The MSU volleyball team garnered its first win on the road this past weekend against Indiana, and the Spartans fell to Purdue in a split weekend that left head coach Chuck Erbe with mixed feelings.

It could've been worse, but it could have been better, he said.

"It was a great opportunity to go 2-0, which would have put us into sixth place in the Big Ten," Erbe said. "When dealing with a young team, the road is always full of challenges."

The goal is to even the team's record to .500 in order to have any thoughts of making the NCAA Tournament, Erbe said.

As the Spartans (10-12 overall, 5-9 Big Ten) struggle to turn their record around, the team is two wins short of .500 in the conference season.

"It's a long shot," Erbe said, "but we have a shot at the NCAA Tournament."

The match against Purdue on Friday was the most critical of the weekend. The last time the two teams met was Oct. 7 when the Boilermakers defeated MSU 3-2 in the Spartan's first loss to Purdue at home during Erbe's tenure.

It was a match that Erbe and many players said MSU should've won.

Friday against Purdue, senior outside hitter Kim Schram led the team offensively with 24 kills in 73 attempts and posted 10 digs and three blocks. Junior middle Brooke Langston and freshman middle Meghan Schoen each posted 13 kills while junior libero Marley Bellwood provided strong defense with 20 digs.

Freshman setter Maggie Griffin had 66 assists, second only to her career record of 68 assists the last time the team met Purdue.

Despite the performance, MSU failed to stump the Boilermakers. The team battled and won game two after falling in game one, but could not recover after losing a substantial lead in game three and lost game four for a 3-1 match score.

"We just came out flat against Purdue," Erbe said.

The Spartans returned Saturday night with the resolve they needed to defeat the Hoosiers 3-1 in a match Erbe said the team should have won.

"We are physically better than they are," Erbe said.

But while MSU won games one and two of the match, the team lost focus in game three to bring the match to 2-1.

The decision to bring freshman middle Andrea Hansen to replace Langston, struggling with an injured leg, made the difference in game four, Erbe said.

Hansen contributed five kills with a .500 attack percentage with two assists and four block assists Saturday night.

Meanwhile, Schram had a match-best 25 kills with a .276 attack percentage and contributed six digs. Griffin had 50 assists and 13 digs.

Erbe said the team is looking forward to the upcoming games when they face Iowa at 7 p.m. Friday and Minnesota at 8 p.m. on Saturday at Jenison Field House.

Coming off a confidence boosting three-win streak last week and a road win this past weekend, Erbe said the team's positive outlook is renewed.

"We have a shot at gaining some ground when earlier it was out of reach," Erbe said.

"That's motivation for every one of our matches."