Giovanazzi's troops rock the house, defeat Michigan State behind Ebert, Mendoza

It's called the State Pride Match, and the Michigan volleyball team is proud of how well it dominated No. 16 Michigan State. The Wolverines defeated the Spartans, 3-1, on Friday night at Cliff Keen Arena.

After starting out slow, Michigan (4-0 Big Ten, 12-4 overall) lost a tight first game, 13-15. From then on, it was all Michigan. The Wolverines came out in the second game to take a quick 2-0 lead. Despite trailing the Spartans, 3-5, at one point, the Wolverines rebounded to take a 6-5 lead and never looked back on their way to a 15-9 victory.

During the third game, the Wolverines scored their first four points on Michigan State errors, with their fifth coming on an ace by senior setter Linnea Mendoza. She had 54 assists in the match, giving her more than 4,125 career assists, a mark achieved by only 17 players in Big Ten history. Michigan never let up and went on to take a 2-1 lead, with their 15-3 win.

JOHN KRAFT/Daily Senior Sarah Jackson prepares to spike the ball through the Michigan State defense Friday night. The Wolverines beat the 16th-ranked Spartans, 3-1.

"The passing was really good," Mendoza said. "The passing was great, so it was easy for me to make a decision on who to set."

Junior Linsey Ebert contributed to the Wolverines' offensive prowess with 12 kills on a .600 hitting percentage. Yet, a team total 65 kills and .218 hitting percentage would not have been possible without strong assists from Mendoza.

"Linnea set great offense tonight," Ebert said. "As a middle hitter, when you're setter's on fire, hitting the ball in the right spot is not too difficult."

The fourth and final game saw the Wolverines fall behind, 0-3, before scoring their first point on a Michigan State error. Two more errors by the Spartans and a point by freshman Sarah Behnke, who was filling in for the injured Karen Chase, put the Wolverines up, 4-3.

"Sarah's a very explosive player and an exciting player to watch," Mendoza said. "I think we needed an outside hitter to be like that, to be able to put balls away the way she does. When she goes up and hits it, everyone's really excited."

The Spartans were able to tie the game twice, but they could never gain enough momentum to take a lead, losing, 15-9.

"Michigan played excellent," Michigan State coach Chuck Erbe said. "Their freshman, Sarah Behnke, really stepped up, and she just went for it. She found the creases in the block, and there were a lot of times when she kept them in every play.

"Once they got some momentum going, Ebert became a real force at the net offensively."

Not to be lost in the talk of Michigan's offense was the Wolverines' ability to pretty much shut the Spartans down. Michigan's defensive play was equally as impressive as its offensive play.

"The defense was definitely phenomenal tonight," said outside hitter Anne Poglits, who had 12 kills on a .269 hitting percentage. "You can take more swings when you get the ball back every time."

Part of the reason for Michigan's strengths in all aspects of the game was pregame preparation. The Wolverines were not taking anything for granted before or during the game.

"We talked about, even before the match, that this was not going to be a blowout on our side," Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi said.

"We were going to talk to Linnea about trying to keep their block off-balance, which she did. And also, just to recognize that a team of that level is going to get some great shots and not to let it intimidate or disrupt your game."

10-06-97