Michigan State University Athletics
Volleyball Opens Conference Slate On BTN At Purdue and Indiana
9/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 21, 2011
Purdue and Indiana Match Notes (Sept. 23-24) 
Friday's contest against Purdue is social media night at the volleyball match. Purdue and MSU, along with the Big Ten Network, are encouraging fans to tweet from the match, tweet themselves in their seats and being interactive via Twitter all night long. Fans will even have the opportunity to win prizes in the arena, or by watching the live BTN broadcast. Be sure you are following @MichStVB, @PurdueVB, @B1GVolleyball and @BigTenNetwork. Also, fans can make use of the following hashtags: #PurdueMSUVB, #spartans, #boilerup and #B1GVolleyball.
Scouting Michigan State
Leading the squad on the outside are seniors Kyndra Abron and Jenilee Rathje. To date, Rathje has recorded 4.22 kills per set, while Abron currently boasts 3.63 kills a set. At the net, Alexis Mathews is second in the conference in blocks with 1.53 per set. In the backcourt, Carli Weiler anchors the defense with 3.18 digs per set, a career-best mark.
Head coach Cathy George is in her seventh season at the helm of the Spartans, compiling a record of 110-93 at MSU. In her 25 seasons as a head coach, George has appeared in eight NCAA tournaments, including being the first woman to coach in the NCAA Division I Final Four in 1989. During her time at MSU, the Spartans have appeared in the tournament in three of her six seasons, including an NCAA Regional Semi-final appearance in 2007.
Scouting Purdue
Purdue currently sits at 11-0 on the season. Leading the Boilermakers offensively is Ariel Turner. After the four weekends of action, Turner has tallied 4.44 kills per set. Defensively, Blair Bashen has netted 3.29 digs a set while Kierra Jones leads the team at the net with 1.30 blocks per set.
Series History: MSU trails in the all-time series, 44-28.
Last Meeting: The Spartans dropped a tough 3-2 match at home to the Boilermakers on Nov. 20, nearly a month after falling in straight sets on the road.
Coach: The Boilermakers are coached by Dave Shondell who is in his ninth season with Purdue and posts an all-time record of 164-103.
Scouting Indiana
Indiana currently boasts a record of 8-4 and is led up at the net by Kelci Marschall. Marschall currently has 3.07 kills per set on the year. Defensively, Caitlin Cox and Morgan Leach are the top defenders in the back row and at the net, respectively. Cox has 4.91 digs per set while Leach has 1.27 blocks per set.
Series History: The Spartans lead in the all-time series, 41-28.
Last Meeting: MSU topped the Hoosiers in East Lansing, 3-1, on Nov. 19. One month earlier, the Green and White suffered a tough five-set defeat at the hands of IU.
Coach: Sherry Dunbar is in her fifth season at the reigns of the Hoosiers, going 183-87 over the course of her career.
Recapping Last Weekend
The Green and White continued its home win streak with a 3-0 win to open the Spartan Invitational on Friday against Ball State. The win marked MSU's fifth straight at home, and fourth straight in 2011. Senior Becca Zlabis and sophomore Kelsey Kuipers led MSU at the net with two solo blocks each.
MSU continued on Saturday morning with a 3-1 victory over VCU. Although the Spartans struggled at times, they were led by a pair of underclassmen in sophomore Kelsey Kuipers and freshman Kori Moster, each posting career bests against the Rams.
The Spartans won their third tournament of the fall with a 3-0 victory over Sacred Heart on Saturday to conclude action at the Spartan Invitational. Senior Kyndra Abron led MSU over the Pioneers with her 16 kills on 20 attacks for a .800 hitting percentage. Earning tournament MVP honors for her performance over the course of the weekend was senior Jenilee Rathje. Both Abron and Moster were named to the Spartan Invitational all-tournament team for their weekend accomplishments.
It Starts At The Top
MSU has received plenty of support this season offensively from its senior class. A group which entered Michigan State as the seventh-ranked recruiting class in the nation in 2008, the seniors added Jenilee Rathje to their class following her redshirt season. Entering conference season, the seniors make-up 64-percent of the team's offense, with 156 kills coming from Rathje and 138 kills coming for 2009 AVCA All-America Honorable Mention Kyndra Abron. Defensively, the senior class makes up for 58-percent of the team's total dig tally, lead by Carli Weiler's 121 digs. At the net, the senior class comprises 82-percent of the team's block total. Abron paces the group with the second-most on the team, 39 blocks.
Sweeping Success
The Spartans have found success in 3-0 matches this season, posting a perfect 10-0 record. Of MSU's 11 wins thus far this year, 10 of which of been 3-0 sweeps for the Green and White. MSU started off the season by winning the first six matches of the season in straight sets, the first time since 1975 the Spartans have topped their first six opponents without dropping a set.
Come One, Come All
Season tickets are now on sale for the 2011 Michigan State volleyball season. Reserved seat season tickets are priced at $56 for adults and $28 for youth and seniors, while general admission season tickets are priced at $42 for adults and $28 for youth and seniors. With the purchase of season volleyball tickets fans also earn three Spartan Points for each consecutive year they maintain Spartan volleyball tickets. Spartan Points help in determining seat adjustments for both men's basketball and football. With the next seat adjustment occurring in 2014, fans have the opportunity to earn up to nine (9) Spartan Points to their account via the purchase of volleyball season tickets for the next four seasons.
Volleyball Promotions
All season long, all MSU Friday home matches allow fans the opportunity to purchase the "Friday 4 Pack". The "Friday 4 Pack" gives fans four tickets, four drinks and four hot dogs, nachos or pretzels. The "Friday 4 Pack" applies to advance orders only.
Preseason Recognition
Prior to the 2011 season, several Spartans were recognized for their work both on and off the court. Senior Jenilee Rathje was tabbed as one of 17-members of the Preseason All-Big Ten Team. Rathje found herself on the conference coaches' radars after earning first-team All-Big Ten and AVCA All-America Honorable Mention honors her sophomore campaign.
As a team, the Spartans were selected to finish sixth in the conference, as selected by the conference coaches in August.
Rathje was also recognized by the conference in July for her dedication to her class work. Rathje was one of 534 student-athletes to receive Big Ten Scholar Athlete distinction. In order to be recognized, each student-athlete must achieve at least a 3.7 or higher for the corresponding academic year.
Playing With CLASS
Senior Jenilee Rathje was named as one of 30 candidates to be named for the 2011 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
SpartanSportsNetwork.com
The Michigan State volleyball team will have its entire home schedule aired live on SpartanSportsNetwork.com this season.
In addition to the free audio stream on spartansportsnetwork.com, the games will also be available on the free Spartan Sports Network Mobile App. In the fall, Spartan Sports Network teamed up with JacAPPS to have the app available for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices. The application features live streaming of Michigan State broadcasts, along with coaches shows, feature programming, highlights, archives, social connectivity and more.
The app is free and available for download from the iTunes store and Android Marketplace. Simply search Spartan Sports Network.
To listen to the games on spartansportsnetwork.com, simply click on the appropriate game link on the main page in the "Spartan Sports 24/7 Box", located on the right-side of the page, or click on the "Spartan Sports 24/7" link at the top of the site.
Fandemonium
Annually, the Spartans have found themselves as one of the national leaders in attendance among NCAA Division I teams. Michigan State has been ranked in the top-25 in average attendance in 15 of the last 16 seasons. MSU posted a program best sixth during the 1996 campaign. To date in the 2011 season, the Green and White finds themselves ranked 32nd after four weekends of action with 6,547 fans. In MSU's six home contests to date, it has averaged 1,091 fans.
