Sept. 1, 2001

Stats

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Erin Hartley led all players with 18 kills to lead Michigan State to a 3-1 (30-23, 28-30, 3-19, 30-19) win over the University of Denver in the Pioneers' final match of the L&L Food Centers / MSU Volleyball Classic on Saturday at Jenison Field House.

Three Pioneers - senior setter Clarice Golesh-Burch (Lakewood, Colo. / Mullen HS), sophomore outside hitter Jenn Karas (Granby, Colo. / Middle Park HS), and sophomore right-side hitter Olympia Hughes (Casper, Wyo. / Natrona County HS) - led the way with nine kills each. Hughes added nine digs to tie for team-high honors with senior outside hitter Kellie Savage (Arvada, Colo. / Arvada West HS).

Michigan State (3-0) stormed out to a 16-10 lead in the first game, and finished the game hitting .382 as a team. Although the two teams were relatively even statistically in the first game, the Spartans took advantage of five service aces and four Pioneer service errors to provide much of the winning margin.

The Pioneers (2-2) ratcheted up their defense a notch in the second game, posting four blocks and harassing the Spartan offense into hitting just .100 for the game. Denver hit a solid .273 for the game, however, and took the second, 30-28.

MSU took early control of game three, posting leads of 5-1, 9-5 and 14-7 before the Pioneers pulled to within 15-12. The Spartans took advantage of some Pioneer errors and doubled Denver's seven kills to pull away at the end of the game and win, 30-19.

Game four was all Michigan State from the start, as the Spartans got out to a 9-2 lead. MSU hit .344 in the final game to finish at .236, while Denver was limited to .135 and .151 for the match.

"We saw glimpses today and over the weekend of how good we can be, it's just a matter of being consistent and learning to keep the ball in play," said head coach Beth Kuwata. "We realized that we can play with anybody. The difference today was our passing and ball-handling. We probably dug more balls in the game we won than the other three combined. We know what we need to work on when we get back, and it's early in the season, so I'm encouraged by what we did."

The Pioneers return to Denver for their home opener this Tuesday, Sept. 4, to face Pac-10 power Washington at 7 p.m. in Hamilton Gymnasium. For ticket information, contact the Ritchie Center Box Office at (303) 871.2336.

DENVER VOLLEYBALLat East Lansing, Mich. (Jenison Field House)Michigan State 3, DENVER 1        1   2   3   4DENVER (2-2)    23  30  19  19Michigan State (3-0)    30  28  30  30
DENVER: Kills 45 (Golesh-Burch, Karas, Hughes 9), Digs 52 (Ke. Savage, Hughes11), Blocks 8 (Young 4), Assists 33 (Golesh-Burch 29).MSU: Kills 61 (Hartley 18, Smith 13, Kopka 10), Digs 55 (Smith 16, Engel 12),Blocks 8 (Morley 5), Assists 52 (Colson 51).T: 1:47. A: N/A.