LOS ANGELES – Michigan State volleyball concluded its West Coast trip on Saturday night falling to UCLA, 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-22) at Pauley Pavilion. Junior outside hitter Akasha Anderson continued a strong stretch of play leading the Spartans with 12 kills on .290 hitting and three blocks.
MSU moves to 8-13 (1-9 B1G) while UCLA improves to 10-9 (4-6 B1G). The Spartans will return to the Breslin Center next weekend to host No. 15-ranked Minnesota and Ohio State.
Anderson finishes her weekend with 38 kills on 4.75 kills/set and 5.50 points/set to go with 17 digs, eight blocks and a pair of service aces.
Middle blockers Zuzanna Kulig and Evie Doezema each tallied six kills on 10 swings for MSU to hit a combined .550 (12-1-20). Junior outside hitter Taylor Preston posted seven kills, while sophomore outside hitter Taylah Holdem led MSU with eight digs.
Senior setter Julia Bishop finished with 28 assists and senior libero Nalani Iosia added seven digs.
The Spartans hit a strong .281 for the match that included a .320 swinging first set but were outmatched by UCLA’s .353 hitting. MSU out-blocked the Bruins 5-to-3 led by Kulig’s four blocks.
Michigan State hit .320 and got five kills from Anderson in set one but was opposed by a hot hitting UCLA squad who hit .625 in the first en route to a first set victory. The Bruins opened the frame up 6-2, but a 3-1 Spartan stretch got the deficit down to two points on a Preston kill to trail 9-7. UCLA used a 10-3 run to build a 20-11 lead over the Spartans late. Michigan State started to find its footing late in the set thanks to Anderson who tallied three late…
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