MSU volleyball thumps Fairfield in NCAA tourney opener
EAST LANSING – Michigan State entered Friday’s opening home match at Jenison Field House with a clear size advantage. Once it began, the skill gap became evident as well.
In front of a home crowd of nearly 2,500, the Spartans easily handled Fairfield in three sets — 25-14, 25-13, 25-15 — to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight year. MSU, the No. 9 overall seed in the 64-team field, will face Arizona 7 p.m. Saturday, once again at Jenison.
Autumn Bailey led the Spartans with an eight-kill, 11-dig performance. Alyssa Garvelink added seven kills and five blocks, and Rachel Minarick contributed 32 assists.
It was a balanced scoring effort, with four different Spartans having at least 10 kill attempts.
“Our offense was evenly distributed and everybody got a lot of kills, moving the ball really well,” Garvelink said. “Think that really helped us.”
Six MSU players standing 6-foot-2 or taller played in the first set alone. Just three Fairfield players standing taller than 6-0 saw time on the floor during the entire evening.
The height disparity helped the Spartans early, as they disrupted the Stags up front and out-blocked them 4-1 in the first set. MSU finished the game with a 10-2 advantage in blocks.
MSU’s blocking performance was fueled by its serving, coach Cathy George said. The Spartans had seven service aces on the night, versus zero for Fairfield.
“I think because our serving was strong, our blocking came into play as well and size did become a factor,” George said. “I think that starts with the serving game, so we put a lot of pressure on there and it helped us have our blockers where they needed to be.”
The Spartans took the first set, 25-14. The second set went similarly. The Stags jumped to an early 4-3 lead, but MSU responded with a 14-5 run to take a 18-9 advantage on its way to a 25-13 set win.
“We had a little lull in the middle of the game that we wanted to correct,” George said. “They knew I wasn’t happy. I think a lot of people came in and answered that call, made sure we came back with some good pressure and put the ball away.”
MSU, which moved to 25-8 on the season, took the final set again by double digits, 25-15.
MSU volleyball begins NCAA tourney run in friendly confines of Jenison
Arizona (19-14, 10-10 Pac-12) was similarly dominant on Friday, defeating Cleveland State in three sets. The Wildcats have two All-Pac-12 players in outside hitter Kalei Mau, who had 17 kills on Friday, and Pac-12 Setter of the Year Penina Snuka, who had 15 assists and 13 digs.
“They’re very good and they’ve beaten some very good teams in the Pac-12,” George said. “They’ve been to the NCAA Tournament before, they’re a seasoned team, they have a coach that’s been there many times before as well.
“We know that we have a challenge in front of us in that they’re talented so we’re gonna have to put in our best effort and make sure that we’re focused and taking care of the scouting report and supporting each other, being the best that we can be.”
MSU vs. Arizona
What: NCAA tournament, second round
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Jenison Field House, East Lansing
Tickets: MSUSpartans.com or 517-355-1610
TV/Radio: MSUSpartans.com All-Access/SpartanSportsNetwork.com