MSU Hosts Purdue, Michigan in Final Regular-Season Home Matches

Nov. 8, 2016

No. 15 Spartans vs.Purdue, No. 17 Michigan
Dates/Times	Wednesday Nov. 9 vs. Purdue ; 7pm \| Saturday, Nov. 12 vs. Michigan; 7pm
Location	East Lansing, Mich.; Jenison Field House
Tickets	Purchase MSU Tickets Ticket Packages: Family Four Pack (Wednesday Only) \| Four Seats, Four Treats (Saturday Only)
Live Statistics	\|
Live Video Streams	vs. Purdue \| vs. Michigan
Radio Broadcast	Spartan Sports Network Keaton Gillogly, pxp Download the SSN App
Download Game Notes	Michigan State \| Purdue \| MIchigan
Promotions	WEDNESDAY: Faculty-Staff Appreciation Night SATURDAY: Senior Night - post-game ceremony
Social Media	@MichStVB \| MichiganStateVB @MichStVB

MATCH NOTES

• No. 15 Michigan State hosts Purdue (Wednesday) and No. 17 Michigan (Saturday) to wrap up its regular-season home schedule.

• Both matches will be streamed online on the BTN+ on BTN2Go platform. Both matches will also have a radio broadcast via SpartanSportsNetwork.com with Keaton Gillogly on the call.

• Wednesday's match is Faculty-Staff Appreciation Night at Jenison Field House. Fans who show their faculty/staff ID at the door will get free admission.

• Saturday's match, MSU's regular-season home finale, will be the annual "Jam Jenison" match vs. Michigan, which will also be MSU's senior night. The Spartans will honor Kristen Brashear, Autumn Christenson, Allyssah Fitterer, and co-captain Chloe Reinig in a post-match ceremony. Fans who show a football vs. Rutgers ticket stub can get in free to the volleyball match.

TEAM NOTES

• MSU's 21-5 record through 26 matches is MSU's best since the 1998 team also sat at 21-5 at this point of the season. The 1995 squad - a team which advanced to the Final Four - was 25-1.

• MSU has surpassed its win total from both 2014 and 2015 (19 victories). The most victories for the Spartans under Cathy George came in 2012, at 25-10. That team finished 11-9 in Big Ten play.

• The Spartans secured their 20th victory of the season vs. Northwestern on Friday. This is the earliest in the Cathy George era that a team reached 20 victories. The earliest a team reached 20 victories in the Big Ten era was in 1995, when MSU won it's 20th match at Ohio State on Oct. 20. In the pre-Big Ten era, MSU secured its 20th win on Oct. 11 vs. Eastern Kentucky - but for those teams, it was customary to play four or five matches in a weekend day.

• This is the fifth season with 20+ victories under current head coach Cathy George, who is now in her 12th season. MSU had seven 20-victory seasons under Chuck Erbe, and six combined among the first three MSU coaches. George currently has 593 victories with six regular-season matches left to play.

• MSU and Purdue met 10 days ago in West Lafayette, with the Spartans rallying from a first-set loss to down the Boilermakers 3-1 (20-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-18) behind a school record nine service aces from redshirt junior Brooke Kranda. MSU hit .just .179 for the match, but hit .455 in the fourth set. Purdue hit just .111 and committed 27 errors, and was led by Danielle Cuttino, who had 14 kills. Azariah Stahl had a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. The Spartans were led by 15 kills and six blocks by senior Chloe Reinig, who hit a match-best .367. Rachel Minarick had a double-double 38 assists and 11 digs.

• MSU has won four of the last five meetings with Purdue after losing eight straight to the Boilermakers. Purdue leads the overall series, 31-51.

• The State Pride Flag series between MSU and Michigan adds its 2016 chapter over the next two weeks. The Spartans lead the all-time series by a 52-39-1 margin, but the teams have split the regular-season meetings between the teams in each of the last six seasons.

• MSU has shared or won outright the State Pride Flag in each of the last six seasons. Michigan last won the State Pride flag outright in 2009. In 2014, the teams shared the Flag, as the teams were tied in all criteria (head-to-head, sets won, points won).

• MSU has won its four straight matches, its fourth winning streak of three or more matches this season.

• The Spartans host their final two regular-season home matches this week. MSU is 12-2 at Jenison Field House.

• MSU owns a 5-3 record in road matches this season, and overall is 9-3 in games away from East Lansing. MSU has four road games remaining in Big Ten play (at Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa).

