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Up-and-down weekend epitomizes season for MSU volleyball

November 2, 2014
<p>Special education senior and former volleyball player Kelsey Kuipers cheers on the Spartans on Oct. 31, 2014, at Jenison Field House during the game against Illinois. The Spartans lost, 3-1. Julia Nagy/The State News</p>

Special education senior and former volleyball player Kelsey Kuipers cheers on the Spartans on Oct. 31, 2014, at Jenison Field House during the game against Illinois. The Spartans lost, 3-1. Julia Nagy/The State News

Photo by Julia Nagy | The State News

The Spartans (13-10 overall, 6-6 Big Ten) had a hard time with No. 10 Illinois (18-5 overall, 10-2 Big Ten) on Friday night , losing in four sets, 1-3 (21-25, 25-21, 22-25, 18-25).

It’s definitely disappointing and frustrating,” sophomore outside hitter Chloe Reinig said after the loss. “(Northwestern was) just really loose and throwing everything at us.”

Reinig had her first career double-double against the Fighting Illini, posting 16 kills and 10 digs . She also added five blocks .

Senior libero and team co-captain Kori Moster , despite the loss, also had a career night against Illinois, tying her career best with 29 digs .

With the 29 digs, Moster moved into sixth place on the Big Ten career digs list surpassing former Purdue libero Kelli Miller . Adding 12 digs on Saturday, she sits at 2,049, which is 129 shy of fifth place .

MSU imposed its will and came out aggressive on Saturday night, defeating Northwestern (14-9 overall, 4-8 Big Ten) in straight sets, 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-16).

“After last night we were disappointed in the way we played,” head coach Cathy George said. “The team really focused coming out tonight, played together, played more united.”

The Spartans did a better job using its size against Northwestern, out blocking the Wildcats, 10-2.

Senior middle blocker and team co-captain Jazmine White turned in an impressive performance for MSU on Saturday night, posting a career-best 11 kills on a .529 hitting percentage .

White also added six blocks and two service aces.

“She’s capable of so many things offensively and defensively,” Moster said about White, a fellow co-captain. “She got on a run for us and that was awesome to see.”

Like this past weekend, MSU will welcome a team beneath them in the conference standings and one team ahead of them in the conference standings to Jenison this upcoming weekend.

The Spartans will take on Minnesota (14-9 overall, 4-8 Big Ten) on Friday and Wisconsin (20-2 overall, 11-1 Big Ten) on Sunday .

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