Spartans Open Big Ten Play This Weekend

Friday, September 21

Iowa City, IA

8 pm

Michigan State University

Iowa

Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography

9/19/2018 10:41:00 AM | Volleyball

MSU off to Iowa, Nebraska for weekend matches

**Big Ten Week One: Spartans at Iowa, at Nebraska**
at Iowa	Friday Sept. 21, 8 pm ET; Carver-Hawkeye Arena
	Live Stats \| Watch: BTN2Go \| Tickets
at Nebraska	Sunday, Sept. 23, 3 pm ET; Devaney Center
	Live Stats \| TV: ESPNU \| Tickets
Radio	SpartanSportsNetwork.com (or download the SSN24/7 app); John Kreger, pxp
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Iowa \| Nebraska
Press Conference	Watch This Week's Volleyball Press Conference
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram

TEAM NOTES

• (RV) Michigan State begins Big Ten play this weekend, and is headed to Iowa City for a Friday night tilt against the Hawkeyes. MSU will take on defending National Champion No. 3 Nebraska on Sunday at 3 pm ET in a match that airs live on ESPNU.

• Friday night's match will stream live on BTN2Go and FloVolleyball.com. Live statistics for both matches will be available on MSUSpartans.com.

• 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 12 straight matches since a setback at Tennessee on opening night. The 12-game winning streak is the longest current active winning 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 third straight non-conference tournament title, capturing the Auto Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational. MSU swept Albany and UAB, then downed in-state rival Western Michigan in the tournament finale. MSU also swept through the competition at the Carolina Classic and Fairfield Invitational, and finished second in the opening weekend at the Tennessee Classic.

• The Spartans had a 23-set winning streak snapped when Western Michigan won the third set between the teams on Saturday night. MSU won the fourth set and the match.

• MSU (12-1) is the top team receiving votes in the most recent AVCA National Poll. Seven teams from the Big Ten appear in this week's national top 20, with five appearing in the top 10.

• MSU and Iowa meet for the 74th time on Friday night, with the Spartans looking for their 50th victory in the all-time series. MSU is 21-11 all-time in Iowa City, and has won 15 consecutive matches over the Hawkeyes overall. Iowa is coached by Bond Shymansky, who is starting his fifth season as the bench boss, and has guided his charges to an 8-3 mark in non-conference play in 2018.

• Defending National Champion Nebraska is 9-1 on the season, including eight straight since an opening-night loss to No. 7 Florida. The Cornhuskers own a 19-2-2 mark all-time in the series against Michigan State, which includes eight straight victories. MSU dropped a pair of 3-1 decisions to Nebraska last season, and last earned a win in 2013 at Jenison Field House. John Cook is in his 19th season on the Nebraska bench.
• The Spartans have earned eight 3-0 sweeps and played five 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 in service aces per set (2.04), with 96 aces over 34 sets. The next closest Big Ten team total for service aces is 78, by Purdue.

• The Green & White boast five 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 2.72 blocks per set, which is good for seventh in the Big Ten. Penn State the B1G with 3.39 blocks per set.

• MSU averaged 3.40 blocks per set in the Spartan Invitational, which includes tying its single-match season best with 14 against UAB and posting 11 vs. Albany and nine vs. Western Michigan. The Spartans have eight or more blocks in 11 of 13 matches this season.

• The Spartans held Alabama-Birmingham to a -.020 hitting percentage in the Sept. 15 match, the lowest for an opponent in 2018. The previous low for an opponent was .061 against Harvard.

• 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 .147, which is fourth in the Big Ten and 13th nationally.

• MSU has gone 132-26 (.835) in non-conference action in Cathy George's 14 years at the helm, and has never lost more than four games prior to the beginning of the Big Ten season.

• 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 (633), along with Penn State's Russ Rose (1,254) and Wisconsin's John Cook (701). 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

• Sophomore OH Alyssa Chronowski was named the MVP of the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational, her third All-Tournament Team selection. She led all hitters in the tournament with an average of 3.2 kills per set, hit .247 and added 1.5 digs, 0.70 blocks, and 0.50 aces per frame. 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 (3.14), and ranks sixth in service aces (0.45/s), which is good for 32nd nationally. She is also averaging 0.61 blocks per set and 1.00 digs over the first 13 matches of the season.

