Michigan State University Athletics
Volleyball Heads To Indiana/Penn State
10/25/2000 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 25, 2000
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Updated Volleyball Records
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Indiana & Penn State on the Road: The Spartans travel to Indiana on Oct. 27 (8 p.m. ET) and 13th-ranked Penn State on Oct. 28 (7 p.m. ET). MSU is currently 12-7 overall, 5-5 in the Big Ten (6th place). Neither match is on television or the radio.
Indiana is 12-8 overall, 3-7 in the Big Ten, tied for seventh place with Michigan. The Hoosiers had a tough weekend, falling to No. 11 Penn State and No. 6 Wisconsin 0-3. Amanda Welter leads the team at 3.90 kills per game. Setter Laurie Gardner averages 13.09 assists per game, while Hillary Toivonen averages 3.61 digs and Melissa Brewer blocks 1.04 per contest. As a team, Indiana is hitting .207 Michigan State won the teams' last meeting on Oct. 7, 15-3, 15-4, 15-2. The nine total points IU scored was tied for third-fewest points ever tallied against an MSU team since the inception of the best of three format. Michigan State leads the series 25-23. However, the Spartans are just 6-13 in Bloomington. MSU has won the last four matches and 13 of the last 15.
No. 13 Penn State is 18-4 overall and 7-3 (3rd) in the Big Ten Conference. The Nittany Lions defeated Indiana at home last Wednesday, 3-0, and traveled to Columbus, Ohio, on Friday night, upsetting the 11th-ranked OSU Buckeyes 3-2. Mishka Levy and Katie Schumacher lead the team at 4.44 and 3.59 kills per game, respectively. Setter Jessica Hayden averages 11.67 assists per game, while Amanda Rome leads the team at 2.58 digs per contest. The Lions' leading blockers are Robyn Guokas and Cara Smith at 1.59 and 1.55 per game, respectively. Penn State won the teams' last meeting on Oct. 6, 11-15, 15-6, 15-10, 15-7. Mishka Levy led the Lions with 17 kills and 12 digs while Sarah Gustin tallied 20 kills, eight digs and five blocks. Penn State leads the series 16-4. The Spartans are 1-9 in Happy Valley. Penn State has won the last eight matches with the Spartans' last win coming on Oct. 11, 1996 in Jenison Field House.
Tough Weekend: The Spartans lost to No. 7 Minnesota 15-6, 8-15, 11-15, 4-15. MSU, without the services of seniors Sarah Gustin or Jessica Sanborn, relied on junior Erin Hartley (18 kills, 14 digs, 5 blocks) and freshman Jenny Rood (18 kills, 8 digs). Setter Christie Landry put up 54 assists and 16 digs. The Spartans outhit the Gophers .200-.169 but were outblocked 14-8. Iowa, coming off a 3-2 victory over Michigan in which it won the last three games, did the same to State on Saturday night. MSU won 15-1, 15-12 but lost the next three 10-15, 13-15, 11-15. Rood notched career highs with 19 kills, 16 digs and four service aces in the loss, while Hartley had another double-double with 14 kills and 13 digs. The Spartans again outhit their opponents .230-.183 and were again outblocked 17-16.
Rood Hot: Freshman Jenny Rood had another solid weekend as a starter at outside hitter for MSU. Three times in the last four matches Rood has upped her career high for kills. Against Minnesota she had 18 kills and the next night tallied 19. Rood also scored a double-double against Iowa (19k-16d) to go with a career-best four service aces.
One Morley: Redshirt sophomore Angela Morley needs just one more block to move into the Spartan career list for that category. She currently has 257 career blocks (43-214). Last weekend the middle had four block assists against Minnesota and 7 blocks (2-5) against Iowa, to go with 10 kills and a career-best seven digs.
Holding Serve: Michigan State's serving performance against Minnesota on Oct. 20 will probably go down as one of the worst performances in team history. The Spartans tallied 27 service errors and only seven service aces in just four games. By contrast, MSU tallied nine service aces and only 11 service errors in its five games against Iowa the next night. Redshirt junior Maren Witzel led the way with three service aces and no service errors.
Saturday Night Upset: Prior to Saturday's 2-3 loss to Iowa, MSU was 7-1 in Saturday matches and 3-0 in five-game matches.
Sibbernsen's Back: Freshman outside hitter Amy Sibbernsen, who started every match for MSU until spraining her ankle, returned one-two weeks quicker than expected when she stepped back into the starting lineup last weekend. Sibbernsen had 11 kills and 12 digs against Minnesota and 16 kills and 15 digs versus Iowa. She is third on the team at 3.23 kills per game, second in digs at 2.77 pg and has tallied six double-doubles on the season.
Witzel In The Middle: Redshirt junior Maren Witzel, filling in for the injured Jessica Sanborn, played solidly for the Spartans last weekend. Against Minnesota she had 10 kills on .474 hitting, seven digs and two blocks. Versus Iowa, Witzel notched four kills, 11 digs, five blocks and three service aces.
In The Big Ten: As of 10/22, the Spartans were second in the conference in blocking at 3.12 per game, fourth with a .267 hitting percentage, sixth in team kills at 16.50 pg, sixth in assists (14.64 pg), eighth in service aces (1.39 pg) and eighth in digs (14.78 pg). Jessica Sanborn is second in the Big Ten with a .422 hitting percentage and sixth at 1.26 blocks per game. Angela Morley ranks seventh at 0.40 service aces per game, setter Christie Landry is sixth at 12.96 per game while Sarah Gustin is fifth at 4.14 kills per game.
In The NCAA: As of10/22, Jessica Sanborn was 6th in the country in hitting percentage at .422. As a team, MSU was 19th in the nation in hitting percentage at .267 and 14th in blocks at 3.12 per game.
