Volleyball Battles Late Against #15 Minnesota

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State volleyball made things interesting and showed fight in a closely contested third set on Friday night, falling to No. 15-ranked Minnesota, 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 28-26) at the Breslin Student Events Center.
 
“I was glad to see us play competitively in set three,” said Michigan State head coach Leah Johnson.
 
MSU moves to 8-14 (1-10 B1G) while the Golden Gophers improve to 15-6 (8-3 B1G). Michigan State returns to Breslin on Sunday, November 3 when it takes on Ohio State (9-12, 2-9 B1G) at 12:00 p.m.
 
The Spartans got a team-high nine kills from junior outside hitter Taylor Preston, who turned in six in the final frame. Junior opposite Akasha Anderson tallied seven kills and sophomore outside hitter Taylah Holdem added six. Anderson posted a match-high 11 digs.
 
Senior setter Julia Bishop tallied 19 assists and senior libero Nalani Iosia finished with 10 digs. Leading the Spartan block was sophomore middle blocker Zuzanna Kulig with three.
 
Michigan State improved its hitting late, finishing the third set with a .297 hitting percentage to swing .151 for the match. Iosia posted each of the team’s two service aces.
 
Minnesota got out to an 8-3 lead over MSU in the first but a double block by Preston and Kulig kept the Spartans within four early, 9-5. A 6-0 Golden Gopher run opened up the set and saw Minnesota take a 19-8 lead over Michigan State. MSU used a 3-1 run to pull back within single digits following a Preston kill. Both sides were even in scoring 7-7 over the final 14 points of the set, but Minnesota took it 25-15.
 
Michigan State cut Minnesota’s lead to just…