Northwestern’s fast play style wasn’t easy for MSU to handle early in sets one and three, but they stuck to the game plan and ultimately prevailed.

Coming away with two weekend Big Ten wins is never an easy task, but MSU has already done it twice as they remain undefeated in Big Ten play.

“You want to come away with two (wins) as much as you possibly can,” head coach Cathy George said. “Northwestern is a feisty team and they really feed off our transition and defense and those types of things. They started off really tough. I’m glad we responded like we did like in the middle of it.”

MSU also struggled with serving the ball, totaling 13 service errors. Senior outside hitter Lauren Wicinski had six of the service errors, with four service aces, 19 kills and six digs.

“Sometimes, we just get ahead of ourselves and we move too fast,” Wicinski said. “We get back there and we think we have to serve right away, which is not always necessary. We need to all take a deep breath and then go for it.”

Northwestern came out the gate with strong play in the first set, Northwestern and MSU looked like evenly-matched teams.

The two sides traded blows with 15 ties and 5 lead changes. But as she’s done so many times this season, Wicinski came alive at the end of the set, scoring five kills during a 7-3 Spartan run that won the set.

After a close first set, MSU played much stronger in the second.

The Spartans opened the set on a 10-4 run and never relinquished control. Freshman outside hitter Reinig did much of her damage in in the second set, scoring MSU’s first three kills and eight overall on nine attempts for the set. She finished with 11 kills on .562 hitting for the night.

The tides shifted in set three. Northwestern controlled the first half of the final set, leading 9-11 after several errors on MSU’s side of the net.

However, senior middle blocker Alexis Mathews, who tied her season-high in block assists with nine, came alive defensively. She had five block assists, and in conjunction with Wicinski’s usual late-game heroics, it was too much for Northwestern to overcome.

Mathews also had six kills.

“I thought Alexis did a nice job,” George said. “She really is capable of taking over and dominating matches. With the blocking she’s a force. And everybody is a little worried about Alexis Mathews and she did a nice job starting off with a couple blocks and sending the message that she’ll be there.”

The Spartans will return to action next week with two home matches, taking on No. 25 Iowa on Friday at 7 p.m. and No. 10 Nebraska on Saturday at 7 p.m.