Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational Provides Home Matches for Volleyball

Friday, September 14

East Lansing, MI

7 pm

Michigan State University

UAlbany

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Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational Provides Home Matches for Volleyball

9/12/2018 4:33:00 PM | Volleyball

MSU plays first home games in 2018

**2018 Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational**
Dates	Friday-Saturday, Sept. 14-15, 2018
Schedule	View Tournament Central
Facility	Jenison Field House \| MSU Athletics No-Bag Policy
Tickets	Spartan Ticket Office Friday: Family Four Pack Saturday: Four Seats, Four Treats
Webstreams	All six matches will have a live stream on BTN2Go
Live Statistics	Follow along here
Radio	SpartanSportsNetwork.com (or download the SSN24/7 app)
Game Notes	Download MSU Notes
Press Conference	Watch This Week's Volleyball Press Conference
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram

Team Notes
• (RV) Michigan State gets its first home games of 2018 when it hosts the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational this weekend. MSU welcomes Albany, Alabama-Birmingham, and Western Michigan to Jenison Field House for the tournament.
• All six matches of the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational will have a live webstream on BTN2Go.

• John Kreger returns behind the mic to call the action for Michigan State volleyball on the Spartan Sports Network. All games - home and away - will be carried live.

• Michigan State has won nine straight matches since a setback at Tennessee on opening night. The nine-game winning streak ties Michigan for the current longest in the Big Ten. It is MSU's longest winning streak since the 2013 season when the Spartans won 15 consecutive matches. Assistant Coach Kristen Kelsay was the senior setter on that 2013 squad.

• The Spartans are coming off a 4-0 weekend in Connecticut, capturing the Fairfield Invitational. MSU swept Northeastern, Fairfield, Harvard, and Central Connecticut State by identical 3-0 match scores. The Spartans have won 15 straight sets since dropping the opening frame at North Carolina and rallying to defeat the Tar Heels 3-1.

• MSU (9-1) is receiving votes in the most recent AVCA National Poll. Seven teams from the Big Ten appear in this week's national top 25, with five appearing in the top 10.

• MSU and Albany have met twice previously, with the Spartans holding a 2-0 record with a pair of 3-0 sweeps. The most recent meeting was a 2012 match here at the Spartan Invitational. The Great Danes are 4-5 overall, and bring a three-match winning streak into Jenison Field House this weekend.

• Friday evening's match will be the Children's Cancer Awareness night. Fans are invited to wear their pajamas to the match. Why pajamas? Children with cancer often spend months, even years, living in their pajamas at home or in the hospital as they undergo critical treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. During this time, they frequently miss school, time with siblings and friends, and other normal childhood activities. Instead, they rely solely on their family and medical team to help them through this difficult time in their lives.

• UAB and MSU last met in the 2014 season , a 3-0 Spartan victory that stands as the only meeting between the two teams. UAB is off to an 8-3 start to the 2018 season, including winning two-of-three last weekend.

• In-state rival Western Michigan has not played the Spartans in volleyball since the 2002 season - when Cathy George was the head coach of the Broncos. Her former assistant Colleen Munson took over the Bronco reins in 2005 when George came MSU. Munson's team is 8-3 overall, winning eight of nine since a pair of losses to start the season. MSU holds a 20-9-1 record all-time against WMU, with wins in the last five meetings.

• The Spartans have earned six 3-0 sweeps and played four four-set matches in 2018. MSU is a perfect 7-0 in neutral-site matches and 2-1 in true road games.

• MSU leads the Big Ten and ranks fifth nationally in service aces per set (2.12), with 72 aces over 34 sets. The next closest Big Ten team total for service aces is 58, by Rutgers. UNLV leads the nation with 2.30 per frame.

• The Green & White boast four matches with double-digit aces, the most of any team in the Big Ten. The single-match high of 14 is held by Rutgers, with MSU's 13 aces vs. Chattanooga ranking second.

• The Spartans are averaging 2.76 blocks per set, which is good for sixth in the Big Ten and 11th nationally. Penn State leads the country (and the B1G) with 3.48 blocks per set.

• MSU hit .263 as a team in the Fairfield Invitational, above its season average of .249. MSU averaged 12.42 kills per set in the tournament.

• MSU had its third .300 hitting performance of the season when it hit .308 vs. Harvard. The Spartans held the Crimson to a .061 hitting percentage, the lowest for an opponent on the year.

• The Spartans have not allowed an opponent to hit better than .188 since Tennessee hit .226 in the opening match of the season. On the year, MSU's opponent hitting percentage is .138, which is fourth in the Big Ten and 13th nationally.

• MSU has gone 129-26 (.832) in non-conference action in Cathy George's 13 years at the helm, and has never lost more than four games prior to the beginning of the Big Ten season. The current Spartans are 9-1 with three games remaining on the pre-B1G slate.

• MSU has surpassed its 2017 non-conference win total. The Spartans went 7-2 in 2017, but had three tournament games at Florida wiped out due to Hurricane Irma.

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

• 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.

• 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 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.

• 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 entered the 2018 season 19th among active coaches in coaching victories with a 621-398 overall record, 50th all-time in Division I history.

