EAST LANSING, MI – The Wright State volleyball team took down tournament host Michigan State on Saturday night in a five-set thriller behind a career-high 22 kills from Megan Alders in the final match of the 2021 Auto-Owners Spartan Invitational.
 
Wright State now owns a pair of five set victories over Michigan State, both coming in five sets, after previously tallying a five set win back in September 2002.
 
The Raiders (2-1) won the second and third sets, 25-16 and 25-18, while the Spartans (2-1) took the opening set (25-19) and the fourth set (25-21) to set up the deciding set. Wright State a four-point scoring run early in the fifth set to take a 9-4 advantage and set up the advantage needed to close out the win.
 
The Raider offense ran through Alders all night long on the way to the win. Alders, whose previous career-high for kills in a match was 15, had 13 through the first three sets alone on Saturday, and capped the night with a big swing on the deciding match point to finish with her 22 kills.
 
Wright State turned in a clean night on the score sheet, committing only 20 errors over the five sets, with a match-high eight errors in the fourth set, while Michigan State had 34 errors on the night. The Raiders finished with a team hitting percentage of .191, but had no lower than a .286 team percentage over the final three sets. The Spartans struggled to a .140 hitting mark of their own, including a -0.045 percentage in the second set and a .049 mark in set three.
 
Alders' 22 kills were just shy of half of Wright State's 47 total kills, while Celia Powers and Callie Martin each added seven kills. Nyssa Baker stuffed seven blocks in the win, with Powers and Lainey Stephenson adding four of their own, while the Raiders notched eight service aces to Michigan State's three, led by four from Ellee Ruskaup. Stephenson passed out 38 of Wright State's 43 assists, while Jenna Story's 19 digs were a match-high as she led four Raiders in double digits (13, Martin; 11 each for Powers and Stephenson).
 
Wright State returns home to host a pair of tournaments in the coming weekends, beginning next weekend with the 2021 Tru by Hilton Dayton Beavercreek Invitational. Action begins at 4 p.m. with DePaul and Marshall squaring off, and the Raiders first take the court Friday night at 7 p.m. against Ball State.

SET 1
The opening set went Michigan State's way early, with the hosts jumping out to a 9-3 advantage before Wright State clawed back into things and pulled within two at 17-15 off three straight points behind an Alders kill and an ace from Powers. Michigan State rolled off a 3-0 to get to set point and close out the first set moments later.
 
SET 2
Wright State tallied the opening two points of the set on a pair of attacking errors by the Spartans, gaining a little cushion as the teams traded points early on. Tied at 10-all, the Raiders rolled off five straight points thanks to a trio of MSU errors and a Jenny Morey ace to push to 15-10. Wright State later recorded a 4-1 spurt behind a pair of Alders kills to edge out to 22-14 and ended the set thanks to back-to-back Michigan State attacking errors.
 
SET 3
Neither side could string together a scoring run early before the Spartans had a 3-0 run that was immediately answered by the Raiders thanks to a pair of Alders kills to give Wright State a 9-8 advantage. The Raiders took control of the set with a 7-1 run, aided by five MSU attacking errors, to grab a 16-10 lead and closed the set on a three-point spurt behind kills from Alders, Powers and Grace Hauck.
 
SET 4
Michigan State rolled off the first four points of the set, but that was followed up with five straight points by the Raiders. The Spartans used a 5-1 run to take a 15-12 advantage and gain control of the set before sending the match to a fifth set with a final 4-1 run.
 
SET 5
Wright State jumped out to an early cushion behind three of the first four points thanks to kills from Martin and Powers. Leading by two, the Raiders rolled off four straight points to push out to a 9-4 advantage thanks to two Alders kills and a Story ace before Michigan State pulled back within two via a 4-1 run. After a pair of points cut the Raider lead to one, a Michigan State service error gave the Raiders match point and Alders recorded her final kill of the night on a cross-court assist from Stephenson that was slammed into the middle of the floor.