Sophomore libero Kori Moster bumps the ball to a teammate Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012, at Jenison Field House. The Wolverines defeated the Spartans in three straight sets during senior night for the Spartans. Adam Toolin/The State News
After riding a six-game winning streak late into November, the Spartans ended the regular season in the most unfortunate fashion possible — getting swept in their final two matches.
The two sweeps weren’t against just any teams, either. They were against in-state rival Michigan and No. 1 Penn State.
Despite the final two losses, the Spartans compiled a respectable record that gave them a berth in the NCAA Tournament, as they fly out to Los Angeles to take on San Diego in the first round starting on Friday. Although the team suffered a loss that handed Penn State their eighth straight victory, MSU head coach Cathy George finds comfort knowing that the Nittany Lions are one of the hottest teams in volleyball right now.
“We ended the season with a Penn State loss, which is not something we are happy about,” George said. “But they are a great team, (and) the number one team in this tournament, and anybody you’re going to see after that is not Penn State, so that is a good thing.”
George also added that the confidence of this team hasn’t been completely shot, as they are going into the tournament after a grueling season in the Big Ten, arguably the best volleyball conference in the nation.
George also is using the last two defeats to observe what her team can improve on before playing in the postseason.
“We have to shore up our defensive effort in the last week,” George said. “We need to move the ball around with our balance, and remember that is where our strength lays.”
Not only will the team use the last few matches to touch up on their weaknesses, but junior setter Kristen Kelsay also believes the Spartans will use this as motivation moving into the tournament.
“It’s been frustrating, (but) I think it’s kind of been an eye-opener,” Kelsay said. “No one wants to come off losing the end of the Big Ten, but I think, to be honest, that it’s going to be fuel for our fire for this next week.”
To sophomore libero Kori Moster, the upcoming weekend also marks the beginning of a new season. Now that continually playing Big Ten teams is in the past, Moster is looking forward to facing unfamiliar teams on volleyball’s biggest stage.
“It’s kind of a like a new season now, in the postseason,” Moster said. “It’s new people and new teams you have to adjust for, and our mind can’t be on what happened this past week, it has to be on what we want to do in the future.”
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