The No. 14 MSU volleyball team left the court Friday night all smiles after a four-game victory over No. 20 Wisconsin, and with good reason.
It was MSU's first win over Wisconsin this century. The Spartans had lost seven consecutive matches to Wisconsin dating back to 1999, including a season-ending loss in the second round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament. MSU beat Wisconsin 3-0 that season, but not a single member of this year's team was on the 1999 squad.
"Maybe we exorcised one of the demons for ourselves tonight," head coach Chuck Erbe said.
Erbe mixed up his lineup in order to get MSU (10-4 overall, 2-2 Big Ten) back on the winning track. He moved senior co-captain Emmy Miller from defensive specialist back to libero, started sophomore setter Mickey Davis at defensive specialist and allowed junior outside hitter Kim Schram to play the full rotation.
It worked, as MSU played with a fire and determination which it had been lacking in the past two weeks.
"We sat down and had a short meeting before Thursday's practice and put all the issues on the table," Erbe said. "One of the things that I looked at, in the lineup, was who are the most aggressive personalities and let's put them on the floor."
By putting Miller back at libero, MSU had more leadership and seniority on the floor than with sophomore libero Marley Bellwood.
"Emmy's very verbal and the players missed that and so I made the choice to put her back at libero," Erbe said.
Davis, a backup at setter to senior and three-time captain Nikki Colson, had not played much this season, especially at the defensive specialist position. But Erbe felt she could bring the type of toughness the Spartans needed to win.
The best decision seemed to be to let Schram play continuously.
She responded with 23 kills, seven digs, four blocks, one service ace and a .340 hitting percentage. An all-around great performance by MSU's most athletic player.
"I made a decision with Kim to leave her in all the way around and she passed the test," Erbe said. "She was exceptional. She was the most aggressive server and showed no fear."
The comparison between Wednesday's three-game loss to Michigan and Friday's win over Wisconsin was like night and day.
MSU players couldn't have played any better as Friday featured its most dominate game of the season in game one. The Spartans hit .548 while holding the Badgers to an abysmal .029 hitting percentage. MSU was slowed in game two, but resorted back to its first-game mentality for the third and fourth games.
"Everyone was really cocky tonight and we weren't going to leave this gym without a victory," sophomore middle Megan Wallin said.
A loss to Wisconsin would have left MSU 1-3 in the conference, clearly out of the Big Ten race. This win gives the Spartans momentum as they make their first conference road trip to Indiana and Purdue this weekend.
"We finally feel, as a team, how we want to feel in Big Ten," junior outside hitter Sara Villwock said.
