Michigan State University Athletics
Volleyball Heads To Purdue, Indiana
11/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 4, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
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BACK TO THE ROAD - Michigan State volleyball (9-11, 4-8 Big Ten) hits the road for the first time in three weeks, as the Spartans take their three-match winning streak to Purdue (11-11, 4-8 Big Ten) and Indiana (8-15, 2-10). State faces Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind., on Friday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. The next night, the Spartans take on Indiana in Bloomington, Ind., at 7 p.m.
Radio for all MSU volleyball matches can be found live on the internet at www.msuspartans.com with John Kreger handling the play-by-play.
STRONG SECOND HALF START - After picking up just two wins in the first half of the Big Ten season, the Spartans' wins against Michigan (3-2) on Oct. 27 and No. 21 Illinois (3-1) on Oct. 29 kicked off the second half of the Big Ten schedule on the right note.
LANGSTON ON FIRE - Junior captain Brooke Langston hit a blistering .600 in MSU's week against Michigan and Illinois, with 26 kills and two errors on 40 total attacks. Langston added 11 blocks, including six against Illinois on Oct. 29. She also had two digs on the week.
SCHOEN COMING ALONG NICELY - Freshman Meghan Schoen is hitting .304 with 55 kills, an average of 2.75 per game, over State's last five matches. She leads the Spartans' blocking efforts with 22 in that span, an average of 1.10 per game.
BIG DIGS - Junior libero Marley Bellwood has posted at least 15 digs in each of the Spartans' last four matches, including a career-best 27 against No. 21 Illinois (Oct. 29); 19 each against Northwestern (Oct. 23) and Michigan (Oct. 27); and 17 against Wisconsin (Oct. 22).
NEED ASSISTANCE WITH THAT? - Freshman setter Maggie Griffin posted 118 combined assists in State's split week with Michigan and No. 21 Illinois. Griffin had 57 in State's five-game set with Michigan on Oct. 27 and 61 against Illinois on Oct. 29. Additionally, Griffin contributed six blocks on the week, including five (one solo, four assist) against Michigan.
LOOKING AT PURDUE & INDIANA A WEEKEND AWAY - State takes to the road, as the Spartans look to continue their three-match winning streak. MSU takes on Purdue (11-11, 4-8 Big Ten) on Friday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. in West Lafayette, Ind., before facing Indiana (8-15, 2-10) at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 6 in Bloomington, Ind. Purdue is currently tied with MSU for seventh place, while Indiana is in 10th place overall.
PURDUE (11-11, 4-8 Big Ten) - 7 p.m. - Friday, Nov. 5 A LOOK AT PURDUE - The Boilermakers are 11-11 on the season and 4-8 in the Big Ten. Three of Purdue's four Big Ten wins came early in the season, as the Boilermakers have won just one of their last eight matches.
Leah Wischmeier averages 4.24 kills per game, with a .284 season attack percentage. Kim McConaha averages 4.10 kills per game, and is hitting .303 on the season. She also averages 1.08 blocks and 2.53 digs per game. Setter Renata Dargan has 999 assists on the year, an average of 13.32 per game, while three Boilermakers average 2.50 digs per game or better - McConaha (2.53), Anne Mastandrea (2.86) and Daren Poe (3.72).
The Boilermakers are hitting .255 on the season, compared to their opponents' .246. Purdue averages 16.80 kills, 15.62 assists, 1.23 service aces, 16.06 digs and 2.14 blocks per game.
HEAD COACH: Dave Shondell (Ball State, 1981) is in his second year both as a collegiate head coach and at Purdue, and owns a 25-38 record in that time.
EARLIER THIS SEASON: The Boilermakers defeated MSU, 3-2, in East Lansing on Oct. 2. Purdue won with game scores of 30-26, 26-30, 28-30, 30-21, 15-6. Leah Wischmeier led Purdue with 23 kills. Kim Schram had 31 kills and Maggie Griffin had 68 assists for State in the match.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Purdue leads the all-time series, 34-25.
THE LAST 10 YEARS: MSU has an 18-3 advantage against Purdue in the last 10 years.
LAST YEAR: The teams split, with each squad winning on its home court.
