Michigan State University Athletics
Spartans Ready For Weekend Homestand
11/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 3, 2005
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
Spartan Game Notes vs. Iowa/Minnesota
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The Michigan State volleyball squad will entertain Iowa and #17 Minnesota in weekend action at Jenison Field House Nov. 4 and 5. Both conference match-ups are slated for 7 p.m. start times. MSU enters play vs. Iowa with an overall 10-12 record and 3-9 Big Ten tally with eight matches remaining in the 2005 regular season. Outside hitter Katie Johnson paces the Spartan offense with a 5.27 kills per game mark, while libero Nicole Colaluca ranks first all-time in the single-season record books with 464 digs for the season. In the previous match-up vs. Iowa this year, State captured the 3-2 win, while the Golden Gophers stole a 3-0 victory vs. MSU in Minneapolis on Sept. 30.
TOUGH ROAD SWING - The Spartans traveled to face Illinois and the 16th ranked Purdue Boilermakers in weekend action. Although State battled tough in both conferences contests, the opposition proved too strong as MSU fell to both the Illini and Purdue.
BACK IN FULL - Spartan outside hitter Katie Johnson was injured in the Oct. 8 contest vs. Illinois at Jenison Field House. Her performance this weekend - 6.71 kills per game, hitting .363 - proves she is back in full force for the Spartans in 2005.
BIG TEN ROUNDUP - After the Oct. 28/29 weekend of play, Penn State continues to dominate the Big Ten standings with a flawless 12-0 conference record. Wisconsin and Purdue both sit at 9-3, while the Spartans are ranked ninth among Big Ten competitors with a 3-9 record. Eight matches remain in the 2005 regular season.
NATIONAL SCENE - As of the Oct. 25th NCAA National Rankings, three Spartans ranked among the nation's elite. Katie Johnson ranks ninth in the nation with 5.13 kills per game, Mickey Davis boasts a 13.00 assists per game average - 23rd in the nation, while Nicole Colaluca ranks 16th at the libero position with 5.43 digs per game. (The NCAA releases national stats on Tuesday of each week.)
SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES - The Hawkeyes are 14-11 with a 4-8 Big Ten mark heading into action vs. Michigan State on Nov. 4 at Jenison Field House. Iowa dropped a 0-3 decision to the 18th ranked Golden Gophers in a mid-week conference match-up on Oct. 26, adding a win vs. Indiana in weekend action.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GOPHERS - Minnesota ranked 18th in the most recent AVCA Top 25 poll, however the Golden Gophers added wins vs. both Iowa and Indiana last week in Big Ten play.
SHE'S BACK! - Sophomore outside hitter Katie Johnson suffered a injury to her non-hitting arm during the Oct. 8th match-up vs. Illinois at Jenison Field House earlier this season. After playing sparingly vs. Ohio State and seeing no action on the floor vs. Penn State, Johnson returned to the Spartan line up vs. Wisconsin on Oct. 21 pounding 24 kills with one block solo and two block assists. In the three matches since - Johnson has tallied 22 kills vs. Northwestern, 30 kills vs. Illinois and 17 kills vs. Purdue.
STILL IN SIGHT - Although the Spartans are 10-12 heading into weekend action vs. Iowa and Minnesota, MSU can still capture a trip to the 2005 NCAA tournament with a strong finish to the season. Typically, finishing a season with at least a .500 record will secure a spot in the tourney. State will need to win five of the final eight games of the season to finish with an even slate.
RECORD BREAKER - Michigan State libero Nicole Colaluca has 464 digs thus far in 2005, the mark is a new single-season record in the Spartan books. The former record of 439 was set by Veronica Morales in 1997. Cola needs just 36 digs to reach the 500 mark for the year.
MAKING HER MARK - Katie Johnson has 667 kills for her career - Johnson needs 234 more kills to break the single-season kill record set by Jenna Wrobel in 1997 (671). Needing 333 kills to reach the 1,000 mark for her career, Johnson averages 20.8 kills per match in 2005. With eight matches left for the season, she is on pace to pound better than 600 kills during her sophomore campaign.
MILESTONE MARKER - A number of Spartans are climbing the record books - senior setter Mickey Davis needs just 170 assists to move into 10th place on the career assist charts, while senior defensive specialist Marley Bellwood needs just 55 digs to move into 10th place all-time. Bellwood reached the 1,000 dig milestone vs. Penn State on Oct. 15, currently she has 1,025 career digs.
