The No. 25 MSU volleyball team started its season by winning the Maryland Invitation over the weekend, highlighted by nine players achieving career milestones.
Junior outside hitter Kim Schram had a career-high 32 kills in the team's five-game victory over Tennessee on Saturday. In the other two matches, Schram recorded 22 combined kills giving her 54 for the weekend. Those statistics combined with her .410 attack percentage helped Schram land the Most Valuable Player award for the tournament.
Senior setter Nikki Colson notched a career best of her own with 74 assists against Tennessee. Colson had 150 assists over the weekend. Colson was one of the six players named to the Maryland Invitational all-tournament team.
"Nikki Colson did an amazing job of setting and leading our team this weekend," MSU head coach Chuck Erbe said.
The other Spartan who received accolades was senior outside hitter Jenny Rood, who along with Colson was named to the six-player all-tournament team. Rood recorded five block solos and eight total blocks against Villanova as well as seven block assists vs. Maryland.
She had 50 kills and an attack percentage of .406 to go with her three-match total of 16 blocks.
"Jenny Rood was in All-Big Ten form," Erbe said. "She's too quick. People just can't stay with her."
Two other players who had career bests were sophomore defensive specialist/libero Marley Bellwood with 20 digs and junior outside hitter Michelle Kopka, who against Tennessee had 20 digs and 25 total attacks, respectively.
The record-breaking weekend gave MSU just the start they wanted for the season - three victories.
Friday night, in their first match of the season, the Spartans scored a 3-0 victory over Villanova, 30-14, 30-27 and 30-25. Erbe wasn't expecting much of a challenge from the Wildcats, and he didn't get one. MSU disposed of the Wildcats by outhitting them .342 to .088 for the match.
On Saturday afternoon, in the most challenging and exciting match of the weekend, MSU rallied for a 3-2 win against Tennessee, 28-30, 26-30, 31-29, 30-28 and 17-15 with two of the games needing extra points.
After falling behind by two games, MSU needed an extra point in game three to extend the match. Then, after winning another close game in the fourth, MSU needed two extra points in the fifth to pull off a comeback.
"Coming back from an 0-2 deficit on the road and getting a win is a great victory by any team's standards," Erbe said. "That was just a tremendous win for our players. They maintained their poise the whole match."
After the long, grueling match against Tennessee, MSU's work was not done as they had to return later in the evening to play tournament host Maryland. The team's conditioning showed as MSU took the match, and the tournament title, in three straight games, 30-21, 30-27 and 30-15.
"I couldn't be more pleased with what happened this weekend," Erbe said.
For the fourth straight season, MSU has opened its season with a 3-0 start. Last season, the team started 5-0 and they had a 7-0 start the year before.
MSU was one of only two Big Ten teams, along with Penn State, who made it through the weekend undefeated. Penn State is 4-0 to start the season.
