UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – A gritty four-set effort was not enough for Michigan State volleyball on Sunday as it fell 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-23) to No. 4-ranked Penn State at Rec Hall. Junior outside hitter Taylor Preston turned in her best performance of the season tallying 18 kills on .317 hitting alongside seven digs and two blocks.
MSU moves to 7-6 (0-2 B1G) while the Nittany Lions improve to 12-1 (2-0 B1G). The Spartans are back on the road next weekend traveling to the state of Indiana to face Indiana (7-5, 0-2 B1G) and No. 10-ranked Purdue (10-3, 1-1 B1G).
Junior outside hitter Akasha Anderson notched her second double-double as a Spartan with 10 kills and 10 digs in the match. Sophomore middle blocker Zuzanna Kulig led the team with four blocks. Senior setter Julia Bishop assisted on a season-high 33 attempts and senior libero Nalani Iosia recorded 14 digs.
The Spartans hit .176, hitting .286 in set four. Penn State hit .247 for the match as MSU held them to .109 hitting in set one. PSU outside hitter Jess Mruzik finished with a match-high 29 kills to lead the Nittany Lions.
Michigan State took an 8-7 lead early in the first and never looked back, holding the Nittany Lions to just .109 hitting in the frame. The Spartans led by as many as five in the frame, including at 17-13 after Penn State service error. PSU used a 3-0 run to pull within one point of Michigan State late, 22-21, but Preston won the set for MSU with her fourth kill of the stanza.
Penn State led by as many as eight in the second set with an 18-10 advantage over the Spartans. A late 5-1 MSU run forced the Nittany Lions to…
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