Michigan State University Athletics
Volleyball Hosts Iowa, Minnesota Nov. 12-13
11/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 9, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
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HOME AGAIN - Michigan State volleyball (10-12, 5-9 Big Ten) takes on Iowa (9-17, 1-13 Big Ten) on Friday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. in Jenison Field House before facing No. 5 Minnesota (22-4, 11-3 Big Ten) on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. Saturday's match is an 8 p.m. start because of the MSU-Wisconsin football game at 3:30 p.m. that day. 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.
FREE VOLLEYBALL AND A GOOD CAUSE, TOO - Spartan volleyball fans will receive free admission to either of the Nov. 12-13 matches with three canned food items per person.
PAY-TO-PARK - Spartan volleyball fans are reminded that the Jenison Field House lot will be a pay-to-park lot for both matches this weekend - Friday because of hockey and women's basketball and Saturday because of the 3:30 p.m. football game against Wisconsin.
STRONG SECOND HALF START - After picking up just two wins in the first half of the Big Ten season, the Spartans have recorded three wins in the second half of league play. MSU is 3-1 in the first two weeks of the second half of the Big Ten.
BIG DIGS - Junior libero Marley Bellwood has posted at least 15 digs in each of the Spartans' last six matches, including a career-best 27 against No. 21 Illinois (Oct. 29); 20 against both Purdue (Nov. 5) and Indiana (Nov. 6); 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 116 combined assists in State's week at Purdue and Indiana. Griffin had 66 in MSU's four-game set at Purdue and 50 against Indiana Saturday. She also added six kills, 21 digs and four service aces on the week.
SCHRAM LEADS THE WAY - Kim Schram averaged 6.12 kills per game as State split with Purdue and Indiana (Nov. 5-6). She hit .221 on the week, and added 16 digs (2.00dpg) and seven blocks (0.88bpg).
LOOKING AT IOWA & MINNESOTA BACK HOME - State (10-12, 5-9 Big Ten) retunes home on Friday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. against the Iowa Hawkeyes (9-17, 1-13 Big Ten), before facing No. 5 Minnesota (22-4, 11-3 Big Ten) on Saturday at 8 p.m. Iowa stands in 11th place, while Minnesota is third in the league. State is still tied with Purdue for seventh place after its 1-1 weekend at Purdue and Indiana.
IOWA (9-17, 1-13 Big Ten) - 7 p.m. - Friday, Nov. 12
A LOOK AT IOWA - The Hawkeyes are mired in the midst of a 12-match losing streak since defeating State on Sept. 25. Each of Iowa's last nine matches have been 3-0 sweeps.
Carolyn Giese averages 3.40 kills per game, and is hitting .254 on the season, while teammate Stacy Vitali is hitting .245 with 3.28 kills per game. Setter Justeen Patton averages 8.02 assists per game, and libero Pam Kavadas is averaging 5.15 digs per game and has 453 on the season.
Iowa is hitting .156 on the season, and averages 13.03 kills, 11.65 assists, 1.22 service aces, 16.09 digs and 1.78 blocks per game.
HEAD COACH: Cindy Fredrick (Augustana 1974) is in her first season at Iowa with a 9-17 record. She owns a 373-269 record in 19 seasons as a collegiate head coach.
EARLIER THIS SEASON: Iowa picked up its second Big Ten win in two years when the Hawkeyes defeated MSU, 3-1, in Iowa City on Sept. 25 (30-25, 28-30, 30-17, 30-20). Kim Schram had 20 kills for MSU, while Brooke Langston added 10. Stacy Vitali had 22 kills for Iowa, and Carolyn Giese had 15.
ALL-TIME SERIES: MSU leads the all-time series, 25-22.
THE LAST 10 YEARS: MSU has a 17-4 advantage against Iowa in the last 10 years.
LAST YEAR: State swept Iowa, 3-1, in Iowa City and 3-0 at home.
BY THE NUMBERS:
Iowa Iowa Michigan State Michigan State Overall/Big Ten PG (O/Conf.) Overall/Big Ten PG (O/Conf.)Kills 1147/511 13.03/12.17 1282/824 15.45/15.55Total Attacks 3579/1723 40.67/41.02 3234/2119 38.96/39.98Att. Pct. .156/.126 N/A .223/.217 N/AAssists 1025/453 11.65/10.79 1185/770 14.28/14.53Service Aces 107/42 1.22/1.00 108/55 1.30/1.04Digs 1416/673 16.09/16.02 1188/765 14.31/14.43Total Blocks 156.5/65.0 1.78/1.55 195.0/130.0 2.35/2.45
NO. 5 MINNESOTA (22-4, 11-3 Big Ten) - 8 p.m. - Saturday, Nov. 13
A LOOK AT MINNESOTA - The Golden Gophers are in third place in the Big Ten, having split with both Ohio State and Penn State. In addition, Minnesota fell, 3-2, at Wisconsin on Oct. 30.