NUMBERS ARE RELATIVE - State is 10-12 on the season with a 3-9 mark in Big Ten play. In the Spartan's 10 wins, the Green and White average 16.7 kills per game - nearly 4.0 kills per game better than the opposition. However in 12 losses on the year, MSU averages just 15.2 kills per game and 8.7 errors per game, while opponents average just 5.25 errors per game and 14.8 kills per game.
HEAD COACH Cathy George - Spartan head coach Cathy George is in her first season at the helm of the MSU volleyball program. During her time as a collegiate head coach, George holds an overall 375-236 record - a .614 winning percentage for her career. If the outcome of the year is up to George, MSU will finish with a better than .500 average - for her 19 year head coaching career, she has had just seven seasons with a below .500 finish.
v. THE HAWKEYES - In the series history with the Hawkeyes, Michigan State holds the all-time 27-22 advantage, however in matches played at Jenison Field House - each team has 12 victories. State holds a two match winning streak heading into play vs. Iowa this Friday.
v. THE GOLDEN GOPHERS - The Gophers hold the 35-15 series advantage over the Spartans; including an 8-16 upperhand in matches played at Jenison Field House. MSU hasn't tallied a victory vs. Minnesota since the 2001 season when the Spartans captured a 3-0 conference sweep.
SOLID ADDITIONS - Both the Spartan front court and back court have solid additions from a year ago. Sophomore outside hitter Ashley Schatzle, a transfer from Western Michigan in 2005, averages 3.07 kills per game for the Spartans thus far in 2005, while her 264 kills ranks third among the Green and White offense. Sophomore Tracy Bellwood has played solid defensively for MSU averaging 1.60 digs per game, while her 0.28 aces per game is a team-second best. Walk on defensive specialist Melany Rarey has seen action in 20 games for MSU where she averages 0.30 aces per game and 1.65 digs per game in 2005.
IN 2005, AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS - Thus far in 2005, MSU is 0-7 against ranked opponents with losses to Louisville, Minnesota, Purdrue, Ohio State, Penn State and most recently another loss to then ranked #16 Purdue.
FIVE BIG TEN SCHOOLS RANKED IN NATION'S TOP 25 - For the seventh consecutive week, five Big Ten teams are ranked in the CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. Penn State (No. 3), Wisconsin (10), Purdue (15), Minnesota (17) and Ohio State (19) all found spots among the top 20 this week.
WHEN 3-FOR-20 IS A GOOD THING... - With two wins this week, Minnesota (18-5) could become the third Big Ten team (PSU: 21-2, PUR: 20-3) with 20 or more wins this season, equaling the 15-team Big East as the only major conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, SEC) that have had three teams eclipse the mark. Currently, the Big Ten joins the Big East (3), Pac-10 and the SEC as major conferences with a pair of 20-win squads.
IT LOOKS LIKE THIS - At home, MSU is 5-4, on the road the Spartans are 3-6 and at a neutral site MSU is 2-2. MSU needs to get on its winning ways at home during conference season however, in 2005 MSU is 1-4 in home contests against Big Ten opponents.
THE ROAD AGAIN -MSU struggled on the road last season finishing with a 3-9 record with wins over Wichita State, Indiana and Northwestern. Thus far in 2005, the Spartans are 3-6 away from Jenison Field House.
DID YOU KNOW? - Prior to the installation of the wooden playing surface this summer in Jenison, the Spartans had played their home matches on the sport court surface from 1993-2004, a span of 12 seasons. When volleyball started at MSU, the Spartans competed on the main wooden floor at Jenison.
CAPTAIN SALUTE - Senior middle blocker Megan Wallin and sophomore outside hitter Katie Johnson will share captain duties for the 2005 season.
GEORGE TRACK RECORD - First-year head coach Cathy George has a celebrated coaching record. She was the first woman to coach a team to the NCAA Final Four in just her first season at the helm of the Texas-Arlington program in 1989. Posting winning seasons and strong academic numbers are key aspects of any Cathy George run program. Student-athletes boasted a 100 percent graduation rate during her time at WMU - an amazing figure coaching at any level of athletics.
TOURNEY TALK - The 2004 campaign marked the first season in the last 10 that the Spartans did not participate in the NCAA Championship Tournament - an impressive run, and one of the longest streaks in the NCAA prior to missing tourney action in 2004. During that 10-year streak, the Spartans posted a combined 11 victories.
