Spartans Head To No. 3 Minnesota Saturday

**Big Ten Week Seven: Spartans at No. 3 Minnesota**
at No. 3 Minnesota	Saturday, Nov. 3, 8 pm ET; Maturi Pavilion
	Live Stats \| TV: BTN \| Watch: B TN2Go \|
Radio	SpartanSportsNetwork.com (or download the SSN24/7 app); John Kreger, pxp
Tickets	Tickets are sold out
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Minnesota
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• Michigan State heads back out on the road for a Saturday match at No. 3 Minnesota.

• Mike Monaco will call the match vs. the Gophers with Beth Karpiak for Big Ten Network; the game will also have a live webstream via BTN2Go.

• John Kreger will call the action for Michigan State volleyball on the Spartan Sports Network.

• The Spartans are amid a five-game stretch against top-13 teams, most recently falling at Purdue on Wednesday night, 3-1 (18-25, 25-19, 18-25, 19-25). The Spartans and Boilers battled from whistle to whistle, as MSU had leads in three of the four sets but were overtaken late in the third and fourth frames by the more experienced Boilers.
    MSU was led by Rebecka Poljan, who had 10 kills and three blocks, hitting a team-best .304. Maddie Haggerty posted her third double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs, adding a pair of aces. Jamye Cox had 21 digs.

• The Spartans and Gophers met just last week in East Lansing, and MSU dropped Friday's match to No. 3 Minnesota, 3-0 (22-25, 23-25, 15-25). A box score and recap appears on p. 10.

• MSU trails the all-time series with No. 3 Minnesota by a 19-54 margin. Hugh McCutcheon is in his seventh season leading Minnesota. The Gopher lineup is balanced and dangerous - it features five athletes that average between 2.59 and 3.58 kills per set, all hitting .240 or better. Stephanie Samedy leads the way with 3.58 kills per set adds 0.83 blocks and 2.82 digs per frame. Setter Samantha Seleger-Swenson just passed the 5,000 career assist mark and leads the Big Ten with 11.87 assists per frame.
• The Spartans finished the first half of the Big Ten schedule with a 3-7 record, and sit in a tie for 11th place with Ohio State and Northwestern. The Spartans do have four of their final seven Big Ten Conference games at Jenison Field House, including matches against the Buckeyes and Rutgers.

• The Spartans are averaging 2.63 blocks per set, which is good for fifth in the Big Ten and 21st nationally. MSU's total blocks (239.5) also ranks 24th nationally, and ranks third the Big Ten.

• Maddie Haggerty posted her third double-double of the season on Wednesday at Purdue with 11 kills and 11 digs. Her first two came at home against Indiana (14 K, 14 D) and at Maryland (15 K, 12 D) On the year, she's averaging 2.6 kills and 1.93 digs per set, which is second and third on the team, respectively.

• Alyssa Chronowski has produced 18 double-digit kill performances this season, and ranks 13th in the Big Ten in kills per set (3.26), She is also averaging 0.66 blocks and 0.91 digs per set over the first 26 matches of the season. She has at least one solo block in six of the last seven games, and multiple solo stuffs in four of those seven matches. She has a team-best 22 on the year.
• Naya Gros ranks 10th in the Big Ten in hitting percentage (.340). In addition, she entered the week ranked 45th nationally in total blocks (106) and 52nd in blocks per set (1.23), which is sixth in the Big Ten rankings. Among league freshmen, Gros is second in hitting percentage (.340), is 12th in kills (2.09) and third in blocks (1.18).

• Elena Shklyar is averaging 8.44 assists per set, which is good for 12th in the Big Ten (fourth among B1G freshmen). She is also averaging 1.21 digs, and 0.45 blocks.

• Rebecka Poljan ranks just outside the top 10 in the B1G in blocks per set (1.00), and is hitting .233 with 1.77 kills per frame. She led MSU in blocks (3) and hitting percentage (.304) at Purdue, while posting her third double-digit kill effort of the season (10).

• Jamye Cox has appeared in 22 of 26 matches this season. She is averaging 3.89 digs (11th, B1G), 0.51 assists, and 0.23 aces per set. She has double-digit digs in 11 of 13 Big Ten matches this season, and nine consecutive.

Michigan State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Alyssa Chronowski

Jamye Cox

Naya Gros

Maddie Haggerty

Rebecka Poljan

Elena Shklyar

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