomore outside hitter Michelle Kopka saw her first action of the weekend.
“I changed the lineup in the fourth game to get more power,” Erbe said. “The move got Kyla on the left side and she delivered.
“Michelle Kopka came in and played extremely well. Stephanie Knopp also came in and we got a tremendous job in the backcourt from her.”
The second major lineup change of the evening didn’t look to help at all. MSU was trailing much of game four until the latter third of the game.
“I don’ t know what happened but all of a sudden our fire and drive to win was so high and things just started falling into place,” senior middle Morley said. “That just brought up our emotions and our intensity.”
The Spartans will next take the court against No. 11 Ohio State at 7 p.m. Friday at Jenison Field House.
