Senior outside hitter Lauren Wicinski high-fives some young fans before the game against Minnesota on Nov. 23, 2013, at Jenison Field House. The Spartans lost to the Golden Gophers, 3-1. Khoa Nguyen/The State News
Despite a valiant effort, MSU dropped its second home match of the weekend Saturday night.
No. 11 Minnesota (25-6 overall, 13-5 Big Ten) defeated No. 17 MSU (20-10, 9-9) in four sets (23-25, 19-25, 25-18, 27-25). The Gophers won the first two sets, but MSU won the third in convincing fashion and denied match point from Minnesota three times before falling in the fourth.
Though the night ended in a loss, there was a cause for celebration. Seniors Alexis Mathews, Lauren Wicinski, Kelsey Kuipers and Kristen Kelsay played their last regular-season home game at Jenison Field House.
“They’ve made so many things happen over the course of the last four years,” said head coach Cathy George. “You look at how many nationally ranked teams, how many top 10 teams (we had). Just the different level of culture they’ve brought to the program. It’s been a pleasure coaching them and I’m looking forward to continuing that in the next couple weeks.”
Wicinski finished with 21 kills, eight digs and three aces. Mathews had eight kills and seven blocks. Freshman outside hitter Chloe Reinig had 11 kills and six blocks, and freshman middle blocker Allyssah Fitterer had 11 kills and a block.
“I thought we showed a lot of patience and poise tonight,” George said. “I thought we did a really nice job of staying solid. We didn’t rush, we made good decisions, and we played well, we executed well. I think Minnesota is a great team, I think we had them at the end. We were right there with them. I’m excited because I saw them play very well.”
Both teams swapped leads in the early going of the first set, with both teams swapping leads of two. MSU scored two straight to snap a 6-6 tie, but the Gophers responded with a two-point run of their own. Minnesota had a ball-handling error, and Fitterer snuck to the right side for a kill to give MSU another two-point lead.
Minnesota scored four straight to take a 12-10 lead, but MSU responded with a 4-0 run to regain a 14-12 lead. Minnesota later retook the lead at 19-18, and George called a timeout with her team trailing 21-19.
Out of the timeout, Mathews, Wicinski and Galloway scored three-straight kills to give MSU a 22-21 lead, leading to a Minnesota timeout. Sophomore setter Halle Peterson committed a service error out of the timeout, and Minnesota scored a kill to take a 23-22 lead.
Wicinski scored a kill to tie the game at 23-23, but the Spartans would ultimately fall short. Wicinski committed a service error, and Galloway’s dig attempt missed its mark, allowing Minnesota to take the first set, 25-23.
The second set started as closely as the first, with both teams exchanging leads early. Minnesota eventually took an 11-8 lead after what looked to be a kill by Wicinski was ruled an error, garnering boos from the home crowd. MSU called a timeout when the deficit reach 13-9.
The Spartans scored two out of the timeout to rim the score to 13-11. Minnesota went on a 4-1 run to extend the lead to 17-12. The Gophers scored a service ace on the next play, leading to a MSU timeout.
Minnesota began to pull away with a 23-16 lead. MSU scored two more to delay the loss, but it too late. The Gophers scored a kill to win the second set, 25-19.
MSU finished the game significantly stronger than they started, which leads Kelsay to believe this is one of the best games the Spartans have played in a while.
“It’s not the outcome we wanted, but that’s the best volleyball we’ve played in a while,” she said. “That’s the way I want to go out, playing free, and that’s what you saw tonight. We still have things we have to work on, but I think we hit that stride again.”
MSU started the third set with fire, taking an early 5-0 lead and forcing a Minnesota timeout. The Gophers found life out of the timeout, clawing back to tie the game, 9-9. MSU reclaimed the lead, going up 15-13 on a Wicinski kill. Minnesota called a timeout once they trailed 17-14.
The Spartans went on a 4-0 run out of the timeout to take a 21-14 lead. Wicinski gave MSU set point, 24-18, allowing the crowd to rise for the first time all night. Fitterer scored the final kill to win set three for the Spartans, 25-18.
MSU played the fourth set with a sense of urgency, opening the game with a 6-1 lead and forcing a Minnesota timeout.
The Spartans remained in control, eventually taking a 15-9 lead. However, Minnesota wouldn’t stand down, trimming the lead to 16-14.
Minnesota went on to take a 23-22 lead before taking match point, 24-23. MSU fought till the end, but the Gophers exited Jenison Field House with a win, taking set four 27-25.
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It’s a tough loss, but one the Spartans can learn from as the season approaches its close. Postseason is around the corner, and the team still has its goals in front of them.
“It’s senior night, but we still have a lot of season left,” Kelsay said.
