EAST LANSING — Michigan volleyball player Lexi Zimmerman let out a loud scream inside the Breslin Center last night.

Except that scream wasn’t in jubilation — it was in agony. The junior setter dislocated her thumb early in the second set against Michigan State.

After lingering on the court for a minute with a Michigan trainer, Zimmerman went into the locker room, where the Spartan team doctor popped the thumb back into place.

Five minutes later, with tape on her right hand, the Barrington, Ill. native returned to her team.

“I’m really proud of her for coming back and playing hard,” senior outside hitter Juliana Paz said. “That got us really motivated, to be honest, and we started to play for her tonight.”

Michigan (6-3 Big Ten, 18-4 overall) used the added inspiration to dispose of its in-state rival in three sets (33-31, 25-22, 26-24) while using an arsenal of hitters. Sophomore Alex Hunt led the offensive attack with 19 kills while Paz and senior Veronica Rood added 12 and 11 in the winning effort.

“Our game plan every night is to stay balanced,” senior libero Megan Bower said. “We tend sometimes to get outside dominated, and teams have started to catch onto that. So now we’re trying to spread the set choice out.”

Zimmerman — injured hand and all — still effectively managed the balanced Wolverine offense and confused Michigan State (2-7, 14-7) all night.

Michigan used a variety of lob shots, sets to the back row and middle of the court, and slide sets — where a hitter cuts behind the setter — to generate its scoring.

“We’re trying to get more offense out of our team,” Michigan coach Mark Rosen said. “We’ve been working on it since the beginning of the season, and it’s slowly starting to come."

Regardless of how well the offense played, there is still concern over whether Zimmerman, last year’s AVCA All-America Second Team selection, is going to be all right. Still, the Wolverines took a game they needed to win to stay within reach of the top of the Big Ten.

“Playing in a hostile environment, in an opposing gym and in the Big Ten — they’re a good team," Rosen said. "State beat USC this year and Illinois, so they’re very legit. For us to win in three sets, and two (of which were) really tight deuce games, I’m really proud of how our kids played."