Michigan State University Athletics
MSU Volleyball Wraps Up Another Successful Season
12/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Dec. 16, 2002
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The following is a look at some season-end notes for the 2002 Michigan State volleyball team.
MSU ADVANCES TO SWEET 16 FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1996: The Michigan State volleyball team advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1996 by defeating Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Dec. 8. The Spartans swept George Mason in three games in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. MSU lost to No. 1 USC in the West Regional semifinal Dec. 12 in Santa Barbara, Calif., but finished the season with a 21-12 record. MSU has now posted 20-win seasons seven out of the last eight years, including two in a row.
KEEP ON BLOCKING IN THE FREE WORLD: One of the most dominant Spartans to roam the net in MSU volleyball history ended a stellar career in 2002. Angela Morley broke the school record for total blocks Oct. 26 against Illinois, collecting 11 block assists to push her career total blocks mark to 589. Morley, who also owns the school record for career block assists, finished her career fourth in Big Ten history in block assists (552) and total blocks (637). She became only the fifth player in Big Ten history to amass at least 600 career total blocks.
Morley hit the 12-block plateau twice in matches this season (9/14 vs. South Florida; 10/4 vs. Ohio State), which is tied for the fourth best performance in a single match in MSU history. She tallied 10 blocks in a key five-game win over Northwestern Nov. 29.
In addition to blocking, Morley was also a superb hitter at the net. Her .337 hitting percentage was fourth in the Big Ten and she closed her career second in MSU history with a .314 career percentage (957 kills, 320 errors, 2,029 attempts). In the first round of the NCAA Tournament vs. George Mason, Morley tied a career high with 15 kills and hit at a .667 clip.
Morley was a first-team All-Big Ten selection and an All-Mideast region selection in 2002.
PERFECT SETUP: Co-captain Nikki Colson had a career-year in 2002, setting a new single season mark for assists in MSU history with 1,577. She recorded a career-high 68 assists against No. 11 Penn State Nov. 1 and ranked fourth in the Big Ten in assists and 17th nationally.
Colson recorded her 2,000th assist against Ohio State Oct. 4 and moved into fourth place on the all-time MSU assists chart (currently: 2,978 assists) vs. Michigan Oct. 30. She needs just 22 assists her senior season to reach 3,000 for her career.
Colson, who was named the team MVP, also led the team with 16 double-doubles (assists-digs) on the year, including two double-doubles in the first two rounds of the tournament. She amassed 60 assists on four occasions this season.
200 AND COUNTING: MSU head coach Chuck Erbe claimed his 200th victory at MSU Sept. 20 as the Spartans defeated Northern Illinois, 3-0. Erbe, who is in his 10th season as the Spartan mentor, is only the second coach in MSU history to amass 200 wins and is currently only 38 victories away from becoming the school's all-time winningest coach. Annelies Knoppers is the all-time leader with 250 wins in 11 years at MSU.
IF YOU WIN, THEY WILL COME: The Spartans were once again of the nation's leaders in attendance (12th in the nation, 1,802 per game) in 2002. In 14 matches this season, the Spartans drew 25,229 fans, which was the most since 1996. Over 2,984 attended the Michigan match Oct. 30, which was the largest crowd of the season and 11th in Jenison Field House history.
SUPER SOPH: Sophomore Kim Schram made a big splash in her rookie season for the Green and White by earning All-Big Ten freshman honors with 285 kills, which was the fifth best total in Spartan freshmen history. Schram proved once again that she is an integral part of the team as she lead the team with 444 kills 3.70 per game).
She led the Spartans in kills in 12 matches and posted a career-high 32 kills at Purdue Nov. 23. The 32 kills tied for fifth best in a match in MSU history, and Schram became the first Spartan player to collect 30 or more kills since Jenna Wrobel slammed 36 vs. Wisconsin on Nov. 27, 1998. Schram hit for an impressive .538 with only four errors in the match. The night before at Illinois, Schram recorded 26 kills, which was a career-best for less than a day. For her efforts, Schram was named co-Big Ten Player of the Week Nov. 25. Schram posted double-digit kills in 26 of MSU's 33 matches this season.
Schram collected her 700th career kill vs. George Mason in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as she pounded 13 in the match. She followed that with a 10-kill effort against Notre Dame in the second round.
ROOD AWAKENING: Junior Jenny Rood was unkind to opponents at the net this season as she was second on the team in blocks with 107 (28 solo, 79 assists) and in kills with 414 (3.60 per game). Rood hit for double-digit kills in 25 of the 31 matches she played in, including a career-high 25 kills at Illinois Nov. 22. She also blasted 24 kills in the five-game win vs. Penn State Nov. 1. Rood switched from middle to outside hitter Oct. 18 at Wisconsin for the first time since her freshman year. In the first match in her new spot, Rood pounded a team-best 19 kills. Against Indiana Oct. 5, Rood hit for an astounding .600 (14 K - 2 E - 20 TA).
