Michigan State University Athletics
Spartans Advance To Finals At Spring Great Lakes Center Invitational
4/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
April 18, 2007
AURORA, Ill. - The Spartan volleyball team traveled to the Great Lakes Center in Aurora, Ill., on April 14 to compete in the Great Lakes Center Invitational, a tournament featuring an elite field of 23 teams from across the country. The Spartans fell in a hard-fought match to Big Ten rival Michigan in the tournament final. As a team, the Spartans had a breakout performance at the event, and set the bar very high for the remainder of the spring and the traditional season this fall.
The field of teams consisted of high profile programs such as Kansas State, Michigan, MSU, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Purdue, Tennessee and Texas.
MSU opened weekend action with consecutive, 2-1 victories over Bowling Green and Clemson in pool play to advance to the Gold Division playoff round. State defeated Marquette, 2-0, in the opening round, and followed with a victory over a solid Georgia Tech team to advance to the final match against the Wolverines. MSU had a balanced offensive attack, led by setter Katie Vander Meer who had her best performance of the spring season.
The Spartan volleyball program will host its 2007 Spring Tournament this Saturday, April 21 at Jenison Field House. The event will begin at 9 a.m. with matches running through 4 p.m. Other schools scheduled to attend are Hillsdale, Miami (Ohio), Northwood and a team compiled of MSU alumni will also compete at the event. Former Spartan standouts Nicole Colaluca, Erin Hartley, Allison Ianni, Angela Morley, Jenny Rood and Kim Schram will compete for the alumni squad.
