West Lafayette, Ind. - The No. 16 MSU volleyball team continues its roller-coaster ride through the season.
For the third straight week, MSU (11-5 overall, 3-3 Big Ten) split its two matches. The Spartans were overwhelmed by Purdue (11-5, 4-2) on Friday night, but recovered and beat Indiana (9-8, 2-4) on Saturday.
The Spartans were beaten by Purdue in three games, 31-33, 29-31 and 22-30. The Boilermakers' first-year head coach Dave Shondell has his team playing some of the better volleyball in the conference and MSU was just another victim in West Lafayette, Ind. The Boilermakers, a preseason pick to finish last in the conference, have looked the complete opposite as they are near the top of the Big Ten.
MSU was outplayed, especially when trying to close out games. The team was up 19-11 in game one and 28-27 in game two - unable to win either.
The Spartans bounced back with a four-game victory over the Hoosiers, 26-30, 30-25, 30-26 and 30-25. The win kept MSU unbeaten in four-game matches this season.
"I was pleased we were able to secure a win," Erbe said. "After a loss like last night, a win feels good."
Even in the Spartans' win, they had trouble closing out Indiana, opening up the match by losing game one and looking like the team who played Purdue the night before. They quickly turned things around in game two and rolled through games three and four.
"When we pass tighter to the net, we're able to get our middles established and that takes a lot of the pressure off the outside hitters," senior setter Nikki Colson said. "(Friday,) the outside hitters had so much pressure on them, they felt like they had to be perfect."
On Saturday, MSU spread the ball around and got the good passing it needed to get the ball to the right people. The Spartans' middles, senior Jenny Rood and sophomore Megan Wallin, had a combined 22 kills and had an attacking percentage of more than .400.
Another player who stepped up on Saturday was sophomore outside hitter Brooke Langston. After not playing much in the nonconference schedule, Langston has stepped up her game in the past month.
Langston switched from middle to outside hitter when junior outside Michelle Kopka was sidelined with a back injury. The injury to Kopka left a hole on the right side, which Langston has been filling nicely.
"I'm starting to feel more confident in the position," Langston said. "But I just think everybody had confidence in everyone else's abilities and that was a difference tonight."
For the night, Langston had 11 kills, four assists, two digs and an amazing .600 hitting percentage. The match was easily the best of her career.
The Spartans' inconsistent play, both individually and as a team, will need to find an upswing. The lack of consistency is nothing new to the senior members of the squad, since they can remember MSU has always been a back-and-forth conference team.
"I don't know what the one solution is and I don't think anyone knows," Colson said. "All we can do is play with purpose and play with attitude."
MSU will try to break the trend by attempting to win two at Jenison Field House on Friday and Saturday. The Spartans face Illinois (13-3, 4-2) and Northwestern (11-7, 2-4) and will try to take advantage of the momentum gained with the win over Indiana.
"We're kind of at a point right now where we have nothing to lose," Colson said. "If we don't start playing now, we're going to blink and the season is going to be over."
