Syracuse University
4-1
Michigan State University
4-0
Comeback Falls Short Against No. 20 MSU
9/4/2009 8:48:50 PM | Volleyball
The Orange battled back from a 2-0 deficit, but could not overcome a high-powered Spartan offense, falling, 3-2, to No. 20 Michigan State in the first game of the CSU Invitational on Friday afternoon. Senior outside hitter Kacie MacTavish set the pace on both sides of the ball, leading the team with 16 kills and 18 digs while freshman setter Laura Homann had a career-best 48 assists. Syracuse moved to 4-1 on the season with the loss while the Spartans improved to 4-0.
The two teams opened the first set trading points until the 12-12 mark, before the Spartans went on a 5-1 run, taking a lead it would never relinquish as they went on to win, 25-20.
The second set began in similar fashion with back-and-forth play before MSU outscored the Orange 9-2 to break the game open, 17-6. Syracuse rallied back with a 16-5 rally of its own to tie the game at 22, but the Spartans posted the final three points of the set for a 25-22 victory and a 2-0 advantage in the match.
The Orange refused to go down without a fight, staging an impressive comeback to take sets three and four. SU jumped out to an early lead in both matches and held off a high-powered Michigan State offense for 25-22 and 25-20 victories to force a fifth set.
The Spartans opened the deciding set on a 7-3 run, but three-straight points by the Orange pulled it within one, 7-6. MSU scored the next two expanding its lead, 9-6, before Syracuse put together a 6-1 rally to take its first lead of the set, 11-10. Despite the vallant SU efforts Michigan State put the match away with a 3-1 run to win, 15-12 and take the match, 3-2.
Senior middle blocker Sarah Morton had 12 kills and a team-best 5 total blocks, while sophomore Erin Little added 10 kills. Veteran libero Shanetha McLaurin had 11 digs for the Orange while sophomore Noemie Lefebvre had 10.
The Orange is back in action tomorrow, wrapping up its CSU Invitational stint with an 11 a.m. match against host Cleveland State.
