“Our team is probably one of the loudest teams off the court and you never would know it on the court,” George said. “They really don’t throw their personality into it. I think that’s because they’re youthful and they’re inhibited and that they’re thinking way too much. They’re just being stifled by what they know the expectations are. They need to let loose. They need to play.”

Staring down a matchup with then-No. 18 Purdue, the team needed a turnaround.

“We came into the Purdue match and had a really strong attitude about it and really bounced back nicely from Friday,” George said.

The Spartans trounced the favored Boilermakers in the first set, eventually bringing them to five sets before losing 3-2.

“I think definitely Saturday was a different team out there,” sophomore libero Allyson Karaba said.

“We came short of the win but we definitely played differently. We played more as a team, we played with more energy. Yes, it was inconsistent at times, but it’s definitely something that is going to become more of a habit as a team.”

The habit will need to continue as the team enters the second half of the Big Ten season. The Spartans are now 11-10 overall and 3-7 in the Big Ten, but should fare better in the second half, now that the young team is familiar with the league, George said.

“I feel this group hasn’t ever seen some of the kids we talked about,” George said. “So when I say we need to stop such and such a player, or this is the shot that she prefers, they have no idea who I’m talking about.

“Now we go into the second round, when I say a name they probably remember it because that kid probably did exactly what we talked about. And now they know when I’m saying we need to shut this down or we need to get this stopped, they’ll know.”

The Spartans start the second half against No. 25 Wisconsin (14-8, 4-6) and Northwestern (7-14, 1-9) this weekend.

MSU lost its first match with the Badgers 3-0, but are catching them on a rough stretch. Wisconsin has lost its last four matches, most recently to unranked Indiana.

Northwestern is riding a losing streak of its own, dropping its last three matches. Northwestern is also the last team MSU beat in conference, with the Spartans taking the Oct. 10 match 3-2.

For the freshmen on the team, having gone through one rotation of Big Ten teams has made them more comfortable on the court.

“We know their shot selections, we know what they like to do with the ball,” freshman defensive specialist Carli Weiler said.

“We also know what defense they play so it’s easier for our hitters to know what shots to take. It’s also easier for us to know what team we’re playing because we know what defense to run and whether to serve short or deep to move their offense around.”