Volleyball Opens 2018 at Tennessee Classic

**No. 22 Michigan State Volleyball at Tennessee Classic**
**August 24-25, 2018**
Game Notes	Download MSU Notes
Game Times	Friday vs. Tennessee, 8 pm Saturday vs. Chattanooga, 11 am Saturday vs. Belmont, 5:30 pm
Live Statistics	UTSports.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Television	SEC Network vs.Tennessee, Friday, 8 pm
Social Media	Twitter: @MichStVB Instagram: MichStVB Facebook: Facebook.com/MichiganStateVB

TEAM NOTES
• No. 22 Michigan State opens the 2018 season at the Tennessee Classic. The Spartans take on host Tennessee on Friday (8 pm), then battle Chattanooga (11 am) and Belmont (5:30 pm) on Saturday.

• The 2017 Spartans finished the season with a 24-9 overall record, and were 14-6 for a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten Conference.

• The Spartans graduated seven athletes from its 2017 team, including its entire starting rotation. The only returning starter from last year's NCAA team is sophomore libero Jamye Cox.

• MSU lost 96% of its kills, 86% of its assists, and 91% of its blocks to graduation of the seniors after 2017.

• MSU's 2018 roster features one senior (captain Maddie Haggerty), two juniors (setter Maggie Midgette and DS Samantha McLean), and two large classes of sophomores and freshmen. The 2017 recruiting class was ranked No. 9 by PrepVolleyball, while the current freshmen came in ranked at No. 15.

• The Spartans hail from nine different states, with six calling Michigan home. Others hail from Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Virginia, Pennsylvania, California and Louisiana.

• MSU's average height is 6-1, with the tallest Spartans checking in at 6-5 (Lauren Swartz) and 6-4 (Molly Johnson).

• MSU's streak of seven consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is the third-longest in the Big Ten, behind Penn State and Nebraska. In addition, MSU, Nebraska, and Penn State are the only teams to finish .500 or better in Big Ten play in each of the last seven seasons (2011-17).

• The Spartans are the youngest team in the Big Ten, with 12 of 15 athletes with freshmen or sophomore standing. Northwestern ranks second with 13 underclassmen on a team of 17 (76.5%), followed by Nebraska (11 of 15, 73.3%). Indiana has just six newcomers among its 14 rostered players (42.9%). Seven Big Ten teams sit with double figures in underclassmen: Northwestern has the most with 13, followed by MSU and Minnesota (12), Nebraska and Purdue (11), while Maryland and Michigan each boast 10.

• Michigan State is one of seven Big Ten teams in the 2018 AVCA pre-season poll. Defending National Champion Nebraska (No. 2), No. 4 Minnesota, No. 6 Penn State and No. 9 Wisconsin received spots in the top 10, followed by No. 12 Illinois, No. 22 MSU and No. 23 Purdue. Michigan was receiving votes.

• The Big Ten coaches selected defending National Champion Nebraska as the 2018 pre-season conference favorite, followed by Wisconsin and Minnesota in second and third, respectively. The Spartans appeared at No. 9 in the Big Ten preseason survey.

• MSU ranked in the top 20 nationally in four categories last season: fourth in aces per set (1.76/s), 11th in kills (14.47/s), 18th in assists (13.37/s), and 20th in hitting percentage (.271).

• MSU's .271 hitting percentage in 2017 ranked as the fourth-highest in program history, and best since 2006. MSU's average of 1.76 aces per set ranked 11th, 14.93 digs was 13th, and 13.37 assists was 15th.

• With 14.93 digs per set, the Spartans ranked third in the B1G a year ago. MSU had five players averaging between 2.22 and 3.24 digs per set.

• MSU went 17-2 in three-set matches in 2017, which is the third-most three-set wins in a season in school history. The Spartans had 24 three-set sweeps in 1995, and tallied 18 in both 1996 and 2016.

• Cathy George is the third Big Ten head coach to amass 600 wins, along with Penn State's Russ Rose (1,246) and Wisconsin's John Cook (692). She ranks 19th among active coaches in coaching victories with a 621-398 overall record, 50th all-time in Division I history.

• The Spartans have placed several players in professional volleyball. From last year's team, OH Holly Toliver is beginning her second professional season in Germany after making her pro debut in Peru last January. In addition, 2013 graduate Alexis Mathews played last year in the Phillipines, along with December 2017 graduate Brooke Kranda. Jazmine White was a 2011-14 letterwinner and most recently played in Finland.