• The Spartans' strength of schedule sits at No. 12 this week, which ranks seventh among Big Ten teams (measured based on the teams already played.) Taking in all past and future opposition, MSU's schedule ranks 10th nationally.

• Michigan State moved up one spot to No. 15 in the American Volleyball Coaches (AVCA) National poll for the week of Nov. 7. Six Big Ten teams appear in this week's top 20 and four others are receiving votes, including the Conference holding down the top three spots (No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Minnesota, and No.3 Wisconsin). No. 10 Penn State, No. 15 MSU, and No. 17 Michigan round out the six among the top 20, and Purdue, Ohio State, Iowa and Illinois are in the receiving votes category.

• The RPI for Division I volleyball, which is one of the tools used for post-season NCAA Tournament selection and seeding, was initially released on Oct. 3. MSU sits at No. 15 this week in the RPI, and was as high as ninth. The Spartans are also one of seven programs from the Big Ten in the RPI top 25. In all, 11 Big Ten teams and five of MSU's non-conference opponents are in the RPI top 64.

• The Spartans rank ninth in the Big Ten with 2.36 blocks per set. MSU has 16 matches with seven team blocks or more, including 10 double-digit blocking efforts. MSU established its season high with 15 in the Oct. 15 match vs. Minnesota, and most recently had 14 vs. Illinois.

• MSU's team total of 26 block assists vs. Illinois was tied for the fourth-most in a three-set match in school history.

• The Spartans have allowed just three double-digit block performances - No. 3 Minnesota had 10, and No. 1 Nebraska had 13.5 - both in five-set matches - while Purdue had 11 in the four-set affair on Oct. 29. • MSU recorded 13 service aces in its match vs. Purdue on Oct. 29, bettering their previous high of 11 that it had vs. Morgan State, Maryland-Eastern Shore, and DePaul. Thirteen aces is the fifth-highest total in a Division I match this season. The Spartans added 11 in their match vs. Northwestern for a total of six matches with double-digit service aces.

• MSU leads the Big Ten and is second nationally in service aces per set (2.08), and is ninth nationally with a total of 181 aces. MSU has six service aces or more in 16 of 26 matches.

• MSU's 181 aces is the most since the 2013 team recorded 184 (the 2012 team had 204). The current Spartan output is 15th all-time in a single season, and its 2.08 per set would rank fourth - the program's highest per-set average since 2001.

• MSU dropped its only back-to-back matches this season with losses to No. 1 Nebraska (Sept. 24) and No. 16 Penn State (Sept. 30.) MSU's longest winning streak was eight matches, its longest stretch since the 2013 season when the Spartans won 15 straight.

• MSU has limited opponents to a .183 hitting percentage, which ranks fourth among B1G schools. The Spartans limited seven of 12 non-conference opponents to a .115 hitting percentage or lower.

• In MSU's five losses overall on the season, all five opponents hit better than .300 - No. 7 Florida hit .341, No. 1 Nebraska hit .202, No. 16 Penn State .333, No. 24 Illinois .319, and No. 19 Ohio State .347. They are the only occasions this season that an MSU opponent hit .300 or better. The Spartans have held seven opponents under a .200 hitting percentage in eight of their Big Ten matches - Iowa, Rutgers (x2), Penn State, Maryland, Indiana, Purdue, and Northwestern.

• On Oct. 15, Minnesota hit .268 in a five-set loss to the Spartans, and limited MSU to hitting .201. It was the first win this season for MSU when its opponent had a better hitting percentage. It's not MSU's lowest hitting percentage in a win, however - MSU hit just .113 in a three-set sweep of Southern Illinois on Sept. 10, but the Salukis had 28 kills and 28 errors in the match (.000).

• On the year, MSU is hitting .265, which would fall in a tie for fifth all-time in the Spartan record book. MSU's hitting percentage is sixth in the Big Ten and 22nd nationally.

• MSU boasts a balanced attack, with five players averaging between 2.03 and 3.25 kills per set, and defensively has four averaging between 1.96 and 3.10 digs per frame.

• The Green and White owns 16 three-set victories in 26 matches. Just six times in 26 matches has MSU played more than three sets - the Spartans are 16-4 in three-set matches overall, 3-0 in four-setters, and are 2-1 in their five-set affairs. MSU ranks fourth in the Big Ten in overall winning percentage (.808) and 22nd among Division I schools.

• MSU is second in the Big Ten in overall wins (21) - only No. 1 Nebraska (22) has more. Western Kentucky (26-2) and Dayton (26-1) lead the nation in victories. Nebraska's 22 is tied for the second-highest win total.

