EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State volleyball returned to the Breslin Center on Friday night, defeating Oakland, 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-14), in its first match of the Green & White Classic. The Spartans hit .475 (47-9-80) as a team in the sweep, narrowly missing a top-five slot in the program record book for single-match hitting percentage.
“I liked our quick start,” Michigan State head volleyball coach Leah Johnson said. “We had been struggling the last few matches with starting a little slow, so I was pleased to see us jump in, get started quick and keep that urgency all night.”
Get started quick they did as the Spartans opened set one on a 10-3 run to force an Oakland timeout. Big first set performances from senior Emma Monks, and freshmen Maradith O’Gorman and Evie Doezema sparked the Spartans. Monks hit 1.000 for the set (5-0-5) while Doezema added four kills to O’Gorman’s three.
“I loved the aggressiveness that Maradith O’Gorman played with tonight,” Johnson said. “I think she took her game to another level, wanting to get set a lot more.
Doezema paced all Spartan hitters in the match with 12 kills on 18 attempts, hitting a season-best .556. Sophomore Aliyah Moore joined Doezema in double-figures with 11 kills on 19 attempts, hitting .474. Monks finished the match with eight kills on 11 attempts to tie her previous career-best in hitting percentage at .727.
Graduate student Zoe Nunez distributed a match-high 37 assists in the win and was honored with a commemorative ball pre-match for surpassing the career milestones of 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs during Michigan State’s…
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