BY THE NUMBERS:Purdue Purdue Michigan State Michigan State Overall/Big Ten PG (O/Conf.) Overall/Big Ten PG (O/Conf.) Kills 1344/692 16.80/16.48 1141/683 15.21/15.18 Total Attacks 3375/1824 42.19/43.43 2891/1776 38.55/39.47 Att. Pct. .255/.225 N/A .220/.209 N/A Assists 1250/651 15.62/15.50 1057/642 14.09/14.27 Service Aces 98/47 1.23/1.12 96/43 1.28/0.96 Digs 1285/677 16.06/16.12 1057/634 14.09/14.09 Total Blocks 171.0/89.0 2.14/2.12 173.0/108.0 2.31/2.40
INDIANA (8-15, 2-10 Big Ten) - 7 p.m. - Saturday, Nov. 6 A LOOK AT INDIANA - The Hoosiers are 2-4 in their last six matches, but that span includes matches against Minnesota, Penn State, Ohio State and Wisconsin.
Katie Pollon leads Indiana, hitting .301 on the season with an average of 3.71 kills per game, while teammate Christina Archibald also averages 3.66 kills per game. Mandy Eberle leads Indiana's blocking efforts, at 1.25 per game, 105 on the season. Setter Tasha Arsenych averages 11.51 per game, and has 990 on the year.
As a team, Indiana is averaging 14.50 kills per game, and is hitting .209 on the year. Opponents average 15.99 kills per game on .239 hitting.
HEAD COACH: Katie Weismiller (Texas-Arlington, 1988) is in her 14th season as a collegiate head coach, with a 229-212 record in that time. At Indiana, she is 179-188 in 12 years.
EARLIER THIS SEASON: State swept Indiana, 3-0, for its first Big Ten win of the season, on Oct. 1 in Jenison Field House. Game scores in the match were 30-27, 30-27, 30-22. Kim Schram had 17 kills for MSU in the match and Brooke Langston added 10. Katie Pollom had a match-best 18 for IU.
ALL-TIME SERIES: MSU leads the all-time series, 32-24.
THE LAST 10 YEARS: MSU has a 19-2 advantage in the last 10 years.
LAST YEAR: MSU swept the season series, winning 3-1 at Indiana and 3-0 in East Lansing.
BY THE NUMBERS:Indiana Indiana Michigan State Michigan State Overall/Big Ten PG (O/Conf.) Overall/Big Ten PG (O/Conf.) Kills 1247/549 14.50/12.77 1141/683 15.21/15.18 Total Attacks 3319/1680 38.59/39.07 2891/1776 38.55/39.47 Att. Pct. .209/.158 N/A .220/.209 N/A Assists 1091/495 12.69/11.51 1057/642 14.09/14.27 Service Aces 107/43 1.24/1.00 96/43 1.28/0.96 Digs 1218/628 14.16/14.60 1057/634 14.09/14.09 Total Blocks 208.0/103.5 2.42/2.41 173.0/108.0 2.31/2.40
 Head coach Chuck Erbe reached his 550th career victory with State's 3-2 win against Michigan on Oct. 27.  | |
OFF TO A GOOD START - State has a 7-0 record in matches in which it wins game one. Four of those game one wins came in 3-0 match victories for MSU.
550 REACHED - Head coach Chuck Erbe is reached his 550th career victory with State's 3-2 win against Michigan on Oct. 27. At the start of the season, Erbe's .684 career win percentage (542-245-3) was 24th all-time in the NCAA, while his wins total of 542 was 14th all-time.
20 KILLS AND COUNTING - Senior Kim Schram has 22 career 20-kill matches, including five this season. She is currently third on the all-time 20-kill match list, and eight from second (Veronica Morales, 1993-97). Jenna Wrobel(1995-98) holds the record at 54.
GRIFFIN HITS 50 - Freshman setter Maggie Griffin has posted at least 50 assists in eight of State's 19 matches this season, including a career-best 68 against Purdue (Oct. 2). She had 64 against Northwestern (Oct. 23) and 57 against Michigan (Oct. 27).
