Michigan State University Athletics
Volleyball Hosts Final Home Matches Of The Year
11/19/1999 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 19, 1999
? STATE UPDATE: Michigan State (18-10, 8-8) lost to Ohio State, 2-3 (15-17, 15-13, 7-15, 15-4, 11-15) and No. 1 Penn State, 3-0 (7-15, 10-15, 3-15) last weekend. The OSU loss broke a string of three wins. MSU looks to win the season series against both Illinois and Indiana this weekend.
? WROBEL TO BE HONORED: Jenna Wrobel, MSU?s all-time kills leader and only the third MSU player to earn All-America honors, will be honored before Friday?s match versus Indiana. Wrobel will have a banner with her number (6) on it hoisted to the rafters of Jenison Field House to join those of Dana Cooke, Val Sterk and Courtney DeBolt.
? SENIOR NIGHT: Saturday?s match against Illinois marks senior night for MSU. The team has two seniors this season, captain Tammy Vonderheide and Kayleen Cook, who will be playing their last home match at Jenison Field House.
? TIME CHANGE: The time of the match against Illinois on Saturday, Nov. 20 has been moved back from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. to avoid conflicts from the Michigan State-Penn State football game, which begins at 3:30 p.m.
? WATCH MORE TV: Both matches will be televised live by AT&T Cable Services. The matches can be seen on Ch. 17 on the Lansing system. The matches will be rebroadcast twice each. Here?s the schedule: Indiana (Nov. 20 at 4 p.m., Nov. 22 at 7 p.m.), Illinois (Nov. 21 at 4 p.m., Nov. 24 at 7 p.m.). Ben Stark has the play-by-play and Jamie Ianni the color, while former Spartan Corie Richard is the sideline reporter.
? ILLINOIS: Illinois is 14-8 overall, 10-6 (4th) in the Big Ten. The Fighting Illini defeated Indiana, 3-2 (9-15, 15-11, 3-15, 15-10, 15-13) on Wednesday, Nov. 10, and Northwestern, 3-0 (15-2, 15-10, 15-8) on Saturday. Shadia Hadid and Betsy Spicer lead the team at 3.71 and 3.21 kills per game, respectively. Setter Melissa Beitz averages 12.92 assists per game while Tracey Marshall leads the team in digs with 2.78 per game. Spicer is also Illinois? leading blocker with 1.31 pg. Illinois leads the series 27-14. The Spartans won the last meeting against the then-No. 20 Illini in Champaign on Oct. 22, 815-9, 15-6, 17-15. Erin Hartley had 21 kills and 13 digs for the Spartans. MSU has won eight of the last nine meetings.
? INDIANA: Indiana is 16-9 overall, 7-9 (t-7th) in the Big Ten Conference. The Hoosiers split last weekend, falling in five to Illinois on Wednesday, Nov. 10 (15-9, 11-15, 15-3, 10-15, 13-15), and defeating Northwestern 3-0 (15-8, 15-6, 15-7). Ryann Connors and Amanda Welter lead the team with 3.97 and 3.55 kills per game, respectively. Setter Laura Gardner averages 12.12 assists per game while Kristina Sanderson chips in 4.87 pg. Cydryce Carter leads the team in digs (2.92 per game) and blocks (1.01 pg). The series is tied 23-23. The Spartans won the last meeting, 3-1 (15-11, 9-15, 15-11, 15-6) in Bloomington on Oct. 23. Sarah Gustin led MSU with 22 kills and 11 blocks, while Angela Morley set the school record with 14 blocks (1-13). Michigan State has won 11 of the last 12 meetings.
? B2K: Junior setter Vicki Basil tallied the 2,000th assist of her career against Ohio State on Nov. 12 and moved into fifth place on the MSU career assist list, passing Julie Pavlus. She now has 2,075 career assists and needs 21 assists to move into fourth place (2,096).
? DIGGING HIGHER: Jessica Sanborn set her career high with 14 digs at Ohio State on Nov. 12, while Erin Hartley set her season high with 13 in the same match.
R.I.C.E.: Jessica Sanborn is questionable for this weekend?s matches after spraining her right ankle in the Penn State match on Nov. 13. She spent the week concentrating on Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. MORE(LY) Precise: Angela Morley has overtaken Jessica Sanborn for best hitting percentage on the team. Morley is now hitting .339 while Sanborn is at .338. Morley continues to lead the team in blocking at 1.60 per game, while Sanborn is also second in that category at 1.15 pg.
? HOME ADVANTAGE?: Michigan State is currently 7-5 at home. In contrast, MSU is 5-3 on the road and 6-0 at a neutral site. Even if MSU wins its last two home matches this weekend, it will be the lowest home win total (9) in the last five years. The Spartans are currently 7-5 in Jenison Field House. The last time the team had a losing record at home was 1993, when the Spartans went 4-8.
? WE ALL DIG IT: Six of MSU?s seven regular rotation average 2.00 digs per game or better: Hartley (2.47), Vicki Basil (2.44), Maren Witzel (2.34), Tammy Vonderheide (2.19), Sanborn (2.02) and Gustin (2.01).
? HOT POTATO: Three Spartans average at least 3.5 kills per game led by Sarah Gustin?s 4.25. Erin Hartley averages 3.98 pg, while Jessica Sanborn puts down 3.61.
? IN YOUR FACE: And the numbers prove it. Two Spartans average over 1.00 blocks per game and are ranked in the top 10 in the conference. Angela Morley leads the Big Ten at 1.60 pg, while Jessica Sanborn blocks 1.15 pg. Erin Hartley is next on the team at 0.81 pg, while JSarah Gustin is at 0.80 pg. MSU has 70.5 more digs than its opponents this season (309-238.5).
? COACHING MILESTONE: Chuck Erbe recorded his 150th win as MSU?s head coach versus Purdue on Nov. 6. He is 150-76 in his seventh season at MSU and 460-197-3 in his 19th season as a head coach.
? CAREER MARKERS: ? Angela Morley needs three block assists to move into fifth (129) on the MSU single-season block assists chart and four more total blocks to move into fifth (152) on the team single-season total blocks chart. ? MSU needs one more block solo to move into seventh (87) on the team single-season solo chart. ? Vicki Basil needs 21 more assists to move into fourth place (2,096) on the MSU career assists chart and 113 assists to pass teammate Christie Landry for third (2,188)
? BLOCKERS: Michigan State has recorded 309 blocks as a team this season, including 446 block assists. Were the season to end today, MSU?s total would rank it seventh on the school?s single-season chart while its block assists rank it fifth. Last year, the Spartans ended with 394 total blocks, nine short of the school record of 403, established in 1997. The Spartans are averaging 3.2 blocks per game while holding opponents to 2.3 pg.
? NCAA STATS: In the latest NCAA stats (11/9) Angela Morley was sixth in the nation in blocks per game (1.66), while as a team, MSU was ranked 10th (3.24 pg).
