EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State volleyball earned its second sweep of the weekend on Saturday night, defeating Iowa in straight sets, 3-0 (25-11, 25-21, 25-22), from the Breslin Center.
“I was very proud of our point management, we were very low error tonight,” Michigan State head volleyball coach Leah Johnson said. “I challenged the team to get 16 kills per set tonight and the team got close to that. It kept us aggressive to have that kind of output expectation.”
With a win MSU improves to 16-9 overall and 8-6 in B1G action. Iowa falls to 8-18 with an 0-14 mark in conference play. The Spartans extend their win streak to three matches and secure an above .500 finish for the first time since 2018. A three-match winning streak is the longest conference streak by Michigan State since 2017.
Freshman outside hitter Taylah Holdem led all players with 16 kills in three sets, hitting .419 and adding eight digs. Fifth year middle blocker Amani McArthur finished with eight kills on highly efficient .778 hitting along with four blocks. Sophomore opposite Evie Doezema posted eight kills and freshman outside hitter Karolina Staniszewska added seven. Senior libero Nalani Iosia led all players with 13 digs and junior setter Julia Bishop added 25 assists.
The Spartans hit .400 in the match, marking the team’s highest efficiency in B1G competition. MSU held Iowa to .126 hitting and sub .100 hitting in sets one and three. Michigan State opened the match hitting an impressive .542 in set one. The Spartans led in kills (46 to 31), assists (44 to 28), digs (43 to 27) and blocks (6 to 3).
Iowa was led in kills by Gabby Deery and Delaney McSweeney who each tallied eight. Bailey Ortega and Harlei Cole finished with six digs apiece, with Ortega leading with 14 assists.
Michigan State got off to a fast start in set one and never looked back, opening up a 7-3 advantage to force Iowa’s first timeout. The Spartans continued to gradually extend their lead and used a 6-2 run mid-way through the frame to take a 16-9 advantage. A kill by Doezema would for the Hawkeyes to burn their final timeout of the set. Michigan State came out of the break hot to end the set on a 9-2 run. Staniszewska had five of her seven kills in the first as she paced the attack early.
MSU controlled much of set two, leading Iowa by as many as…
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