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The 2014 LMU volleyball season came to an end on Friday night at Stanford's Maples Pavilion in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as LMU (23-8) fell in four sets to Michigan State (19-13) by scores of 25-15, 25-19, 21-25, 25-21. The tournament run was the second in the last three years for LMU.

Chloe Reinig collected a match-high 19 kills on 36 swings to boast a .417 hitting percentage for the Spartans. MSU hit .288 as a team while posting 13 blocks and six service aces. Libero Kori Moster collected 26 digs, while Ryian Hubbard led the way with six aces. On the block, Alyssa Garvelink totaled six block assists, while Rachel Minarick and Jazmine White each had five. Minarick, serving as the Spartan setter, guided Michigan State to the solid hitting percentage by dishing out a match-high 48 assists.

Playing in their final match of their collegiate careers, seniors Caitlin DeWitt and Litara Keil led the Lion attack with 12 and 11 kills, respectively, but LMU hit just .154 as a team. Always a force on the block, Keil finished with a block solo and five block assists, helping LMU to seven team blocks.

Michigan State led from the beginning in the first, coming out and hitting .609 en route to beating the Lions by a score of 25-15. Reinig led the way for the Spartans, collecting five kills on seven swings as Minarick dished out 14 assists. The serving game kept the Lions off-balance throughout the first as MSU served up three aces, including a pair from Hubbard, while also collecting three team blocks. LMU was forced into a quick timeout at 6-1 before eventually cutting the deficit to four at 10-6 on a setting error charged to Minarick. Unfortunately for the Lions, MSU won the next three points, forcing a Lion timeout and never looking back from there. A Garvelink kill pushed the Spartans to 20 points at 20-13 before Allyssah Fitterer recorded one of her 16 match kills to put the set away at 25-15.

The second set began just as the first ended, as Michigan State raced out to an early 4-0 lead on a block from Minarick and Gervelink. An MSU service error gave LMU its first point before the Lions clawed back to within one at 6-5 on a kill from Keil and then even at 7-7 on a White attack error. A three-point run from Michigan State, highlighted by three consecutive Fitterer kills, allowed the Spartans to reclaim a 10-7 lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way. Including that three-point run, MSU won five of the next six points to force a Lion timeout at 12-8. The break did little to slow Michigan State's momentum as fifth-year head coach Tom Black elected to call his second timeout at 15-11 after another Spartan block. The latest timeout did seem to help LMU regroup, as the Lions closed to within one point at 15-14 on a block from Rachelle Suaava and Keil, but Michigan State won the next four straight to halt the run and regain composure with a 19-14 lead. One of Garvelink's two set kills pushed the Spartans to the 20-point plateau before a block from Fitterer and Minarick, one of five team blocks for MSU in the period, handed Michigan State the set-point chance at 24-18. DeWitt managed to spoil that initial set-point opportunity with a kill, but Hannah Tedrow erred on the ensuing serve, sending LMU into the locker room trailing by two sets.

With its back against the wall, LMU came out punching in the third, forcing a fourth set by way of a 25-21 victory. The Lions hit .314 behind four kills apiece from Keil and DeWitt, and limited MSU to just a .156 clip on the other side of the net. The Lions forced Michigan State's first timeout of the match at 9-6 on the heels of four straight MSU attacking errors. LMU continued to accelerate out of the break, winning three more points, including one on an ace from Tedrow, to claim a 12-6 lead. The Lions managed to stay in control through the latter third of the set, forcing MSU into its second timeout at 17-12 after a block from DeWitt and Keil. DeWitt, a native of Casper, Wyo., continued to guide the way for LMU down the stretch, winning LMU's 19th, 20th and 21st points before Keil produced back-to-back kills to take the set.

The fourth set looked promising for the Lions, as they seemed in control en route to claiming a late 18-15 lead on a Keil kill, but things went sour late as Michigan State rallied to come back and take the fourth and escape with the match. Reinig connected for consecutive kills to make it 18-17 before three straight Lion attack errors, one coming on a Spartan block, capped a 5-0 run that left MSU with a 20-18 lead and cost LMU a timeout. The Lions refused to surrender the set without a fight, staying within one point to 21-20, but Michigan State won four of the final five points, including the ultimate tally on a Fitterer kill, to take the match and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Michigan State will now await the winner of #1 Stanford and CSU Bakersfield. The Cardinal and Roadrunners play at 7 pm on Friday night, while the second round match is scheduled for 7 pm on Saturday.