Something is bound to go wrong. That's about the only consistent thing the MSU volleyball team can count on right now.
Players say the system has gone awry and the team's rhythm has been off. Head coach Chuck Erbe has pointed to errors and the serve/pass game as problems plaguing the team.
Every weekend since Sept. 10, when the Spartans (7-8 overall, 1-5 Big Ten) beat Wichita State, excluding MSU's Oct. 1 victory over Indiana, "something" has gone wrong, leaving the team unsure if turnaround is in sight.
MSU did start the season with high hopes after starting the nonconference season with a 5-0 record. In early September, the team responded unfazed from the 0-3 loss to then ranked No. 1 Washington and players vowed to bounce back from a two-match loss at the Gamecock Invitational in South Carolina.
But a 1-3 blow dealt by Iowa, a team that won only six games last season, was a "loss that makes you sick," senior outside hitter Kim Schram said.
Not only did the Spartans lose the match that weekend, they lost junior middle and captain Megan Wallin for the season during a game at Minnesota. Wallin, one of the top hitters on the team, will have surgery on a torn ACL in her right knee on Thursday.
Now the team is facing the possible loss of junior middle and captain Brooke Langston for the season due to a recurring injury in her lower left leg, Erbe said.
Erbe said his heart sank when he found out Wallin would be gone for the rest of the season. Langston's injury only compounded the loss, he said.
"There are these injuries right from the beginning," Erbe said. "It takes its toll on everybody."
The season would be much different if Wallin and Langston weren't both injured for the season, Erbe said.
"We would be in a competitive position because then we would have all of our veteran players available to us to play."
The Spartans already have a young team, but with the injuries as many as five Spartan freshmen could be on the floor at one time, Erbe said. This hurts the teams preparation at practice, and confidence and performance on game night, Erbe said.
"Younger players have had to step into the lineup, maybe before they're ready," Erbe said.
The team has struggled with performing consistently, and individual players need to stand up to the pressure better, Erbe said.
"This is the number one volleyball conference in the nation," Erbe said. "Everybody's good, and every night you have to play well; you have to play consistent.
"If you don't, teams are better than you."
But for the volleyball players, the problems aren't so easy to define and it's getting frustrating, freshman setter Maggie Griffin said.
"Different games bring different problems," she said. "We can't seem to win when we're away."
Schram said individual breakdowns have hurt MSU, but "moments of great play" have shown that even without Wallin or Langston, the Spartans have the talent to beat any team in the Big Ten.
"We lost all doubt in our lineup," Schram said following a 2-3 loss to Purdue at home, a match Erbe said MSU should have swept. Last week, Schram said she hoped a Spartan turnaround was in sight.
"We put things in perspective," Schram said. "I think we've mended the situation in certain aspects," she said. But that was before the team lost to Michigan 1-3 on Wednesday and were swept at No. 24 Illinois on Saturday. The Spartans will play Wisconsin at 7 p.m. on Oct. 22 and will challenge Northwestern at 7 p.m. on Oct. 23 in Jenison Field House.
Griffin still holds out hope for the team's return home in two weeks. "I think we need to refocus, take a deep breath and realize what we're doing and what we're here for," Griffin said.
If there is one thing the team does have, it is a strong sense of will, Erbe said. But it has been a struggle.
"They are trying to put their best foot forward, and they are trying to do their best, and it is really a real challenge to keep that attitude when you're losing."
