EAST LANSING, Mich. — The No. 11 University of Minnesota volleyball team defeated the Michigan State Spartans in three sets, 25-19, 25-15, 25-14 on Sunday afternoon to cap their 2-0 weekend in Michigan.
Jenna Wenaas led the way for Minnesota with 11 kills and three digs while Taylor Landfair had 12 kills and three blocks. Naya Gross tallied seven kills and five blocks in her return to East Lansing.
As a team, Minnesota (9-5, 4-2 Big Ten) hit a season-high .461 with 43 kills, eight team blocks, 26 digs and four aces. Michigan State (10-7, 1-5 Big Ten) hit .161 with 34 kills, four team blocks, 21 digs and one ace
Maradith O’Gorman led Michigan State with nine kills.
Set Breakdown:
Set 1: MSU led 2-1 early before four straight Gophers points allowed the visitors to go up 5-2 and force a Spartans timeout. Jenna Wenaas had two kills early paired with a trio of MSU attacking errors. An MSU point out of the break was followed by another 4-0 Minnesota run, paced by kills from Wenaas, Taylor Landfair, Naya Gros and Melani Shaffmaster. MSU battled back from a six point deficit to make it three at 11-8 with 4-1 run. The Gophers would extend their lead back to six at 20-14 with a 9-6 spurt, getting a pair of kills from Landfair, one from Gros and one from Mckenna Wucherer. MSU wasn’t done in set one, however, responding with a 4-0 run to cut the lead to just two at 20-18, forcing a timeout from coach McCutcheon. A 3-1 Gophers spurt after the timeout gave the visitors a 23-19 lead, which led to MSU’s second timeout. Minnesota closed out the set, 25-19, with a block from Gros and Landfair. Landfair (5) and Wenaas (4) led the ‘U’ in kills as the team hit .433 compared to .176 for MSU.
Set 2: A hot start for the Gophers gave them a 5-1 lead and forced an early timeout from MSU. The Spartans cut it to 6-4 before a block from Gros and Wenaas and a kill and ace from Wenaas helped put the ‘U’ up 11-5. The Spartans then burned timeout No. 2 of the set to try and stop momentum. MSU would get as close as five at 16-11 before a 6-1 Gophers run gave the visitors a commanding lead at 22-12. Wenaas and Landfair had two kills in the run while Gros had one. Minnesota would close out set two with a 25-15 win to go up 2-0. Gros finished the set with a solo block.
Set 3: The Gophers jumped ahead quickly in set three, scoring eight of the first nine points to go up 8-1. Shaffmaster started the set with an ace before Wucherer, Wenaas and Landfair tallied kills. Booth had two kills and a block early on as well. MSU would cut it to six at 9-3 before another 3-0 Minnesota spurt put the Gophers up 12-3 and forced another Spartans timeout. Minnesota would extend its lead to double digits at 19-8 and the Spartans would get no closer than nine the rest of the way. Minnesota would close out the set with a 25-14 win, sealing the sweep.
Notable:
-Minnesota moved to 59-19 all-time against Michigan State including a 13-3 record under coach McCutcheon.
-Minnesota hit a season-high .461, its seventh time hitting over .300 for the year and fourth time in the last five matches.
-Taylor Landfair (12) totaled double digit kills for the 13th time this season and 32nd time in her career.
-Jenna Wenaas (11 kills) reached double figures for the seventh time this season. She also hit a season-high .556.
-Naya Gros led the ‘U’ with five blocks, her third time this year with five-or-more. She was third on the team with seven kills, hitting a perfect 1.000.
-Melani Shaffmaster led the team with 33 assists and seven digs.
(info courtesy of Gopher Sports)