The MSU volleyball team may have gotten the confidence boost they needed this weekend.
Despite losing to No. 18 Wisconsin on Friday night in four games, the Spartans recovered by dominating a red-hot Northwestern squad to leave the weekend with a 1-1 mark.
MSU fell in four games to the Badgers 25-30, 35-33, 23-30 and 25-30 Friday in front of a tough Wisconsin crowd. But entering Evanston, Ill., on a three-game losing streak wasn’t going to stop the Spartans. MSU upended Northwestern in four games, 30-26, 29-31, 30-19 and 30-17.
“Of all the things we did well this weekend - we performed well as a team,” MSU assistant coach Todd Dagenais said. “As far as wins go, this is one of the biggest wins of the year for us.
“This was called a ‘must win’ and the kids showed up (Saturday).”
After the weekend split the locker room was joyous for the first time in a couple of weeks.
“This weekend was a definite confidence booster,” senior middle Angela Morley said. “We wanted to have fun and play together, and I think we accomplished both of those. To have another win on the road is great for us right now.”
Morley not only got to celebrate the Spartans’ win over the Wildcats, she became MSU’s all-time block assist leader with 498.
Morley played a big role in the Spartans’ domination over the Wildcats tallying five block assists and tallying 10 kills. But in the last few weeks, the Spartans have consistently had a couple of players stand out, while others have had dismal performances.
Against Northwestern, everything came together. Senior outside hitter Kyla Smith, who has been struggling to find her game, broke out of her slump by hitting .424 with 17 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Kim Schram was second on the team in kills with 15 and hit .286.
The Spartans were also clicking on the defensive side of the ball. MSU had 16.5 blocks while also recording 53 digs.
Much of the great defensive performance is due to Megan Wallin. The 6-foot-3 redshirt freshman was moved to a starting middle position as head coach Chuck Erbe scuffled his lineups before the weekend and she delivered. Wallin recorded nine blocks in Saturday’s win - that coming after a 10-kill, three-block performance Friday night.
“Megan was a big advantage for us,” Smith said. “She really came out and played with a lot of poise.”
In Friday’s match, the Spartans didn’t play horrible volleyball, they played competitively for nearly the entire match, but were plagued by crucial errors.
Saturday’s effort can arguably be contributed to the Spartans resilience in Friday’s final game. At one point in game four, the Spartans were trailing 10-6 when Erbe used his first timeout. The Badgers didn’t let the pause stop their momentum, reeling off another five straight points.
Erbe used his second and final timeout of the game but Wisconsin still took the first point out of the break. Then MSU turned it around. Down 16-6, the Spartans rallied back and got within one at 18-17. They wouldn’t get any closer, but fought for the duration of the game.
“I think people are seeing winning in their eyes now,” Wallin said. “And now they know losing isn’t an option.”