BELLWOOD ON RECORD-SETTING PACE - Junior libero Marley Bellwood is currently on a record-setting pace in digs per game, as she is averaging 3.92 on the year. The standing MSU record for digs per game is 3.68, set by Jill Krumm in 1989, when she posted 409 digs in 111 games. Bellwood has 255 digs in 65 games played this season.
ONE OF FOUR - With 1,605 kills throughout her three-plus seasons, senior Kim Schram is one of just four Spartans in MSU history to post 1,525 or more career kills. Schram is just 65 away from entering the top three in career kills (1,669), and at her season pace of 4.54 kills per game, needs about 14 games, or three to five matches, to reach that milestone. Jenna Wrobel (1995-98) holds the school record for kills at 2,292.
AAUGH! - Service errors have plagued MSU this season, as the Spartans have 204 on the season, an average of 2.72 per game. State had 15 in its 3-2 win against Michigan (Oct. 27).
FAN PRESENCE - MSU is averaging an attendance of 1,801 per match--16,212 total--in Jenison Field House this season, including a season-high of 3,517 on Oct. 27 against Michigan. In its six Big Ten matches, State has a total attendance of 13.390, and averages 2,232 fans.
CANADIAN PRESENCE - Michelle Kopka and Kim Schram led MSU in its 1-1 weekend against Wisconsin and Northwestern (Oct. 22-23). Kopka had 28 kills on the weekend, an average of 4.00 kills per game on .254 hitting, while Schram had 39 kills in the two matches, an average of 5.57 kills per game. The duo combined for 36 digs and 10 blocks in the two matches.
BUILDING BLOCKS - Freshman Meghan Schoen continues to lead the Spartans' blocking efforts with a team-best 60 blocks on the season, and 34 in conference play. She is just shy of entering the freshman record books in total blocks (14 away), block solos (six away) and block assists (nine away).
JENISON, SWEET JENISON - State has a 7-2 record in matches held in Jenison Field House this season, with four of those wins coming in a three-game set. MSU has an 121-45 record in the facility since 1993. In State's nine matches at home this year, the Spartans average 16.70 kills per game and are hitting .281. Additionally, they average 15,58 assists, 2.89 blocks, 14.21 digs and 1.27 service aces per game.
DOUBLE-FIGURE SCORING - The Spartans have had at least three players record 10-plus kills in 11 of their 20 matches.
GRIFFIN KEEPS ROLLING - Freshman Maggie Griffin is averaging 12.44 assists per game, and has 883 on the year so far, good for third on the all-time freshman records list. Judy Doles (1985) is second at 976, and Vicki Basil (1997) is first with 1,297.
 Junior captain Brooke Langston hit a blistering .600 in MSU's wins against Michigan and Illinois, Oct. 27-29. | |
SCHRAM CARRIES THE BULK - Kim Schram is averaging 4.73 kills per game in Big Ten matches, an MSU best. In 12 matches, she has 213 kills to go along with 91 digs and 32 blocks.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES (AND NO, YOU'RE NOT AT IN-N-OUT BURGER) - Five Spartans have posted double-doubles on the season, led by Kim Schram's (kills-digs) five. Maggie Griffin (assists-digs) has four of her own. Katie Johnson and Michelle Kopka have each posted 10-plus digs and kills in two matches, while Brooke Langston has done so in one match.
WALLIN SETS SCHOOL RECORD - Junior middle Megan Wallin set a school record against St. John's, as she posted 13 kills and no errors on 14 attacks on Sept. 4. Wallin's attack percentage of .929 bettered the former single-match record of .923 (12-0-13) by Corie Richard against Maryland on Sept. 15, 1995. Her attack percentage in that match stands as the best in the Big Ten in the 2004 season.
CAPTAINS - Juniors Brooke Langston and Megan Wallin will serve as the Spartans' 2004 captains.
SMART OFF THE COURT, TOO - MSU had nine volleyball players honored as Academic All-Big Ten selections in 2003. Mickey Davis, Stephanie Knopp, Michelle Kopka, Brooke Langston, Jenny Rood, Kim Schram, Diana Steplyk and Megan Wallin were all named to the team. All nine student-athletes were named to the team in 2002 as well.