• Chronowski posted 11 kills, eight digs, three service aces and two blocks in the finale vs. Western Michigan. Her eight digs was a career match high.

• Naya Gros has earned All-Tournament Team honors in each week of the non-conference season, including MVP honors at the Carolina Classic. Gros hit .444 on the weekend (20-4-36) and compiled 12 blocks (1.33 per set). She had a match-best seven blocks in the finale vs. WMU.

• Gros leads the Big Ten and ranks second nationally in hitting percentage (.481). In addition, she ranks 23rd nationally in both total blocks (60) and blocks per set (1.40), which is eighth in the Big Ten rankings.

• Among league freshmen, Gros leads the pack in hitting percentage (.481), is sixth in kills (2.58/s) and fourth in blocks (1.40/s).

• Gros' 10 blocks against Chattanooga on Aug. 25 is her career best in that category, and ranks second among single-game match highs for any player in the Big Ten this season. Nebraska's Callie Schwarzenbach had 13 stuffs vs. New Mexico last Friday.

• Becka Poljan missed the Fairfield Invitational, but certainly announced her return with an All-Tournament Team performance at the Spartan Invitational. She averaged 1.6 kills, hit .250, and averaged 1.6 blocks per set over the three matches, and has been MSU's blocking leader in three of her last four matches played. Poljan is averaging 1.26 blocks per set on the year, which would rank in fifth place among Conference freshmen and 11th overall if she had played enough qualifying matches.

• Sophomore OH Meredith Norris led MSU with a career-best 13 kills and added four digs and an ace vs. WMU. On the weekend, she contributed 2.89 kills and 1.44 digs per set, and added four aces. She ranks third on the team with 2.26 kills and 2.11 digs per set.

• 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 .213 on the year in her six appearances, averaging 2.73 kills and 1.73 digs per frame.

• Molly Johnson averaged 1.1 blocks and 1.80 kills per set in the Spartan Invitational, and is averaging 1.05 blocks and 1.91 kills per frame overall on the season. She ranks sixth among Big Ten freshmen in blocks, and 14th in kills.

• Julia Hatcher started all four matches in the Fairfield Invite, 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 20 of 44 sets on the season, and is averaging 1.10 blocks per set.

• Both setters have continued to see significant time, and both played in all three matches last weekend. Elena Shklyar played eight of 10 sets in the Spartan Invitational, averaging 8.5 assists, 0.75 blocks, 2.12 digs, and 0.38 aces per set. She had 32 assists and 12 digs vs. Western Michigan for her first career double-double.

• Shklyar is averaging 9.23 assists per set, which is good for 12th in the Big Ten. She is also averaging 1.7 digs, 0.67 blocks, and 0.43 aces per set, which ranks seventh in the B1G.

• Maggie Midgette is averaging 9.06 assists per set with 0.83 aces and 1.72 digs per frame. She ranks second on the team with 15 service aces, behind Chronowski's 20. Against Albany, Midgette came on in the third set and fired off three service aces in the first six points, and over the balance of the third set added 12 assists, two digs, and a pair of kills.

• 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 (Sept. 8).

• Junior Samantha McLean has appeared in all 44 sets, one of just three athletes to do so. She is second on the team with 2.16 digs per set, and she also has eight service aces on the year.

• Jamye Cox missed the Fairfield Invitational, but returned to the lineup last weekend to average 4.2 digs and 1.1 assists per set, tossing in three service aces. Her 4.34 digs per set average for the season ranks eighth in the Big Ten, while her 0.41 aces per set is 11th. MSU and Purdue both have three individuals among the top 15 in service aces per set in the Conference.

• Cox established a new career best with seven assists in the match vs. Western Michigan (Sept. 15).

• Freshmen back-row specialists Lauryn Gibbs and Talia Edmonds are bolstering MSU's passing game. Edmonds has stood out at the service line with seven aces on the season, and also posted a career-best five digs against Alabama-Birmingham (Sept. 15). Gibbs' career-best six digs came at Fairfield (Sept. 8), and she also established a career high with three service aces in the same match.

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

• Redshirt sophomore Lauren Swartz has not yet made her season debut for MSU. She has been hampered with a nagging injury.