Volleyball Rolling Following Fourth Consecutive Sweep

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan State volleyball program closed out the inaugural Kathy DeBoer Invitational with its fourth consecutive sweep on Sunday afternoon, defeating Delaware State, 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-21). MSU was the champion of the round robin style tournament, also defeating Belmont (3-0) and Syracuse (3-0) over the weekend.
 
“I thought our performance today was solid,” said Michigan State head volleyball coach Leah Johnson. “I wouldn’t say we were great, but we spent a lot of time working on us in film today instead of scout, so I think that caught up to us in set three. I was really proud of how we are trying to fine tune things. We’re trying to sharpen up and clean up our side of the net.”
 
Following the conclusion of the match, three Spartan student-athletes were named to the All-Tournament team. Senior libero Nalani Iosia was named as the Most Valuable Player after a weekend in which she averaged 5.22 digs per set and was a steady presence for the Spartan defense. Freshmen Taylah Holdem and Cameron Berger also earned All-Tournament Team honors, with Holdem leading the team in kills (36) hitting .338. Berger posted 92 assists (10.22 per set) and was second on the team in digs (18) behind Iosia.
 
“I was really proud of Taylah Holdem, I thought she had a great weekend overall,” said Johnson.
 
Holdem led the Spartans with 11 kills on Sunday and led the team in kills in each of the weekend’s three matches. Sophomore middle blocker Nil Okur added eight kills to her weekend tally and sophomore opposite Evie Doezema put down seven kills on Sunday. Okur and fifth year Amani McArthur each had three blocks for MSU.
 
Berger led all players with 26 assists and was second in the team in digs with eight. Iosia led all players with a match-high 15 digs.
 
Set one was close early before Michigan State ran away with things out of a Delaware State timeout. The Spartans led just 15-10 at the break but would go on a 10-3 run to close things out as the timeout didn’t halt any of MSU’s momentum. Michigan State continued the roll it had been on all weekend hitting .364 in the set, while the Hornets hit just -.100.
 
The second set was eerily similar to the first, with Michigan State leading by just one near the mid-way point, 15-14. A 4-0 Spartan run sparked by Doezema and Holdem…