• 2018 graduate Autumn Bailey made the Canadian National Team, which captured a bronze medal at the Pan Am Cup. Team Canada is currently on a training tour in Turkey and Italy to prepare the 2018 FIVB World Championships, which will be held in Japan (beginning September 29).

PLAYER NOTES

• Senior Maddie Haggerty has been voted captain by her teammates for the 2018 season. A transfer, Haggerty had to sit out the 2016 season due to transfer rules, and then missed the entire 2017 campaign with an injury.

• Sophomore OH Meredith Norris appeared in 13 matches as a freshman last year. She averaged 1.50 kills, 1.89 digs, and 0.44 blocks per set.

• Norris was selected for the USA Volleyball Collegiate National Team - Detroit in the summer of 2017. She completed a 10-day training session and exhibition games at the Girls Junior National Championships.

• Sophomore OH Alyssa Chronowski was voted the team's Most Improved Player at the 2017 squad banquet. She appeared in five matches a year ago.

• In addition to Haggerty and the two sophomores, redshirt sophomore Lauren Swartz will compete for a starting role. Swartz redshirted her freshman season, and made eight appearances in 2017. She was the team's Most Improved Player in 2016.

• Swartz, a 2017 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and Academic All-Big Ten pick, is a member of MSU's Honors College and will graduate with an economics degree in May after just six semesters.

• MSU's newcomer on the outside is No. 85 Senior Ace Molly Johnson. The 6-4 Ann Arbor native will look to crack the Spartan lineup.

• At setter, MSU has veteran backup Maggie Midgette returning. Midgette saw action in 10 matches a year ago, and averaged 4.87 assists and 0.85 digs per set.

• Freshman Elena Shklyar will challenge Midgette for playing time. The 2017 Virginia Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year helped her high school to a state championship a year ago.

• MSU brought in a pair of talented freshmen middles. Naya Gros (No. 35 Senior Ace) and Rebecka Poljan will compete with Julia Hatcher and Bella Legarza.

• Gros, the No. 35 Senior Ace in the Class of 2018, is a Second Team Under Armor High School All-American and the Louisiana Player of the year. Poljan is a local product from Lansing Catholic Central High School who was a three-sport scholastic standout.

• Hatcher made eight appearances as a freshman in 2017, and has made improvements in her game. Legarza redshirted last season and is a redshirt freshman in 2018, so has four years of eligibility remaining.

• Michigan State returns just one starter, sophomore libero Jamye Cox. She was the Spartan libero in 26 matches a year ago, but appeared in all 112 sets. She averaged 3.46 digs per set on the season, which ranked 10th in the Big Ten and second among the league's freshmen. Hannah Gruensfelder from Ohio State posted 456 (4.34 per set).

• Cox, who earned the team's Extra Mile Award in 2017, finished with 388 digs on the season, which is the second-most digs by a freshman in the MSU record book. The top spot on that list is held by Kori Moster (474, 2011).

• Cox averaged 5.0 digs per set in the NCAA Tournament, which ranked 13th nationally and second among players in the Big Ten.

• Junior Samantha McLean is a back-row specialist who saw action in 24 matches last season before being sidelined late in 2017 after a car accident. She returns healthy and ready to go for her sophomore season with an eye on spending more time on the court. She averaged 1.37 digs per set as a sophomore as a regular off the bench.

• Like Swartz, McLean is also a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and Academic All-Big Ten selection. The pair both boast perfect 4.0 grade point averages - McLean as a Kinesiology major, Swartz as economics.

• MSU's back-row play will be bolstered by a pair of freshmen, both who hail from the state of Michigan, Lauryn Gibbs and Talia Edmonds.

• Gibbs was a second team Under Armor All-America as a high school senior and was also a Michigan Miss Volleyball finalist. Edmonds graduated with the Kalamazoo Central record for career digs and sits second on the list for career aces. She earned 13 varsity letters in high school while earning First Team All-Conference honors in volleyball, basketball, softball, and soccer.

• Edmonds will wear uniform No. 5 this weekend in the Tennessee Classic.

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Players Mentioned

Autumn Bailey

Alyssa Chronowski

Jamye Cox

Talia Edmonds

Lauryn Gibbs

Naya Gros

Maddie Haggerty

Julia Hatcher

Molly Johnson

Brooke Kranda

Bella Legarza

Samantha McLean

Maggie Midgette

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Elena Shklyar

Lauren Swartz

Holly Toliver