There won’t be any cupcake games in Florida this weekend for the MSU women’s volleyball team.
For the first time this season, the No. 19 Spartans (5-1) will play three highly regarded teams in the span of 26 hours in the South Florida Tournament in Tampa, Fla.
The only other ranked team in the field is No. 24 Kansas State (4-1), but Georgia Tech (7-1) is receiving votes in the USA TODAY/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll and South Florida (5-2) has the home court advantage.
“I definitely think this will be a good test for us,” junior outside hitter Sara Villwock said.
“I believe we’re going to do well, and I expect us to come out with no losses.”
The Spartans are coming off its only loss all season, a heartbreaker to Wright State in the WMU Invitational last weekend.
Redshirt freshman setter Mickey Davis said the Spartans are prepared to bounce back.
“We’ll never forget the loss to Wright State,” she said. “But we know how to put our losses behind us.”
The Spartans will have to put the loss behind them by 5 p.m. Friday when they hit the court in the first match of the tournament.
Their opponent, Georgia Tech, is led by outside hitter Lynnette Moster.
Moster leads the team with 122 kills and is currently ranked 19th in the nation with 5.08 kills per game.
Georgia Tech also has been playing some hot volleyball as of late. The Yellow Jackets have won five straight matches by a combined game score of 15-2 and have some impressive wins on their schedule this year.
Georgia Tech has already defeated Louisville 3-0. Louisville beat then-No. 6 Arizona 3-0 earlier this season.
Kansas State is playing in the Big 12, the premier volleyball conference, head coach Chuck Erbe said.
After losing their first game of the season, the Wildcats have reeled of four straight victories heading into Tampa.
“Kansas State has a lot of tradition, and this is going to be another classic Big 12-Big Ten matchup,” Erbe said.
South Florida comes into the match after winning another tournament it held last weekend.
Aside from the tournament win, the Bulls are on a five-match winning streak.
“South Florida has a lot of outstanding players on their team, and we play them last after we’ve played Georgia Tech and Kansas State,” Erbe said.
Davis said despite the challenge, the Spartans will rise to the occasion.
“Just like last year,” Davis said. “We can turn it up when we want to.”