Player Notes
• Naya Gros was MSU's representative on the five-member Fairfield Invitational All-Tournament Team last weekend. She has earned a similar spot for all three tournaments in which MSU has participated, including MVP honors at the Carolina Classic.

• Gros hit .632 on the weekend (41-5-57) and compiled three solo blocks and 13 overall (1.33 per set.) After opening with 13 kills (.579) and four blocks against Northeastern, she was a perfect 7-0-7 with five blocks (two solo) in a win over host Fairfield, and then had a career-best 16 kills and hit .700 (16-2-20) vs. Central Connecticut in the tournament finale.

• Gros leads the Big Ten and ranks second nationally in hitting percentage (.490). In addition, she ranks 23rd nationally in total blocks (48) and 28th in Division I volleyball with 1.41 blocks per set, which is good for the No. 7 spot in the Big Ten rankings.

• Among league freshmen, Gros leads the pack in hitting percentage (.490), is seventh in kills (2.68/s) and third in blocks (1.41/s).

• Gros' 10 blocks against Chattanooga on Aug. 25 is her career best in that category, and still the single-game match high for any player in the Big Ten this season.

• Sophomore OH Alyssa Chronowski averaged 2.58 kills per set last weekend, adding seven blocks, 12 digs and six assists. She was named to both the Tennessee Classic and the Carolina Classic All-Tournament Teams in the first two weekends.

• Chronowski is just outside the top 15 in the Big Ten in kills per set (3.12), and ranks sixth in service aces (0.44/s). She is also averaging .59 blocks per set and 0.85 digs.

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

• Haggerty played in two matches at the Fairfield Invitational, posting 13 kills and hitting .462 with five digs in the opener vs. Northeastern. She has three double-digit kill efforts and is hitting .233 on the year in her four appearances, averaging 3.17 kills and 2.08 digs per frame.

• Sophomore OH Meredith Norris had a breakout weekend in Connecticut, averaging 2.09 kills and hitting .391, adding 1.55 digs along with five aces. She hit a season-best .444 (10-2-18) against Harvard, added five kills off the bench vs. Fairfield, and also had seven kills and six digs in the finale vs. Central Connecticut.

• Norris is now averaging 2.04 kills per set on the year, and 2.35 digs per frame. She led the Spartans and established a career best with 12 kills in the win over Chattanooga opening weekend.

• Molly Johnson averaged 1.0 blocks and 1.58 kills per set in Connecticut, and is averaging 1.3 blocks and 1.94 kills per frame overall on the season, good for 12th among first-year players in the B1G.

• Julia Hatcher started all four matches in the Nutmeg State, and posted 1.33 blocks per set and 0.75 kills per frame. Hatcher had a career-best six blocks vs. Central Connecticut, posting five in the second set alone. Hatcher has played 19 of 34 sets on the season.

• Both setters have continued to see significant time. Elena Shklyar played eight of 12 sets last weekend, averaging 9.88 assists, 0.75 blocks, 1.5 digs, and 0.88 aces per set. She posted a career-best five service aces in MSU's opening win over Northeastern, where she had her weekend best of 31 assists and six digs as well. Midgette earned the win over Harvard with 7.60 assists per frame, with three digs, six kills and a .750 hitting percentage.

• On the year, Midgette is averaging 9.07 assists per set with 0.67 aces and 1.53 digs per frame. Shklyar is averaging 9.50 assists per set, to go with 1.55 digs and 0.64 blocks. Neither has enough playing time to qualify for Big Ten rankings, but Midgette would rank 13th in assists, and Shklyar 11th. Midgette's 0.67 aces per set would rank first.

• Junior Samantha McLean played all four matches in the libero jersey last weekend, posting 2.83 digs per set and contributing seven assists, and two service aces. McLean is a regular in the Spartan game plan, as she has appeared in all 34 sets. She tied her career best with a pair of service aces against Harvard. On the year, she averages 2.41 digs per set.

• Becka Poljan came off the bench to deliver a seven-kill, seven-block performance against North Carolina in the Carolina Classic finale (9/1). The freshman is averaging 1.06 blocks per set and 1.65 kills per set.

• Jamye Cox missed the four matches last weekend, and therefore fell out of the Big Ten rankings. Her 4.41 digs per set average would rank sixth among B1G diggers. Cox has five double-digit dig performances this season, which includes 14 in the matches vs. both UNC-Greensboro and UNC.

• Cox averages 0.45 service aces per set, which would rank just ahead of teammate Alyssa Chronowski, who averages 0.44. Cox is in a three-way tie with Shklyar and Midgette with 10 service aces on the season, behind Chronowski's 15.

• Midgette recorded five aces in the MSU win over Chattanooga (Aug. 25), which is tied for the single-match high among Spartan players this season. Elena Shklyar had five against Northeastern.

• Freshmen back-row specialists Lauryn Gibbs and Talia Edmonds are bolstering MSU's passing game. Edmonds has stood out at the service line with six aces on the season.

• Redshirt freshman Bella Legarza made her MSU debut vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore, recording a kill.