Sept. 12, 2008

Box Score

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Becca Zlabis had 11 kills and two other players added eight to lead Michigan State to a 26-24, 25-14, 25-15 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Friday to start the second day of the MSU Showcase.

The Spartans (4-3), who advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament last season, hit .353 for the match while outblocking Milwaukee, 8-2.

Becky Peters led the Panthers (5-3) with 13 kills while Natalie Schmitting added eight. UWM hit just .122 in the contest while seeing its four-match winning streak snapped.

Kyndra Abron and Vanessa King were the two Spartans with eight kills apiece, while Abron led the defensive charge with four blocks.

UWM had a great chance to win the first set but then found itself overwhelmed by the Spartans' attack in sets two and three.

"I think our confidence dropped after the first set and we could never get it back," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "That first set was critical because we were playing very well, but we made a couple of mistakes at the end that cost us. Our inexperience came out a bit after that and that really hasn't happened much this year. Now, we have to correct that for tonight."

The Spartans pulled out a tight win in the first set. Neither team led by more than three points and the Panthers held a 20-19 edge after a kill by Becky Peters. UWM still led 23-22 after a Spartan error before MSU countered with two-straight points, pushing the frame to set-point. The Panthers fought off the first set-point on a Samantha Trawitzke kill but the Spartans scored the next two points to wrap up the first set.

The Panthers never got on track in the second set, allowing Michigan State to pull away for the easy win. The Spartans scored seven of the first 10 points and UWM was never closer than two points the rest of the way. A Spartan block - one of three in the set - pushed the lead to 17-10 and a kill by Abron made it 21-11. Milwaukee did push back to within 22-14 but MSU scored the final three points of the set for a 2-0 lead in the match.

Michigan State again pulled away in the third set. The Spartans took the lead for good at 6-5 and eventually led 11-5 on a kill by Mischelle Nelson. The lead grew to 13-5 and UWM never got closer than six points the rest of the way. Milwaukee's final push included a kill by Trawitzke and a block by Peters and Maddie Sueppel, closing the gap to 20-14. But, the Spartans struck back with five of the final six points of the set to wrap up the match.

The Panthers will wrap up play in the MSU Showcase with a Friday night match against UCONN.