Erin Martin is averaging nearly five kills per game, and is hitting .268 on the year. Jessica Byrnes, Meredith Nelson and Kelly Bowman are all hitting better than .300 and averaging more than 2.33 kills per game. Libero Paula Gentil has 626 digs on the season, an average of 6.52 per game. Nelson leads the UM blocking efforts, at 1.01 per game. Setter Lindsay Taatjes has 837 assists (8.72apg) on the year, and Bowman adds 611 (6.43apg).
HEAD COACH: Mike Hebert (UC Santa Barbara, 1966) is in his ninth season at Minnesota and has a 221-81 record in that span. In 29 seasons as a head coach, he owns a 793-338 record.
EARLIER THIS SEASON: Minnesota swept Michigan State in the Big Ten season opener on Sept. 24, 30-16, 30-18, 30-19. Kim Schram had a match-best 15 kills, while Minnesota's Erin Martin added 12 for the Golden Gophers. UM had five service aces compared to MSU's one, though State out-blocked UM, 7.0-6.0.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Minnesota leads the all-time series, 31-15.
THE LAST 10 YEARS: Minnesota has an 11-10 lead in the series in the last 10 years.
LAST YEAR: Minnesota swept the series, 3-1, in Minneapolis and 3-0 in East Lansing.
BY THE NUMBERS:
Minnesota Minnesota Michigan State Michigan State Overall/Big Ten PG (O/Conf.) Overall/Big Ten PG (O/Conf.)Kills 1672/860 17.42/17.20 1282/824 15.45/15.55Total Attacks 4181/2202 43.55/44.04 3234/2119 38.96/39.98Att. Pct. .254/.252 N/A .223/.217 N/AAssists 1552/803 16.17/16.06 1185/770 14.28/14.53Service Aces 106/42 1.10/0.84 108/55 1.30/1.04Digs 1894/1031 19.73/20.62 1188/765 14.31/14.43Total Blocks 259.0/146.0 2.70/2.92 195.0/130.0 2.35/2.45
OFF TO A GOOD START - State has an 8-0 record in matches in which it wins game one. Four of those game one wins came in 3-0 match victories for MSU.
 Freshman Meghan Schoen leads the Spartans with 68 blocks on the season  | |
ROAD WEARY - State is 2-8 in road games this season, with wins at Wichita State and Indiana.
QUALITY ATTACKS - Brooke Langston and Meghan Schoen both hit better than .340 in State's 1-1 weekend at Purdue and Indiana (Nov. 5-6). Langston averaged 2.86 kills per game on .405 hitting, while Schoen had 2.62 kills per game and hit .340.
20 KILLS AND COUNTING - Senior Kim Schram has 24 career 20-kill matches, including seven this season. She is currently third on the all-time 20-kill match list, and six 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 10 of State's 22 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 4.04 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 295 digs in 73 games played this season.
 Senior Kim Schram is just 16 kills from becoming one of the top three career kills leaders at MSU. | |
GRIFFIN KEEPS ROLLING - Freshman Maggie Griffin is averaging 12.77 assists per game, and has 1,060 on the year so far, good for second on the all-time freshman records list. Vicki Basil (1997) is first with 1,297; Griffin is just 237 assists from claiming that record, about 19 games away.
AAUGH! - Service errors have plagued MSU this season, as the Spartans have 222 on the season, an average of 2.67 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.
BUILDING BLOCKS - Freshman Meghan Schoen continues to lead the Spartans' blocking efforts with a team-best 68 blocks on the season, and 55 in conference play. She is five shy of taking 10th place in the freshman record book (73) for total blocks. Schoen needs four block solos and one block assist to break the top 10 on those freshman lists.
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 12 of their 22 matches.
QUALITY OVER THE LONG HAUL - Junior Brooke Langston has been the Spartans' hitting leader in their four five-game matches, boasting the team's best attack percentage in each match. She hit .421 (20-4-38) against Wichita State, .400 (18-4-35) at South Carolina, .529 (10-1-17) against Purdue and .579 (12-1-19) against Michigan.
550 REACHED - Head coach Chuck Erbe 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 27th all-time in the NCAA, while his wins total of 542 was 14th all-time.
SCHRAM CARRIES THE BULK - Kim Schram is averaging 4.94 kills per game in Big Ten matches, an MSU best. In 14 matches, she has 262 kills to go along with 107 digs and 39 blocks.
 Setter Maggie Griffin has posted at least 50 assists in 10 matches this season. | |
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.
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.
