The sigh of relief heard this weekend came out of Jenison Field House from the MSU women's volleyball team.
The Spartans won two matches in a weekend for the first time since Sept. 20 when they beat American University and then-No. 21 San Diego on the same day.
"It definitely feels great to get two wins," senior setter and co-captain Nikki Colson said. "This is just what we needed to get some confidence under our belt. Nothing feels better than two wins in a weekend."
MSU completed the season sweep of Indiana with a 30-24, 30-23 and 30-23 victory Friday night. The Spartans beat the Hoosiers twice in a 20-day span, winning 3-1 in Bloomington, Ind., on Oct. 11.
"(Friday) night was just solid," head coach Chuck Erbe said. "We didn't have to manage any downturns. We were in control every step of the way."
On Saturday, the Spartans got revenge against Purdue with a 23-30, 30-16, 32-30 and 30-23 win. The more exciting of the two matches this weekend gave MSU reason to believe it is a good team, especially with its play.
After losing the first game, MSU needed to win game two to give itself a chance to win the match. It did so in dominating fashion and was spurred on by a huge play by senior defensive specialist and co-captain Emmy Miller.
A great dig by sophomore Mickey Davis flew backward almost off the court. At that point, Miller ran to the back of the court and dove to get one hand on the ball, keeping the play alive. MSU went on to get the point as the crowd let Miller know just how great a play she had made.
"When Emmy chased that ball down, our team was just blown away," Colson said. "The crowd was blown away - everyone was blown away. I don't know if she realized what she had just done. It gets our team so fired up when someone makes that big of an effort."
"Jenison, I don't remember it ever being that loud. Even if we've had bigger crowds, (Saturday night's) crowd was just so loud when that point happened. I just had that feeling after that point, the goose-bump feeling that we're going to win the game."
Junior outside hitter Kim Schram had one of the best weekends of her career putting up great numbers on both nights. Schram led the Spartans both nights in kills, and hitting percentage with 19 kills and a .562 hitting percentage on Friday and 29 kills and .411 hitting percentage on Saturday.
As good as Schram was this weekend, even she knows the MSU turnaround, with four wins in its last five matches, has been a team effort.
"The people that were struggling are playing better now and more confident," Schram said. "The weaker areas of our game have improved and the stronger areas have continued to show."
The Spartans have a short turnaround this week as they travel to Ann Arbor to play Michigan at 7 p.m. Wednesday night.
