Spartan Sports Roundup
10/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | General
Oct. 14, 2008
Spartan Sports Roundup provides a brief overview of the Olympic sports teams in action. Read a recap of last week's action, look ahead to this week's action and find key notes on each team in this weekly recap.
 | Midnight Madness |
• Michigan State's annual Midnight Madness event to tip-off the 2008-09 basketball season will be held on Friday, Oct. 17. Doors to the Breslin Center will open at 9:30 p.m. Admission is free. The event begins with autographs for Spartan fans on the Breslin Center concourse. The formal program will begin at 10:30 p.m. and feature the introduction of the men's and women's basketball teams. The evening will also include promotional giveaways and performances by the Spartan Marching Band, Michigan State cheerleaders, MSU dance team and Sparty. The evening will conclude with the men's basketball team playing on the court at midnight with the women's team hitting the court prior.
| Cross Country |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartans did not compete last weekend.
This Week: MSU will run at Pre-Nationals this Saturday (Oct. 18) in Terre Haute, Ind. The women will race at either 11 or 11:35 a.m. while the men will run at either 12:10 or 12:50 p.m.
Notes: The MSU women's team placed third at last year's Pre-Nationals while the men's team took 23rd ... Entering this weekend, the Spartans' women's team has two-consecutive first place finishes this season (Colonial Inter-Regional and Notre Dame Invitational) ... Senior Lisa Senakiewich (Davison, Mich.) won her first-career cross country title at the Colonial Inter-Regional last season ... Laura Portis' fifth place finish and Ashley Casavant's seventh place finish at the Notre Dame Invitational were both career bests ... The Spartans have had two Big Ten Runners of the Week this season (Nicole Bush and Lisa Senakiewich) ... Sophomore Spencer Beatty (Harbor Springs, Mich.) has been the Spartans' top finisher in two meets this season (Spartan Invite and Colonial Inter-Regional) ... The Spartans women's team is ranked ninth in the nation in the USTFCCCA poll while the men's team is ranked 30th. The women are first in the Great Lakes region, while the men are third.
| Field Hockey |
Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Big Ten Standings | Big Ten Statistics | Big Ten Schedule
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This Week: The Spartans travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. Friday for a match-up with rival Michigan at 3 p.m. The game will air as a tape-delay broadcast on the Big Ten Network at 6 p.m. MSU returns home Saturday for a noon game with Ohio.
Notes: Junior Elissa Unger (Reading, Pa.) has a .750 save percentage and 1.64 goals against average (GAA). She is second in the Big Ten in save percentage, is fourth in saves (54), and third in GAA. She ranks 12th nationally in GAA, and is tied for 23rd in save percentage ... Junior Floor Rijpma (Bunnik, Netherlands) leads the team in scoring with 29 points and 13 goals. She is 22nd nationally in points per game and is tied for 15th in goals per game. In the Big Ten, she is third in points, fifth in points per game, and is tied for second in goals per game and goals ... Junior Jeamie Deacon (Wexford, Ireland) and Miller are tied for second on the team with nine goals and 27 points. Both are tied for sixth in points, points per game and assists in the Big Ten. Both are also tied for 23rd nationally in assists per game, and is tied for 27th in points per game ... Senior Gwen Riley (Louisville, Ky.) leads the team with 10 assists and is fourth in points with 24 this season. She is tied for third in the Big Ten in assists and is tied for fourth in assists per game ... Junior Angela Pagura (Columbus, Ohio) and Rijpma are tied for the team lead in game-winning goals with three ... Michigan State is ranked third nationally in goals per game (4.36), is third in scoring margin (3.03) and second in points per game (12.21). MSU is tied for fifth nationally in winning percentage. The Spartans rank first in scoring margin, shots (295) and in goals scored (61) in the Big Ten. MSU sits atop the Big Ten with a .857 win percentage and has the fewest losses so far this season.
| Men's Golf |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: Senior Randy Hutchison won his first career collegiate tournament, coming from behind to claim the Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic by one stroke last Tuesday. Hutchison set a new personal-best for 72 holes, carding an even-par 210 (69-72-69). Hutchison's play helped the Spartans finish third as a team. MSU has now placed among the top-four in all three fall events.
