The Michigan State volleyball team welcomed the 2nd ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers into the Breslin Center on Friday Night in front of a record crowd of 8,789 fans. Coming into this matchup with a two game win streak, the Spartans lost to the Cornhuskers in three sets to one, dropping their record on the season to 11-5 and 3-2 in Big Ten Conference play.
In the first set, the Spartans started off strong, leading the Cornhuskers by as much as five points in the first set; however, the Cornhuskers were able to rally from a 20-15 deficit to take the first set over the Spartans 25-23. Merrit Beason’s five kills and five points led the way for the Cornhuskers in the first set. Taylah Holdem and Amani McArthur recorded 3.5 points in the first set, while Cameron Berger led the Spartans with 5 assists.
The second set replicated the first, with the Spartans getting out to another early lead. Leading 19-11 at one point late in the set before a Nebraska timeout, the Spartans won the second set comfortably 25-16. MSU would be led by Taylah Holdem in the second set with an impressive 6 points. Cameron Berger would also record 3 more assists for the Spartans with Julia Bishop contributing as well with 6 total assists through two sets of play.
The Cornhuskers came out of the five minute break strong with an early 10-3 lead before a Spartans timeout. The Cornhuskers won the set 25-15 being led by Harper Murry and Merrit Beason, who had a total of 19 kills through three sets of play.
Nebraska would start off strong once again in the fourth set, getting out to an early 11-3 lead. The Cornhuskers would end any hope of a Spartans comeback as they would go on to win the fourth set 25-11. Taylah Holdem finished the game leading the Spartans with 16 kills, and Cameron Berger finished the game with 13 assists for MSU.
The Spartans will be back in action at the Breslin Center on Saturday, October 7th as they host the Northwestern Wildcats.