Michigan
16-11,9-9Big Ten
Michigan State
11-16,4-14Big Ten
Michigan Sweeps Rival Michigan State to End Road Slate
11/21/2021 4:54:00 PM | Volleyball
» Michigan finished the road portion of its schedule with a sweep of Michigan State on Sunday (Nov. 21). The win is the eighth straight over the Spartans.
» Paige Jones led the offense with 16 kills.
» Jess Mruzik registered a double-double of 13 kills and 15 digs.
Site: East Lansing, Mich. (Jenison Field House)
Score: Michigan 3, Michigan State 0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-15)
Records: U-M (16-11, 9-9 B1G), MSU (11-16, 4-14 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Wednesday, Nov. 24 -- vs. #24 Illinois (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Senior Paige Jones and sophomore Jess Mruzik led a blistering attack as the University of Michigan volleyball team rolled to a sweep of rival Michigan State (25-23, 25-20, 25-15) on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 21) in front of 5,206 in Jenison Field House. The win wrapped up the road portion of the Wolverines regular-season schedule.
The Wolverines have now won eight consecutive matches against the Spartans dating back to Nov. 17, 2018.
Jones led the Maize and Blue attack with 16 kills, seven of which came in the second set alone. Mruzik added 13 kills and registered a double-double with a team-high 15 digs. Sophomore setter Scottee Johnson collected a double-double of 36 assists and 11 digs, and redshirt sophomore libero Hannah Grant put up 12 digs on the afternoon.
The two teams locked in the type of battle one expects in a rivalry match, with Michigan prevailing 25-23 in the opening set. The Wolverines and Spartans traded points through the entirety of the set with eight ties and three lead changes, but a late 4-0 Wolverine run proved to be the difference.
Michigan fell behind early in the second set and clawed its way back to a 10-10 tie. U-M went on a 4-0 run to jump ahead, but the Spartans made a comeback of their own to make it a one-point game at 21-20. U-M closed out the set on another 4-0 run, with sophomore Kendall Murray at the service line, pulling out a 25-20 win.
Set three saw the Wolverines jump out to an early lead, but the Spartans hung around until the match reached 15-14. With Murray once again serving, Michigan rattled off nine consecutive points to put the match away with a 25-15 final.
Michigan held a significant advantage in hitting on the afternoon, posting a .284 mark while holding Michigan State to .164. The Wolverines held the Spartans to just .094 and .093 in the second and third sets, respectively. Though the Wolverines were out-blocked 11-7, they won nearly every other facet of the match including assists (43-37), kills (45-38), and service aces (5-3). The only other category U-M finished behind MSU in was digs (53-52).
Michigan returns home for the final week of regular-season action, welcoming No. 24 Illinois to Cliff Keen Arena on Wednesday (Nov. 24) at 7 p.m. and Northwestern on Friday (Nov. 26), also at 7 p.m. Wednesday's match will be preceded by ceremony to honor the team's parents, while Friday's contest will honor their four seniors, Paige Jones, Abbey Malinowski, Grace Persson and Lizzie Sadilek.
