The No. 12 Spartans were stunned by Wright State in five games, 30-26, 25-30, 30-25, 22-30 and 11-15. The loss dropped the Spartans to 5-1 on the year.
However, the win boosted the Raiders to the 5-1 mark.
“I’m overwhelmed right now,” Wright State head coach Joylynn Tracy said minutes after the contest concluded. “We never quit and (MSU) knew it.”
Right from the get-go, signs pointed a championship win wouldn’t be a picnic for the Spartans. MSU scored first on senior middle Angela Morley’s service ace, but the lead was a stranger for the greater part of the game.
MSU fell behind early 6-2 and the deficit just grew from there. Finally tying the score at 16, it looked as if MSU would make a run, but the Raiders turned the tables once again. Wright State took a 24-18 lead, but then the Spartans began connecting on all cylinders.
The Spartans went on an eight point tear, forcing the Raiders to use both of their time outs. Unfortunately for Wright State, the time outs were useless as MSU secured the win on back-to-back service aces by senior middle Kyla Smith.
Going into game two, the Spartans hadn’t lost a game two contest all year. Wright State was determined to change that. The Raiders jumped out to a quick lead, one they never relinquished en route to a 30-25 win in game two.
With the game two win, the Raiders not only took a 1-1 tie into their locker room, they also took the momentum from the match.
“We had to put our mistakes behind us,” junior middle Jenny Rood said. “We had a clean slate.
“We wanted to come out dominant, but we let them get the jump early and with not establishing the lead, it hurt us.”
However, after the 10-minute intermission, it looked as if the Spartans had stolen that momentum. MSU took game three 30-25 and had the Raiders reeling.
But the team from Dayton, Ohio, wasn’t going to go down without a fight. They scorched MSU in game four by hitting at a .393 killing percentage. The Spartans on the other hand continued their attack woes, hitting a dismal .146 from the floor.
“We played horrible,” MSU head coach Chuck Erbe said. “We had no middle blocking.”
It was now down to the deciding game five - a game five that still used rally scoring but 15 was the magic number.
MSU jumped out to a 4-1 lead and the Spartan faithful could feel the title. Yet, the Raider faithful seemed to get the same impression when the Raiders knotted the score at five. From that point on, the Spartans were playing catch-up and the time ran out.
“Once we got behind in game five, they started doubting themselves,” Erbe said. “That never helps.
“Wright State played better than us tonight and they deserved to win.”
