When the MSU volleyball team needing someone to step up because of injuries, a 6-foot-3 redshirt freshman middle did just that this past weekend.
The No. 25 Spartans (12-6 overall, 4-4 Big Ten) ended a three-game losing streak, and Megan Wallin had a lot to do with that.
Wallin delivered 10 kills and three blocks Friday’s loss to Wisconsin, and turned on other parts of her game the following night.
MSU needed to become better defensively, and Wallin answered the call. She clogged up the middle, recording a team-high nine blocks in a four-game victory over a red-hot Northwestern team.
“She made a comment to me that once the match started, she never heard the crowd,” MSU head coach Chuck Erbe said of Wallin during the Wisconsin contest.
“There were 4,000 people there and they all had those thundersticks, and they were crazy the entire match - and she never heard them.”
It wasn’t Wallin’s first weekend on the court, so that could have played a role in her ability to shut out the crowd.
Wallin has seen limited action earlier in the season, playing in five of MSU’s first 16 matches.
Erbe is one of many on the Spartan coaching staff that are happy Wallin ventured out of the Florida sun for her college education.
Other universities on her list included Penn State, Tulane and Indiana, but the Spartan atmosphere sucked her in.
“I came in with seven other freshmen and I just felt so welcomed here,” Wallin said.
“I wanted to just have a different atmosphere and climate for four or five years of college.”
As a redshirt, Wallin took in the ropes. She learned that college volleyball was much different than volleyball at the high school level, saying it was 100 times faster.
Quickly, she put everything she had been taught together, molding her game during intense practices over the summer.
Her ability to step up and get near the ball have made her a valued asset to her team.
“She fits in with the team real well and everyone loves to play with her,” senior middle Angela Morley said. “There’s definitely no dropoff when she’s on the court.
“Usually freshmen come in and they are inexperienced and they take some time to figure things out - not Megan.”
Wallin has become a big weapon with outside hitter Sara Villwock’s foot injury. With the grueling Big Ten schedule at hand, more weight is being put on her shoulders - a load Wallin doesn’t mind.
“After I started playing, I already felt like I was part of the team, part of the chemistry,” Wallin said.
“The important thing is our team winning, and I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
Another incentive for Wallin to have another superstar-like performance - her parents will be in the Jenison Field House crowd.
Tom Wallin, who never missed any of his daughters’ high school games, will be making the trip with his wife Linda to see his daughter play Spartan volleyball.
“I’ll probably forget they’re here right away,” Wallin said with a chuckle, knowing she blocks out the crowd while it’s game time. “I think it’s really important for my family because they are what got me here, and now they can see what they’ve done.”
Wallin will try to impress her folks as the Spartans take on Purdue (9-11, 0-8) and Illinois (9-8, 3-5).
Erbe said the Boilermakers are “one of the best 0-8 teams I’ve seen in the Big Ten in a long time,” and even though they have a goose egg in the conference win column, they can’t be overlooked.
Illinois, on the other hand has been the conference’s up-and-down team.
The Fighting Illini have beaten the Big Ten’s elites, including Minnesota and Wisconsin, but lost to the bottom-tier teams, Iowa and Ohio State.
“We’ve got some real big challenges this weekend,” Erbe said. “Purdue is not a gimme. Illinois is the Jekyll and Hyde of the conference.
“These are going to be two tough and very important matchups.”
