EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State volleyball took a surging Illinois squad to five sets on Saturday night, falling 3-2 (15-25, 25-19, 20-25, 25-23, 15-8), at the Breslin Student Events Center. Sophomore middle blocker Zuzanna Kulig’s 12 blocks on Saturday were a new career-high and represented the most by a Spartan since Alexis Mathews posted 12 against Michigan on November 24, 2010. It’s the fourth-most individual blocks in a single match in program history.
“I think both teams battled tonight,” said Michigan State head coach Leah Johnson. “I liked how we started the match with such a decisive win in set one and continued to fight to take set three. We’re competing hard and I’m so proud of our resiliency.”
MSU moves to 7-10 (0-6 B1G) while Illinois improves to 11-5 (3-3 B1G). The Spartans remain at home next weekend when they welcome No. 2-ranked Nebraska and No. 24-ranked Washington to East Lansing.
Junior outside hitter Taylor Preston posted 15 kills on .268 hitting to lead MSU, while sophomore outside Taylah Holdem added seven kills. Senior setter Julia Bishop had six kills in addition to 30 assists and seven digs. For the seventh time this season, senior libero Nalani Iosia posted 20 or more digs with 25. Senior opposite Aliyah Moore had six blocks, a new season high.
As a team the Spartans tallied 17 blocks, the most by an MSU squad since November 9, 2019 in a 3-2 victory over Northwestern. MSU out-hit Illinois .187 to .145 and had 60 digs to the Illini’s 50. Illinois outpaced the Spartans with 12 service aces to MSU’s five.
Michigan State had seven blocks and got six service errors from…
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