This Week: The Spartans play in The Prestige on Monday and Tuesday at the Greg Norman Course at PGA WEST in La Quinta, Calif.
Notes: MSU moved up to No. 17 in the Golfweek/Sagarin national rankings ... Three Spartans are among the top-100 collegiate golfers according to Golfweek/Sagarain (Graham Baillargeon - No. 74, Randy Hutchison - No. 78 and Jack Newman - No. 90) ... Former MSU golfer and coach Casey Lubahn, along with wife and fellow Spartan golf alum Rachel (Meikle) Lubahn, made their debut on the Big Break X: Michigan, Golf Channel's reality show, on Tuesday.
| Women's Golf |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: Placed 10th at the 18-team Tar Heel Invitational, in which 10 teams were ranked in the top 25 of the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings. The Spartans shot a 915 (309-305-301) at the par 72, 6,285-yard UNC Finley Course, placing ahead of several top programs, including No. 14 Florida State and No. 19 South Carolina.
This Week: The Spartans are idle this week as they prepare for the Lady Northern Invitational Oct. 18-19 in West Lafayette, Ind.
Notes: Junior Laura Kueny (Whitehall, Mich.) led the Spartans at the Tar Heel Invitational, tying for 17th place with an 8-over 224 (75-75-74). It marks her 11th career top-20 finish. Kueny is currently ranked 47th in the Golfweek/Sagarin individual ratings ... freshman Lindsey Solberg (Verona, Wis.) and Aimee Neff (Carmel, Ind.) tied for 28th with scores of 227 (+11). Solberg's second round score of 72 was the top individual round for the Spartans at the tournament ... following the tournament, MSU's second of the season, the Spartans sit at No. 22 in the Golfweek/Sagarin team ratings ... MSU is the second-highest ranked team in the Big Ten behind No. 17 Ohio State.
| Men's Soccer |
Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Big Ten Standings | Big Ten Statistics | Big Ten Schedule
Last Week: The Spartans split a pair of games last week, falling to No. 15 Notre Dame, 3-0, and then rebounding to shutout perennial Big Ten power Indiana, 2-0, at home on Sunday.
This Week: The Spartans will continue their demanding stretch, hosting No. 7 UIC at 3 p.m. at DeMartin Stadium on Wednesday (Oct. 15) and then traveling to Ann Arbor to take on 24th-ranked Michigan on Saturday (Oct. 18) at 2 p.m.
Notes: The Spartans' win over Indiana on Sunday marked just the second time they have defeated the Hoosiers since 1965 ... It was also their first regular-season win over IU since '65, as Spartans' last victory came in the 2004 Big Ten Tournament ... MSU has won its last three games conference games and is in a first-place tie with Northwestern with three conference wins ... The Spartans are 4-1 at home this season ... Senior Doug DeMartin (Mason, Mich.) leads the Big Ten in points (24), which is also good for a tie for third in the nation ... DeMartin is tied for second in the NCAA in goals (11) ... His 1.0 goal-per-game average leads the NCAA while his 2.18 point-per-game average ranks second ... With one goal this weekend, DeMartin now has 32 career goals, moving him into a tie for sixth place on MSU's career goals list ... Through 11 games, DeMartin's 24 points this season matches his season total from last year ... Sophomore goalkeeper Avery Steinlage (Grand Haven, Mich.) now has three shutouts and MSU is 5-2 since he started his first-career game vs. Buffalo (Sept. 12) ...With 11 saves in the win over IU, Steinlage now has 44 on the season, which is good for second in the Big Ten ... His .863 save percentage also ranks second in the conference ... Freshman Domenic Barone (Kentwood, Mich.) scored his first-career goal in Sunday's win over IU ... The Spartans face a total of nine teams this season that competed in last year's NCAA Tournament, with UIC, Northwestern and Michigan remaining on the schedule ... Senior Zach Scaffidi (Geneva, Ill.) is tied for second in the conference in assists with five.
| Women's Soccer |
Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Big Ten Standings | Big Ten Statistics | Big Ten Schedule
Last Week: MSU defeated Ohio State, 5-1, and No. 23 Penn State, 3-1, this past weekend at DeMartin Stadium. The Spartans' win over the Nittany Lions was their first since 1995.