• Big Ten teams went a combined 122-36 (.772) in non-conference play, the best overall record in the country. The B1G was ahead of the Pac-12 (95-31, .753) and the SEC (108-49, .688).

• MSU is one of four programs in the Big Ten to finish .500 or better in Big Ten play over the last five seasons. Penn State, Nebraska, and Purdue are the other three.

• The Spartans host the final two of a total of 16 games at Jenison Field House this weekend, where the Spartans are routinely a top-10 ranked attendance draw. MSU currently averages 2,800 fans per match at home (sixth nationally) and its total attendance of 39,207 ranks seventh. Last season, MSU was eighth among Division I volleyball teams with an average of 2,872 fans per match, and ranked 11th nationally with a total of 37,333 fans in 13 home matches. In Big Ten matches only, the Spartans average 3,571 fans per home match.

• MSU begins a four-match road trip next weekend that will bring the team to the end of the regular season. MSU plays at No. 2 Minnesota and No. 3 Wisconsin in back-to-back games next weekend, then will get a rematch with No. 17 Michigan the night before Thanksgiving in Ann Arbor. The regular season concludes with a trip to Iowa City for a second meeting with Iowa on Saturday, Nov. 26.

PLAYER NOTES

• On Monday, the Spartans had two players earn weekly Big Ten honors. Autumn Bailey was the Big Ten Player of the Week, while Alyssa Garvelink shared the Defensive Player of the Week honors with Nebraska's Amber Rolfzen.

• With her 10 block assists vs. Illinois, Alyssa Garvelink tied the school mark for block assists in a three-set match, which was last accomplished by Alexis Mathews vs. Michigan on Nov. 24, 2010. The 10 block assists were a career best for Garvelink as well, and her 10 blocks was tied for the fifth-most overall in a three-set affair. It was the second consecutive Saturday that an MSU player established a school record: a week prior, Brooke Kranda set the mark for service aces in a four -set match (9).

• Garvelink's 10 blocks is tied for the most in a Big Ten conference game this season - Illinois' Ali Bastianelli had 10 against Northwestern, and on the same night as Garvelink's 10, Penn State's Haleigh Washington put up 10 vs. Iowa.

• Garvelink ranks seventh in the Big Ten and 32nd nationally in hitting percentage (.377), while ranking fifth in the B1G blocks (1.31/s), which is 36th among national leaders. She currently averages 2.44 kills per set. In Big Ten play only, Garvelink is third in blocks (1.44 per set) and third in hitting percentage (.376).

• Garvelink surpassed 300 career blocks with her three against Penn State (Sept. 30) while fellow middle Allyssah Fitterer secured her 300th career block vs. No. 1 Nebraska the previous Saturday. To move into the MSU all-time top 10, they need to surpass Jenilee Rathje's 366 (2007-11); Garvelink currently has 356, and Fitterer 330.

• Garvelink's 319 career block assists is also just outside MSU's career top 10. Erin Hartley (1998-2001) sits in 10th place with 321. Fitterer has 298 block assists.

• Garvelink's current 1.12 career blocks per set average ranks seventh in the MSU career annals. Her 1.31 blocks per set on the season would tie for ninth with Dana Cooke in 1994 in the single-season record book.

• Garvelink's .377 hitting percentage and 1.31 blocks per set are her career bests. In her first two collegiate seasons, Garvelink hit .244 and averaged 2.15 kills and 1.05 blocks per frame.

• Allyssah Fitterer is hitting an impressive .405 on the season, averaging 2.10 kills per frame and 0.67 blocks per set. She is second in the Big Ten (and 15th nationally) in hitting percentage, and in Big Ten games only, she is hitting .379 - good for third.

• Fitterer has 966 career kills with six regular-season matches left to play, leaving her within striking distance of becoming the 22nd Spartan to accomplish 1,000 in her career. Chloe Reinig accomplished the feat earlier this season against Morgan State, and was the first Spartan to 1,000 kills since Lauren Wicinski in 2013.

• Fitterer's junior season saw her hit a career-best .301, but through the first 26 matches of the season, she is 15th in the nation with a .405 hitting percentage. Fitterer's career hitting percentage was .277 entering her final collegiate campaign.

• Both Fitterer and Garvelink have hitting percentages that would rank among MSU's top single-season performances. Fitterer's .405 would rank third, and Garvelink's .377 would be sixth. Only one time in school history has a pair of teammates had top-10 single-season hitting performances in the same season - in 2001, both Erin Hartley and Angela Morely hit .337, which is tied for 10th in a single season in the MSU annals. MSU has not had a .400 hitter in a season since 2000 (Jessica Sanborn, .417).

