Michigan State University Athletics
Volleyball Set to Host Penn State/Indiana
10/3/2000 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 3, 2000
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Homestand: The 20th-ranked Spartans are in a three-way tie for third place in the Big Ten at 3-1 after defeating Purdue and Illinois last weekend. This week the Green and White host Penn State on Friday and Indiana on Saturday. Both matches will be carried live by AT&T Cable TV with Ben Stark doing play-by-play.
No. 12 Penn State is 12-4 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten (t-6th). Last year's National Champions had its 87-match home winning streak snapped by No. 6 Minnesota last Friday, losing 1-3. On Saturday, Penn State defeated Iowa 3-1. Mishka Levy and Katie Schumacher lead the Nittany Lions at 4.29 and 3.52 kills per game, respectively. Setters Jessica Hayden and Shannon Bortner are averaging 11.61 and 7.29 assists per game. Hillary Sexton and Amanda Rome lead the Penn State defense at 2.78 and 2.56 digs per game, respectively, while the Lions' leading blocker is Cara Smith at 1.22 per game. Penn State leads the series with Michigan State 15-4. The Spartans are 3-7 in their last 10 matches vs. PSU. MSU is 3-6 at home against the Lions.
Indiana is 10-4 overall and 1-3 in the conference (t-6th). The Hoosiers lost to Iowa, 3-2, and Minnesota, 0-3, at home last weekend. Hillary Toivonen and Amanda Welter lead the team at 4.08 and 4.00 kills per game, respectively. Setter Laurie Gardner averages 13.53 assists per game and is second on the team with 3.10 digs per game. Toivonen tops the digs list at 3.92 pg while Melissa Brawer and Laura Dewitz lead Indiana in blocking at 1.08 and 1.06 pg, respectively. Michigan State leads the series with Indiana 24-23. MSU has won nine of the last 10 match-ups and 13 of the last 14. MSU is 13-5 at home against the Hoosiers.
Double Triple-Double: Junior right side hitter Erin Hartley notched her first career triple-double against Illinois on Sept. 30 with 18 kills, 11 digs and a career-high 10 blocks. After not having a player with a triple-double since 1995, MSU has had two in two weeks after setter Christie Landry put up 11 kills, 48 assists and 14 digs against Michigan on Sept. 20.
Slump Buster: Erin Hartley broke out of a season-long slump by notching her first career triple-double with 18 kills, 11 digs and 10 (1-9) blocks while hitting .371 against Illinois All categories led the team for the match. Her nine block assists is tied for fourth-best in a five-game match in Spartan history. Hartley also had a then-season high 15 kills on .480 hitting to go with seven digs and five blocks in win versus Purdue. Her weekend's .450 hitting percentage was more than double her season's average.
1K Club: Senior outside hitter Sarah Gustin recorded her 1,000th career kill in MSU's second game against Purdue on Sept. 29. She now has 1,021 for her career, ninth best all-time. She is just the 10th player in Spartan history with 1,000 career kills.
Setter Supreme: Christie Landry had a stellar weekend with 117 assists, 11 kills, 18 digs and three blocks. For the last four matches she is averaging 50.75 assists, 10.25 digs, 7.25 kills and 2.50 blocks per match, and hitting at a .446 clip.
Fivers: The Spartans are now 3-0 in five-game matches after tallying just a 1-5 record in 1999.
Groovin': MSU's .335 hitting percentage against Illinois was the third-best in a five-game match in Spartan history.
