Kalamazoo - It was the upset of all upsets.
Unfortunately for the MSU women’s volleyball team, they weren’t on the winning end.
After reaching the WMU Invitational championship game, the No. 12 Spartans fell to Wright State in a dramatic five game series, 30-26, 25-30, 30-25, 22-30 and 11-15.
“That’s the biggest win in our history,” Raider head coach Joylynn Tracy said with tears dripping down her face. “I’m a little overwhelmed right now.
“I knew we can play at that level, but to put it all together - that’s amazing.”
On the other hand, it was the Spartans worst performance of the season. The Spartans tallied 35 killing errors which led to their dismal .156 killing percentage.
Serving was another enemy for MSU. Though they landed 10 service aces, they committed 17 service errors.
“They played good enough to win,” MSU head coach Chuck Erbe said. “We played terrible.
“They were better than us and they deserved to win - we deserved to lose.”
The Spartans had their chance to take the match after jumping to an early lead in the final game. Unfortunately for the green and white, they let the lead slip away.
“I felt in that fifth game when we got behind, we started doubting ourselves,” Erbe said. “They didn’t play with heart after that.”
The Spartans struggled to find a rhythm from the get-go. In game one, MSU was trailing 24-18 when a mammoth turnaround occurred.
MSU put together an eight-point run, forcing Wright State to use both timeouts. However, not even the timeouts could stop the potent MSU offense as the Spartans went on to win 30-26.
The momentum shifted to the Raiders’ side of the ball in game two. Thanks in part to MSU’s .068 kill percentage, Wright State went into the locker room tied.
Game three was MSU’s best game of the match, but they still weren’t running on all cylinders. Game four was another turning point, but it came for the Raiders.
The Raiders had a .393 kill percentage, totaling 14 kills in the game. The 30-22 win was the most lopsided game in the match.
The Spartans, who were just trying to come alive and shift the momentum toward the end of game four, jumped out to an 4-1 lead early in the final game.
But after a Wright State timeout, the Raiders weren’t going to be stopped. They tied the score at five and didn’t trail the remainder of the match.
“It’s a learning experience, and we can’t dwell on it,” Erbe added. “We just have to move forward.”
Aside from the loss, four Spartans reached double digits in kills in the match. Junior middle Jenny Rood led MSU with a career-high 22.
Junior setter Nikki Colson had 53 setting assists, while junior defensive specialist Emmy Miller picked up 13 digs for MSU.
Reaching the championship game wasn’t difficult for the Spartans. MSU swept both its previous opponents in three straight games.
Friday night, the Spartans defeated tournament host Western Michigan (1-5) 30-21, 30-27 and 30-28.
In its Saturday morning contest, the Spartans swept DePaul (0-6) 30-15, 30-17 and 30-20.
Following the two wins, the Spartans were still unclear if they would be playing for the championship Saturday night. It was all dependent on if Wright State beat Western Michigan.
After losing the first game, Wright State came back to beat Western Michigan 3-1, making its matchup with the Spartans for the title.
The loss exploited what the Spartans will have to work on for the Big Ten season. With their first conference game coming Sept. 27, the loss may have given the Spartans enough time to perfect their skills.
“I believe this was an eye-opening experience for us,” Rood said.
“It’s only up from here.”
