Head coach Chuck Erbe seemed shocked by the performance of the MSU volleyball team (9-11 overall, 4-8 Big Ten) in its stunning 3-1 victory over No. 21 Illinois on Friday.

"Who'd have thought?" Erbe said, checking over the team's numbers for the night.

"It's paying off."

Illinois entered the match after recently beating the previously undefeated Ohio State and beating then-No. 1 Southern Cal earlier this season. The Spartans were shut down 3-0 by the Fighting Illini in early October.

The Illini's confidence made them ripe for a defeat, and it showed before the first game of the match even started, Erbe said.

"I noticed in their warm-ups that Illinois was really flat," Erbe said. "There really was no reason for them to take us seriously."

MSU junior middle Brooke Langston and freshman middle Meghan Schoen were so excited they could barely speak after the win.

"It's a whole new feeling out there," Langston said. "We found a new sense of calmness out there."

Langston said MSU's heartening 3-2 win over intrastate rival Michigan, created a new sense of consistency, control and confidence on the court. While MSU has struggled to finish out matches, the Spartans proved they could do it during that match, Langston said.

"That was a tough match, and we came out on top," she said.

But Schoen said the team's attitude changed before battling U-M last week.

"After a group of people who work hard together every day lose and keep losing, there comes a point where you give up or you start fighting harder," Schoen said. "We reached that point and decided to fight harder."

This is the Spartans' first double-match conference win during a single week this season. The team was able to overcome emotional difficulties this week that they have struggled with throughout the conference season, Erbe said.

"They're not thinking about what they're doing, they're not worrying about what they're doing, they're just competing and playing right now," he said. "They're playing as a team."

While senior outside hitters Kim Schram and Michelle Kopka have had some of the strongest offenses on the team throughout the past number of games, both were highly defended by Illinois on Friday.

Schram was held to 13 kills with a .140 attack percentage, but made up for it with a solid performance on defense with 10 digs, five blocks and four service aces, Erbe said. Kopka had seven kills with a .048 attack percentage, seven digs and four assists.

While having well-defended leaders has previously hurt the team, the "supporting cast" of Langston, Schoen, and freshman outside hitter Katie Johnson, was able to make up the difference last weekend, Erbe said.

Schoen posted 18 kills and a .708 attack percentage followed by Johnson with 17 kills and a .324 attack percentage. Langston had 14 kills with a .619 attack percentage and six blocks.

Freshman setter Maggie Griffin had 61 assists during the night, and junior libero Marley Bellwood had a complete game for the Spartans with 27 digs and no errors throughout the entire night, Erbe said.

While the Spartans need to maintain their focus after the victories, Erbe said, the team deserved this weekend's extra day off to celebrate their performance.

"Illinois is a really good team, and we just played a lot better than them," he said.