• Chloe Reinig had a match-best 11 kills and tied her season high with six blocks against Illinois, and had nine kills and a pair of blocks vs. Northwestern.

• Reinig is averaging 2.78 kills and 0.86 blocks per set, which is second on the team in both categories. She is also contributing 0.66 digs.

• Autumn Bailey leads MSU with 3.25 kills per set, which is 10th among Big Ten leaders. She is hitting .232, and owns six double-doubles, her most recent a 13-kill, 15-dig performance Friday vs. Northwestern, where she also had a season-high five service aces. She has been MSU's top kill producer in 13 of 26 matches this season.

• Bailey ranks second on the team with 2.51 digs per set, only behind libero Abby Monson. She is also eighth in the Big Ten with 0.33 service aces per set, and averages 0.37 blocks per frame.

• Rachel Minarick has averaged 10.23 assists per set over the first 12 Big Ten matches, which puts her eighth in Conference games. She is averaging 10.20 assists per set overall, which ranks ninth.

• Minarick posted a double-double at Purdue (Oct. 29)with 38 assists and 12 digs, her fourth double-double of the season and 21st of her career. Three of her four double-doubles this season have come on the road.

• Minarick is the seventh setter in school history to surpass 3,000 career assists. Her current total of 3,087 career assists ranks sixth all-time in the MSU record book, moving her ahead of current assistant coach Kristen Kelsay ranks sixth with 3,040. Minarick's career average of 9.83 assists per frame is currently eighth in the Spartan record book.

• Minarick is one of six athletes to be named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District team. Minarick's honor is the 16th Academic All-District honor for the Spartan volleyball program, and she is just the fifth in program history to be named to the First Team. She joins Dana Cooke (1995, 1996), Val Sterk (1996), Michelle Kopka (2003) and current assistant coach Kristen Kelsay (2013) to take First Team honors and advance to the national ballot. Cooke, Sterk, Jenilee Rathje (2011) and Kelsay all earned spots on the Academic All-America team. Minarick, a 2014 Honorable Mention AVCA All-America selection and 2015 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, holds a 3.95 cumulative grade point average as a kinesiology major. She and the five other District V honorees (from schools in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio) now advance to the national ballot, with the Academic All-America team scheduled for release on Dec. 5. Candidates must have a 3.3 cumulative GPA or higher and be a starter or significant reserve to be considered.

• Michigan State has four athletes ranked among the top 15 in the Big Ten in service aces per set: Kranda (0.66, first), Holly Toliver and Rachel Minarick (T-second, 0.37), and Autumn Bailey (eighth, 0.33); Kranda is third nationally.

• Brooke Kranda broke a 30-year old school record with nine service aces against Purdue on Oct. 29, a new MSU best in a four-set match. It was the second-most service aces in a Big Ten match all-time, and the first time since 1992 (and the fourth time overall) that a player recorded nine aces in a B1G contest. It is also the second-most service aces in a match this season in Division I volleyball.

• The last player to post nine aces in a Big Ten match was Indiana's Jill Kerkhoff, who accomplished the feat vs. MSU on Nov. 12, 1992. The other two instances were both by Spartan players, and in the same match: On Oct. 7, 1983 against Minnesota, Michelle Kasper had nine aces, and Gina Conroy set the Big Ten and MSU record with 10 in a Conference match.

• Holly Toliver had her third double-double of the season, hitting a career-best .625 (10-0-16) and sharing the team lead of 15 digs, (also a career best) vs. Northwestern, her second-straight double-digit kill match. Toliver earned a start on Saturday, and had six kills, seven digs, four blocks, and two each aces and assists. Her four blocks tied her season best.

• Toliver ranks in a tie for second in the Big Ten in service aces per set (0.37) and averages 1.49 kills and 0.29 blocks per frame. She averages 2.05 digs per set, third behind libero Abby Monson and Autumn Bailey. Her 2.05 digs per set is nearly double her career best coming into the season.

• Toliver, who dealt with several injuries in her first two seasons that limited her court time, is now one of two players to appear in 86 of 87 sets, sharing the team lead with libero Abby Monson.

• Abby Monson has started all 26 matches at libero this season, and is averaging 3.10 digs per frame, good for 12th in the Big Ten. She had 11 digs in the win over Northwestern - one of three Spartan players in double-digits - and shared the team lead with nine vs. Illinois. In Big Ten games only, her 3.08 digs per set ranks 11th.