No. 25 Volleyball Survives Scare Against Tennessee :: After dropping the first two games, the Spartans came back to win the match at Saturday's Maryland Invitational.

Aug. 30, 2003

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Kim Schram (London, Ontario) and Nikki Colson (Lincoln, Neb.) led No. 25-ranked Michigan State (2-0) here in Saturday's action at the Maryland Invitational. MSU defeated Tennessee (1-1) in five games in the early session (28-30, 26-30, 31-29, 30-28, 17-15).

"We fought back well," said head coach Chuck Erbe. "We were down 2-0 and came back for a win against a good team."

Schram tied her career-best kill total with 32 against the Lady Vols in the first match of the day, while Colson, a senior, also had a career day, passing out 74 assists. Marley Bellwood (Battle Creek, Mich.) added a career-best 20 digs in the match. Schram also contributed three block solos. MSU outhit Tennessee, .260-.203.

In the first game, MSU and UT were tied at 2-2. The Lady Vols pulled ahead, 5-2, and did not trail in the rest of the game. State managed to cut Tennessee's lead to one at 29-28, but despite outhitting UT .245 to .214, could not pull out the win. MSU trailed by as many as six points (16-10) in the second game, but managed a comeback to tie the game at 19-19. MSU and UT traded the lead throughout the rest of the game, with UT managing to post a final win of 30-26. The Lady Vols hit .359 to MSU's .310 in the game.

The Spartans posted a 31-29 win in their first extra-point match of the season. With a 26-22 MSU lead, the Lady Vols came back to force the game to extra points, as they tied the match at 29-29. A kill by Sara Villwock (Ft. Collins, Colo.) followed by a Colson (Lincoln, Neb.) kill gave the Spartans the win. MSU led the entire fourth game, and four consecutive kills by Kim Schram gave the Spartans the win and forced a fifth game.

In the fifth game, the Spartans led by six points twice, but Tennessee came back to tie the game at 14-14 and again at 15-15. A Megan Wallin (Sarasota, Fla.) kill put MSU up, 16-15, and she served the winning point to give MSU the win 17-15.

MSU plays host Maryland in the final match of the tournament Saturday at 7 p.m. The Spartans travel to the Carolina Classic, hosted by South Carolina next weekend, Sept. 5-6. MSU faces South Carolina at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5 and takes on North Carolina at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6.