EAST LANSING, Mich. – Butler nearly pulled off a major upset on Friday afternoon as they took the #19 Michigan State Spartans to a fifth set in the second game of the Spartan Invitational. The Bulldogs erased a 2-0 deficit to send the match to the fifth set where they were eventually defeated 3-2 (24-26, 15-25, 25-21, 27-25, 9-15).

"We played a great match today," Head Coach Sharon Clark said. "Our blocking was amazing and our back court defense was aggressive."

Jessica Klingensmith and Briana Lilly were excellent for Butler offensively as each student-athlete recorded a double figure kill total. Klingensmith hit .545 with 13 kills off 22 swings. She only made one error on the day while adding three digs and two blocks. Lilly was just as impressive up the middle of the court by recording 12 kills off 19 attempts (.474). She was also tied with Makaila Jarema for the team lead in blocks with six.

"Jess Klingensmith was smart and aggressive offensively and Bri Lilly came up big… time and time again," Clark added.

A Spartan with Butler ties paced the offensive unit for Michigan State as the Spartans improve to 3-1 on the year. Brooke Kranda, the younger sister of Butler volleyball alum Stephanie Kranda, recorded a match-high 22 kills while holding a .415 attack percentage. Joining Kranda at the net was Chloe Reinig and Alyssa Garvelink who added 18 and 17 kills respectively.

"Both teams battled today and I feel good that we showed improvement from last week," Clark stated. "Now we just need to believe in the talent we have. We are young, but very talented."

The young Butler roster didn't blink in the opening set as the two teams came down the stretch tied at 22-22. Jessica Admire put BU on top 23-22 and the Bulldogs would reach set point off Spartan miscue. Michigan State halted the momentum with a timeout and fired back four-straight points to steal the set 26-24. Brooke Kranda came up with two of the final four points of the set to put MSU on top 1-0.

The second set was not memorable for Butler as the 'Dawgs allowed a pair of scoring runs that led to a 25-15 Spartan win. MSU went on a 9-3 run to break a 7-7 tie and finished the set outscoring Butler 7-2.

Set three also featured a 7-7 score near the start of the action, but this time Butler would go on a scoring run to open up a 14-9 advantage. That cushion would shrink to 16-15, but the Bulldogs would never let go of the lead as they won set three 25-21.

The Spartans used a timeout in set three when trailing by three at 21-18. Anna Logan came out of the stoppage to record a kill and an attack error from Sparty would push the score to 23-18. Reinig single-handedly got MSU back into the picture with back-to-back kills that forced a Butler timeout. Lilly responded with a kill of her own that pushed BU to set point and after a BU attack error Makayla Ferguson would seal the deal with a set-winning kill off the assist from Natalie Meert.

The Bulldogs carried momentum into the fourth set to open up a 5-1 lead early in the contest. The Spartans would get within one point on multiple occasions, but weren't actually able to tie the score until a 23-23 tie late in the action. Michigan State's first lead of the fourth set would come after a service ace at 24-23, but a service error would follow to once again knot the score. Brooke Kranda would once again put the pressure on BU with a kill, putting Michigan State back at match-point but another costly service error would keep Butler's chances alive.

After the second MSU service error, Butler would feed the ball to freshman Anna Logan who came up with back-to-back kills to send the match to a fifth set. Meghan Cotant found Logan for the first point and Kodi Smith would come up with a nice play to earn the assist on the last point.

The upset-minded Bulldogs would run out of gas in the fifth set as Michigan State opened up an 8-2 advantage that would move to 11-5 before Butler called timeout. The 'Dawgs got the score to 14-8, but the damage had been done earlier in the set with Michigan State hanging on for the 15-9 win.

Butler will return to the court in Jenison Field House to take on Miami Ohio today at 4:30 PM. The 2015 Spartan Invite will end tomorrow afternoon with a 2:30 match against the Virginia Tech Hokies.