After spending most of the last four weeks on the road, Michigan State volleyball returned back to Jenison Field House last weekend to begin their four-game homestand against Big Ten opponents. The Spartans took a clean sweep over Rutgers (6-13, 0-8 Big Ten) on Friday, but fell 0-3 to Penn State (14-3, 7-1 Big Ten) on Sunday, moving the green and white record to 13-5 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten.
Friday’s clean sweep did not come easy for the Spartans. In the first two sets, the Scarlet Knights did not go down without a fight, holding an edge in service aces over MSU.
However, the Spartans remained on top by holding Rutgers to a negative hitting percentage while compiling 38 digs compared to the Scarlet Knights' 31.
In the third set, the Spartans cruised to a 25-11 victory, hitting .348 percent and putting up six blocks. Meredith Norris lead the green and white in the match with 11 kills and nine digs, just short of a double-double.
On Sunday, the Spartans suffered their second loss to the Nittany Lions this season in a match the green and white just couldn’t seem to take control over.
Despite a strong start where MSU held a seven point lead in the opening set, throughout the match Penn State proved superior on all levels, beating the Spartans in blocks (10-8), kills (42-35), hitting percentage (.289 - .147) and aces (8-2).
After losing their momentum in the first set, five straight errors in the second set threw the Spartans completely off balance until late in the third set when it proved too late.
Norris lead the home team again, contributing nine kills and four digs to the match.
The Spartans continue their homestand this weekend, hosting Wisconsin (12-4, 8-0 Big Ten) on Friday and Minnesota (13-3, 7-1 Big Ten) on Sunday at Jenison Field House.
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