MSU volleyball took on heated rival Michigan Friday night at Breslin Center. After losing the first set 25-20, the Spartans came back to win the next three sets.
The MSU win evened its season series against the Wolverines as the Spartans were shut out earlier in the season in Ann Arbor.
MSU entered with not much momentum at 9-16 overall and 2-12 record in conference play. In their previous five games, the Spartans went 1-4 with losses to UCLA, No. 15 Minnesota, Ohio State and Maryland. Michigan came into East Lansing losers of its last five with a 16-9 overall record and a 6-8 record in conference play.
The rivalry match featured an electric atmosphere at Breslin Center in front of a nearly sold-out crowd.
"I really appreciate the Spartan students. When you get the student body and Michigan State fans involved, it feels pretty special," MSU head coach Leah Johnson said after the match.
For some Spartans, Friday night was likely their last time playing Michigan.
"It was my last game playing, but it was not my last game watching," senior outside hitter Grace Kelley said. "This is something that is gonna stick with me for the rest of my life and even though this is my last time playing I will still feel that everytime I watch."
During the first set, the Spartans and Wolverines traded blows, going back and forth for most of the set until the score was 13-11. Then, Michigan scored four unanswered points and pulled away to win the first set.
After the first set, the Spartans ran the table. Junior opposite hitter Akasha Anderson led the Spartans with 15 kills and hit .500 for the match on 24 swings. Anderson was also joined in double figure kills by junior outside hitter Taylor Preston, who tallied 13 along with eight digs. Senior opposite hitter Aliyah Moore turned in a season-high nine kills on .348 hitting.
"I thought that this was one of our best team performances," Johnson said. "We had a lot of highlight individual matches and we talked this week about how we have to become a more competitive and complete team and not rely on one person."
With the win, MSU improves to 10-16 overall and 3-12 in conference play.
"I think this is going to carry us through the rest of the season easily," Kelly said. "We have Iowa next up on Sunday and that should be a good matchup for us after this win, and after that we have Oregon and Maryland and we’re looking to take Maryland back."
The Spartans travel to Iowa City to face the Hawkeyes at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 17.
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