Lansing Sun

Michigan State volleyball welcomed fans to the Breslin Student Events Center for the first time in 2024 on Friday night, defeating Western Kentucky in four sets, 3-1 (25-15, 25-17, 23-25, 25-23). Western Kentucky entered the weekend receiving the second-most votes (68) of all non-Top 25 teams in the AVCA/Taraflex Coaches Poll.

"We opened up with a little different lineup which I think had Western Kentucky a little startled at first," said Michigan State head coach Leah Johnson. "That played to our advantage to come out really hot. We have a lot of depth and we want that to be a strength so I don't want to be scared to use it and find some different combinations."

MSU improves to 2-2 overall and continues play at the second annual Kathy DeBoer Invitational presented by Auto-Owners Insurance on Saturday with a match against Marist (0-5).

Senior setter Rachel Muisenga set a career-high in assists with 32 and finished one dig away from a double-double with nine. Junior outside hitter Akasha Anderson tallied her first double-double as a Spartan with 14 kills and 11 digs. Also with 14 kills, junior outside hitter Taylor Preston led all hitters in points (17.0).

Sophomore middle blocker Zuzanna Kulig led all players with four blocks, and senior libero Nalani Iosia came close to a career-high in digs, finishing just shy with 25 along with eight assists.

As a team, the Spartans hit an efficient .297 for the match, including .519 in set one. MSU committed just one attacking error in the first frame. Michigan State led the match in kills (62-46), service aces (5-4), digs (58-55), and blocks (8-7).

Sets one and two were dominated by Michigan State from the onset. The Spartans took commanding leads early in each set without surrendering their lead once. In set one, MSU led by as many as 11 points late in the frame before securing it through efforts from Preston and Doezema.

In set two, Michigan State used a significant run to lead Western Kentucky by nine points after WKU briefly tied at 10-10. Anderson's performance was instrumental during this stretch.

Western Kentucky showed resilience by leading as many as five points in set three but could not maintain their momentum as MSU continued pushing back until they tied multiple times towards the end of the set.

The fourth set saw MSU trailing initially but overcoming deficits through consecutive kills from Anderson down the stretch. Senior outside hitter Grace Kelly contributed crucially off the bench.

Up next for Michigan State is another game at the Kathy DeBoer Invitational against Marist on Saturday afternoon.

###