Volleyball Travels to Illinois for Two Big Ten Matches

Nov. 5, 2009

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Spartans travel to the state of Illinois for matches on Nov. 6-7. On Friday, MSU travel to Northwestern. The following night, Michigan State will battle Illinois. The match against the Wildcats will be streamed live at BigTenNetwork.com beginning at 8 p.m. ET. MSU looks for its first season sweep of the Wildcats since 2004 and first sweep of the Illini since 2006.

This Week for the Spartans
(rv) Michigan State (16-8, 4-8) vs. Northwestern (13-11, 4-8)
Friday, Nov. 6, 2009 • 8 p.m. ET
Evanston, Ill. • Welsh-Ryan Arena
TV: BigTenNetwork.com (live streaming)
Live stats: www.msuspartans.com

Series Information
• NU leads 31-27
Last meetings:
Oct. 3, 2009 • East Lansing, Mich.
MSU def. NU, 3-1 (16-25, 26-24, 25-19, 25-17)
Nov. 1, 2008 • Evanston, Ill.
NU def. MSU, 3-0 (25-18,26-24,25-23)

(rv) Michigan State (16-8, 4-8) vs. No. 5 Illinois (18-3, 10-2)
Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009 • 8 p.m. ET
Champaign, Ill. • Huff Hall
Live stats: www.msuspartans.com

Series Information
• UI leads 39-22
Last meetings:
Oct. 2, 2009 • East Lansing, Mich.
MSU def. UI, 3-2 (25-20, 20-25, 24-26, 28-26, 15-10)
Nov. 22, 2008 • Champaign, Ill.
UI def. MSU, 3-0 (25-17,25-18,25-17)

Last time out
The Spartans closed out the month of October with matches against Iowa and Wisconsin. On Friday, MSU started the weekend on a positive note, downing the Hawkeyes, 3-0. The following night, against the Badgers, Michigan State completed with the weekend sweep, topping UW 3-0. The Spartans have now won the last five matches played on Halloween. MSU saw strong efforts each night from the team. Against the Hawkeyes, Becca Zlabis posted a team-high 13 kills while adding four digs. On Saturday, Kyndra Abron led the team with her 14 kills and four blocks.

Scouting the Wildcats
The Wildcats enter the weekend with a 13-11 overall record, while also posting a 4-8 conference record. Elyse Glab is leading the team with 914 assists this season, with 462 of those coming in conference action. Pacing the attack is Sabel Moffett who has tallied 164 kills in conference play and 307 overall. Moffett also leads the team with 120 blocks, tallying 55 in the conference. The backcourt is led by Kate Nobilio who is currently averaging 4.52 digs per set overall and 4.34 in conferences matches. At the helm of the Wildcats is 10th-year head coach Keylor Chan who has a record of 153-180.

Scouting the Fighting Illini
The Fighting Illini have posted a record of 18-3, with a 10-2 Big Ten record. Illinois is led up front by Laura DeBruler who currently leads the team with 333 kills, 178 of those have occurred in Big Ten play. Hillary Haen quarterbacks the Fighting Illini offense, tallying 503 assists in conference play, and 858 overall. The backcourt is led by Ashley Edinger who currently averages 4.09 digs per set overall and 4.22 in conferences matches. Johannah Bangert has tallied 119 total blocks this season, while seeing 84 of those in Big Ten play. Head coach Kevin Hambly is currently in his first season with the Fighting Illini and enters the weekend with a career record of 18-3.

Sister-Sister
Redshirt-freshman Mandi Karaba and junior Allyson Karaba are the third set of sisters to play under coach Cathy George during her Spartan tenure. The first pair of sisters occurred in 2005 when Marley Bellwood and Tracy Bellwood played with one another for 76 matches in Coach George's first season. The other pairing was of All-American Ashley Schatzle and current junior Megan Schatzle. Together, the Schatzle's played in four matches together whereas the Karaba's have participated in 20 matches this season with one another. Allyson and Mandi know what it takes to be successful on the court, having led their North Muskegon high school team to a Class C state championship during the 2006 season.

On Deck
The Spartans return home on Nov. 13-14 for matches against Indiana and Purdue. MSU will host the Hoosiers on Friday and the Boilermakers on Saturday. Both matches will be streamed live at BigTenNetwork.com beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET. MSU looks to split the season series with both schools, after falling to both earlier this season.

Follow the Leader
Junior Megan Schatzle has followed in the foot-steps of older sister Ashley Schatzle. Ashley, a third-team AVCA All-American in 2007, led the team with 553 kills during the year. Megan, like her older sister, is currently leading the 2009 squad with 260 kills on the season. MSU hopes Megan follows the path her older sister paved for her, as the last time MSU made it to the NCAA Tournament was Ashley's senior season.

Sophomore Sensations
With the 2008 No. 7 PrepVolleyball.com recruiting class able to see ample amount of court time last season, the sophomore class seems to really be finding their element this season. Collectively, the class has amounted for 686 of the 1,207 team kills. Also, the sophomores have also accounted for 186 total blocks. Having added redshirt-sophomore Jenilee Rathje to their class, the Spartans are bound for success in the years to come. The class has collectively earned three of the four MVP honors this season for the Spartans.

Movin' On Up
Sophomore Natalie Emro currently ranks sixth all-time in career assists with 2,171. Senior Vanessa King recently moved into a tie for fifth place all-time with 433 total blocks in a career. King also ranks fourth all-time with 395 block assists.

Big Ten Rankings
The Spartans currently boast four members ranking in the Big Ten individually. Sophomore Natalie Emro currently is fourth in the conference with 10.51 assists per set, while ranking seventh in aces per set with 0.28. Junior Allyson Karaba is third in the conference with 4.18 digs per set. Senior Vanessa King ranks sixth in blocks per set with 1.15. Senior Mischelle Nelson is 10th in the conference with a .326 hitting percentage.

Lucky No. 12
Both of the Spartans' upset wins over AVCA ranked opponents have been ranked 12th at the time of the match. The first meeting occurred on Aug. 28 in MSU's first match of the season against Southern California. This past weekend against Illinois on Oct. 2, Michigan State once against posted a win over a 12th-ranked team. Both matches have been 3-2 wins in favor of the Spartans.

It's All In the Rankings
MSU is currently tabbed as the 23rd-ranked team in the recent NCAA Division I Volleyball RPI Rankings. The Spartans are one of six Big Ten schools to be ranked in the top-25, tied with the Pac-10 for the most from a conference in the nation. Michigan State trails only No. 2 Penn State, No. 4 Illinois, No. 6 Minnesota and No. 10 Michigan within the conference. Ohio State comes in at No. 25. RPI is one of several tools used to select teams for the NCAA Championship.