Newly found blocking and serving skills helped the Illini pull off the win on Saturday against Michigan State.

After falling to Michigan in three matches on Friday night, Illinois volleyball beat the Spartans in five games in a must-win situation to go 1-1 this weekend and push its Big Ten record to 2-4.

The Illini out-blocked and out-served Michigan State, posting 11 blocks and 9 service aces.

Earlier in the season, Illinois devoted a week of practice to blocking and it has showed. Thus far in the Big Ten season, Illinois has out-blocked its opponent 55-45, but Hardin still believes there is work to be done.

“I think it’s one of our weaknesses,” Hardin said. “We spent a lot of time on it and my assistant coach, Kevin Hambly deserves a lot of credit for bringing it around, but it’s still a weakness and we still have a ways to go.”

Saturday’s match was highlighted by two of the top hitters in the nation with Illinois’ Rachel VanMeter and Michigan State’s Katie Johnson, who rank third and sixth in the nation respectively in average kills per game. But Johnson suffered an elbow injury early in game one and was unable to return until the start of game three.

Despite the injury, the Spartans received a pick-me-up from sophomore outside hitter Ashley Schatzle. Schatzle was a key contributor in game one when Johnson went down, posting four of her 24 kills on the night to rally Michigan State back to the lead and eventually the win.

Although Johnson returned to the court for game three, that particular game could have been Illinois’ most impressive, battling back from a 19-16 deficit for the win.

The night before, the Wolverines, whose hitting average ranks seventh in the Big Ten, hit .400 for the night, and beat the Illini handily to improve to 3-2 in conference play.

Senior outside hitter Rachel VanMeter, who came into the match leading the conference with an average of 5.7 kills per game, improved on the mark, posting 20 kills on the night.

“Everyone knows Rachel is our main threat on offense,” said head coach Don Hardin. “The nice thing about the Michigan State win was that we also started getting some other people stepping forward.”

True freshman setter Lizzie Bazzetta was one of those players who stepped in for the Illini. Bazzetta got her first Big Ten start this weekend and was a key player with 39 assists in match one and a career high 66 assists against Michigan State.

“She came through in about as challenging and clutch situation as you can come through on in a five-gamer on the road,” Hardin said. “It really speaks highly of our team right now. We’ve had both our setters pull off five-game road wins. She did a nice job of distributing balls and running down balls.”

Hardin was impressed with the way his team bounced back after the loss to Michigan.

“Every single match we play in the Big Ten is crucial,” Hardin said. “Our expectations are that we can win any one of them.”