PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Michigan State volleyball went to five sets for the fifth time this season on Sunday afternoon, falling to Rutgers 3-2 (25-17, 27-25, 13-25, 20-25, 7-15) at Jersey Mike’s Arena. The Spartans won the first two sets of the match, including a 27-25 thriller in set two, but the veteran led Scarlet Knights came from behind to win the final three sets.
Rutgers out-hit Michigan State (9-4, 0-2 B1G) .200 to .044 overall due in part to a strong team blocking effort. The Scarlet Knights finished the match with 19 blocks, the most Michigan State has faced in a match since the season-opener against Louisiana (16 total blocks).
Freshman outside hitter Maradith O’Gorman led the Spartans in kills (14) for the fourth time this season. Sophomore Aliyah Moore was just behind O’Gorman with 13. Michigan State’s other freshman outside, Evie Doezema, was one kill away from her first career double-double with nine kills and a season-high 11 digs. Sophomore Julia Bishop had a team best 33 assists while junior Nalani Iosia posted 24 digs for the Spartan defense.
The Spartans made quick work of the first set, scoring the first kill of the match on a Doezema swing and never looking back. MSU led for the entirety of the first set led by Doezema’s five kills. Rutgers briefly cut Michigan State’s lead to three in the set, but a 4-0 Spartan run put the set out of reach. Michigan State once again built a sizable lead in set two to force a Rutgers timeout, but this time the Scarlet Knights got right back in it, going on a 7-1 run to cut MSU’s lead to one point at 17-16. Both teams traded runs up until the set…
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