Tigers Shut Down Eastern Kentucky, 3-0

Sept. 3, 1999

Fifth Annual L&L/MSU Volleyball Classic September 3-4, 1999 Michigan State University Michigan State, Cleveland State, Clemson, Texas A&M, Eastern Kentucky

No. 16 Texas A&M earned the final victory in a five-game battle over No. 22 Michigan State in the Friday nightcap in Jenison Field House on Sept. 3, winning 12-15, 15-5, 9-15, 15-3, 15-10. A&M’s Amber Woolsey led all hitters with 20 kills, and added eight digs and six blocks in the win.

The Aggies rallied from a game one defeat to stun the Spartans, 15-5 in game two, scoring the game’s final 12 points after trailing 3-5. Michigan State came back to take game three with a run of its own. The Spartans found themselves on the short end of a 1-7 score before scoring 10-straight points and cruising to a 15-9 win. MSU found itself in danger of being blanked for only the 10th time in team history as the Aggies clicked on all cylinders to take a brutal 14-0 lead. Key block assists by freshman Angela Morley and senior Tammy Vonderheide and two Aggie errors beautified the final 15-3 score. With the match tied at two-all, the teams fought back and forth. At 4-4, the Aggies took the lead and did not relinquish, scoring the final five points to win the game and the match 15-10.

“I like what I see and we’re looking forward to playing tomorrow,” said MSU head coach Chuck Erbe. “This was an adverse result. We came really close which might hurt a little more. We’ve made major position changes and are adjusting.

“We are missing Erin Hartley (representing the USA at the World Junior Championships) but I’m not going to use that as an excuse,” said Erbe. “I felt coming in if we played well we could beat any of the teams here. I didn’t say it was going to be easy. If we rebound tomorrow we have every chance to win the championship.”

Saturday’s matches

 9 a.m.  Texas A&M vs. Eastern Kentucky11 a.m.  Clemson vs. Cleveland State 1 p.m.  Eastern Kentucky vs. Michigan State 6 p.m.  Cleveland State vs. Texas A&M 8 p.m.  Michigan State vs. Clemson

Results from Friday, Sept. 3

No. 22 Michigan State 3, Cleveland State 0 The Classic began on Friday morning as host Michigan State squared off with Cleveland State. The Spartans, led by redshirt freshman Angela Morley, who had 17 kills (.682) and six blocks in her collegiate debut beat the Vikings 15-6, 15-11, 15-3. Junior middle Jessica Sanborn set a career best with 12 kills while junior outside hitter Sarah Gustin contributed nine kills, 12 digs and three blocks. Junio setter Christie Landry also had 34 assists, six kills, seven digs and three blocks in the win. The Spartans hit .379 as a team and outblocked CSU 12-3.

Cleveland State was led by junior middle Michele Smith, who had 16 kills and hit .343 in the match. Junior outside hitter Molly Hoying and senior middle Stacy Melaragno each tallied 10 kills and 13 digs as the Vikings hit .145 for the match.

Clemson 3, No. 16 Texas A&M 0 Sixteenth-ranked Texas A&M met Clemson, which received votes in the AVCA preseason poll, in the second match of the L&L Classic. Clemson defeated the Aggies 15-7, 15-3, 15-9 in each teams’ season-opener.

Senior outside hitter Emily Gorla racked up 13 kills (.308), 17 digs and three blocks for the Tigers. Alison Coday, a senior outside hitter, added 13 kills and nine digs, while senior middle Cindy Stern had 11 kills on .476 hitting and added nine digs and four blocks. Setter Jessi Betcher, making her collegiate debut, tallied 49 assists and 13 digs in the Clemson victory as the Tigers hit .295 as a team and outblocked the Aggies 13-8.

Texas A&M was led by senior middle Amber Woolsey who had 14 kills, 12 digs and five blocks in the losing effort. Senior outside hitter Celia Howes also recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 10 blocks. The Aggies hit .121 as a team.

Cleveland State 3, Eastern Kentucky 0 Cleveland State bounced back from its earlier loss to blank Eastern Kentucky 15-3, 15-8, 15-4. The Vikings were paced by Stacy Melaragno with 10 kills while senior defensive specialist Nikki Tate tied the Jenison Field House record with seven service aces, including three in game one. As a team, CSU hit .348 and recorded 13 service aces.

Freshman outside hitter Becky Galati led the Colonels of EKU with five kills. Sophomore defensive specialist Jennifer Seretti added two kills and a team-high seven digs as EKU hit just .067. The Colonels did outblock CSU, 4-2.

Clemson 3, Eastern Kentucky 0 Clemson won its second L&L match in the nightcap with a 15-6, 15-2, 15-7 win over Eastern Kentucky. Alison Coday led the Tigers with 16 kills on .400 hitting to go with three blocks and four digs. Senior middle Cindy Stern added 1 kills, while junior outside hitter Heidi Cooper led the team with 10 digs. Clemson hit .300 and outblocked EKU 7-2. Junior Melissa Kudelka dished 19 assists in the match to go with four digs and two blocks.

The Colonels were led by Becky Galati with eight kills and 11 digs, a match high. Sharon Moreno added six kills and 11 assists. EKU hit .093 with two team blocks.

No. 16 Texas A&M 3, No. 22 Michigan State 2 Texas A&M used 20 kills from Amber Woolsey and 12 kills and 20 digs from Celia Howes to defeat Michigan State 12-15, 15-5, 9-15, 15-3, 15-10 on Friday evening. The Aggies hit .222 to MSU’s .137 and outblocked the Spartans 16-10. Texas A&M also racked up eight service aces. Setter Jenna Moscovic was the deciding factor on many of the Aggies’ points, ending the match with nine kills on .467 hitting, 47 assists, seven digs and three blocks.

MSU was led by 15 kills, 12 digs and six blocks by Jessica Sanborn and 14 kills and seven digs by Sarah Gustin. Setter Christie Landry added 41 assists, six kills and 12 digs.

Friday, Sept. 3Cleveland State  6  11   3Michigan State  15  15  15

Clemson 15 15 15 Texas A&M 7 13 9

Cleveland State 15 15 15 Eastern Kentucky 3 8 4

* Cleveland State’s Nikki Tate (10) ties the Jenison Field House record with 7 service aces.

Eastern Kentucky 6 2 7 Clemson 15 15 15

Texas A&M 12 15 9 15 15 Michigan State 15 5 15 3 10

Clemson 2-0 Cleveland State 1-1 Michigan State 1-1 Texas A&M 1-1 Eastern Kentucky 0-2