This Week: The Spartans will travel to Northwestern to take on the Wildcats at 8 p.m. ET on Friday (Oct. 17) and will then head north to battle Wisconsin at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday (Oct. 19).
Notes: MSU is ranked No. 23 in this week's SoccerBuzz.com national poll ... Freshman sensation Laura Heyboer (Hudsonville, Mich.) recorded her second hat trick of the season in MSU's win over Ohio State and added another goal in the win over PSU to give her 16 goals and 40 points this season, both of which lead the NCAA ... Heyboer was named TopDrawerSoccer.com's Women's Player of the Week on Monday ... After earning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors on Monday for her efforts this past weekend, Heyboer became the first freshman in Big Ten women's soccer history to earn the award three times in a season ... Her three-career Player of the Week awards are the most any Spartan has garnered the award in one season ... Her 40 points and 16 goals both rank third on the school's single-season list and are the most since Big Ten play began in 1994 ... The Spartans' five goals against OSU were the most they have scored since a 5-1 win over Kentucky in 2004 and the most they've scored in a conference game since a 6-2 win over Indiana in 1994 ... MSU is a perfect 9-0 at home this season, their best record in East Lansing since 1989 when the went 10-0 ... Junior Lauren Hill (Northville, Mich.) (29 points, 11 goals) and sophomore Cara Freeman (New Lennox, Ill.) (19 points, 8 goals) continue to rank two and three, respectively, in the conference in goals and points ... The Spartans' 41 goals this season are the most by a MSU team since the 1994 season when they scored 45 goals ... Hill has 11 goals this season and 27 for her career, putting her alone in eighth place on MSU's all-time list while her five game-winning goals this year, give her 11 for her career and push her into a tie for second in program history ... Hill's 29 points this season give her 65 for her career, placing her in a tie for eighth on the school's all-time chart ... Lauren Sinacola's 10 assists lead the conference and put her in a tie for fourth on the MSU single-season assist list.
| Men's Tennis |
Last Week: The Spartans men's tennis team traveled to South Bend, Ind. where they competed in the Notre Dame Invitational. On Friday, sophomore John Stratton (Monroeville, N.J.) led the team with two singles and a doubles win. Freshman Austin Brooks (Houston, Tex.) and senior John Allare (Maineville, Ohio) took wins in singles on Saturday, while Allare led the team with wins in both singles and doubles play Sunday.
Roster | Schedule
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This Week: Michigan State will next travel to Columbus, Ohio where seniors Alex Forger and John Allare will represent the Spartans at the ITA Midwest Regionals on Oct. 16.
| Women's Tennis |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Michigan State women's tennis team concluded play on Oct. 12 at the Wildcat Invitation in Evanston, Ill. Freshman Dana Guentert (Lilburn, Ga.) was able to conclude the fall tournament with a personal ledger of 3-1 in singles play en-route to a Flight C consolation bracket crown. Over the course of the three-day tournament, the Spartans, as a team, tallied 13 singles victories and five doubles wins.
| Swimming & Diving |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartan women opened the season on Saturday hosting defending Big Ten champion Minnesota, falling 164-132.
This Week: The MSU women's team will head to Illinois for a two-day dual meet with the Illlini on Thursday and Friday (Oct. 16 & 17).
Notes: Sophomore Becca Ebner (Okemos, Mich.) scored two first place finishes for the Spartans in both butterfly events vs. Minnesota ... Junior Sasha Lewerenz (Rochester, Hills, Mich.) was the other Spartan to post a first place finish on Saturday, clocking a time of 58.27 in the 100 back ... Senior Danielle Williams (Dorchester, Ontario) started the season strong again with two first-place dives on the one and three-meter boards.
Players Mentioned
