Four Matches On Tap for MSU At Fairfield Invitational

**Week Three: Spartans at the Fairfield Invitational**
Dates	Sept. 7-8, 2018
Location	Fairfield, Conn. \| Alumni Hall
Game Information	Friday, 12 pm vs. Northeastern	Live Stats
	Friday, 7 pm vs. Fairfield	Live Stats \| Watch
	Saturday, 10 am vs. Harvard	Live Stats
	Saturday, 5:30 pm vs. Central Connecticut	Live Stats
Game Notes	Download MSU Game Notes
Weekly Press Conference	Watch
Social Media	Facebook \| Twitter \| Instagram

TEAM NOTES
• (RV) Michigan State has its third straight weekend on the road, and will play at the Fairfield Invitational. There are four games on tap for MSU in this tournament: Friday's games against Northeastern and the host Stags, and Saturday's matches vs. Harvard and Central Connecticut State.

• Friday evening's game vs. Fairfield will be streamed on Facebook Live, with no live streams of the other three matches.

• The Spartans are coming off a 3-0 weekend in North Carolina, capturing the Carolina Classic title. Naya Gros was named MVP and Alyssa Chronowski was named to the All-Tournament team. MSU downed Maryland-Eastern Shore, UNC-Greensboro, and the host Tar Heels.

• MSU (5-1) 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 three in the top five and five in the top 11.

• MSU and Northeastern are meeting for the second time in the schools' histories, with the first coming in 2000 (MSU, 3-0). The Huskies are 2-8 in 2018.

• Host Fairfield and MSU last met in the 2016 NCAA Tournament in East Lansing, and the Spartans hold a pair of 3-0 wins in the two all-time meetings. The Stags have stumbled a bit out of the gate with a 1-5 record on the season.

• Harvard opened its season last weekend at the Michigan Invitational, going 0-3. The Spartans traveled to Boston in 2007 to take part in the Harvard Invitational, and earned a 3-0 win in the only meeting of the teams.

• Central Connecticut has gone 2-5 over the first two weekends of the season, including a record of 1-2 last weekend. Saturday's match will be the first-ever meeting of the teams.

• MSU has won five straight matches since an opening-night setback to Tennessee.

• The Spartans earned their first two 3-0 sweeps of the season vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore and UNC-Greensboro. MSU dropped the first set to North Carolina before storming back to take the next three sets and the tournament title.

• MSU hit .295 in the Carolina Classic, averaging 13.7 kills per set while holding its three opponents to a combined .116 hitting percentage. MSU had a season-best 54 kills in the finale vs. North Carolina, and recorded its fourth double-digit blocking performance of the season.

• MSU hit a season-best .397 vs. UMES, the eighth-best single-match team performance in the B1G in 2018.

• The Spartans are averaging 2.68 blocks per set, which is good for eighth in the Big Ten and 32nd nationally.

• After totaling 26 aces in the opening weekend, the Spartans tacked on 17 more in the second weekend of play. MSU averages 1.95 aces per set, which ranks third in the Big Ten. That total is 20th in Division I volleyball.

• MSU has held its opponents to a .146 hitting percentage, which ranks sixth in the Big Ten but 31st nationally.

• MSU has gone 125-26 (.828) 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 5-1 with seven games remaining on the pre-B1G slate.

• MSU went 7-2 in 2017 in the non-conference portion of the schedule, 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.

TEAM NOTES

• MSU's freshman middle Naya Gros was named the Carolina Classic MVP last weekend. She averaged 2.8 kills per set and hit .489, adding 1.3 blocks per frame over the three matches in Chapel Hill.

• Gros went off for 15 kills and five blocks in the tournament finale vs. host UNC, her season best in kills. Her 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.

• Gros ranks seventh in the Big Ten in blocks per set (1.45), which is 29th nationally; her 32 blocks ranks 38th among Division I players. She is also seventh in the B1G in hitting percentage (.402), which is 59th nationally.

• Among the league's freshmen, Gros is third in hitting percentage, third in blocks, and ninth in kills (2.27 per frame).

• Sophomore OH Alyssa Chronowski led the Spartans with 3.2 kills per set on the weekend, adding 0.80 digs and 0.40 blocks per set. She also added three service aces. She was named to the Carolina Classic All-Tournament Team, her second such honor in as many weeks.

• Chronowski ranks 12th in the Big Ten in kills per set (3.41), and also is 13th in service aces (0.41/s). She is also averaging .59 blocks per set and 0.77 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 made her Michigan State debut last weekend at North Carolina with a pair of double-digit kill performances. She had 10 kills and hit .333 with six digs against UMES, and then had 13 kills, three assists, nine digs and an ace in the win over UNC.

• Molly Johnson turned in three solid performances at North Carolina, averaging 2.2 kills and 1.2 blocks per set in the three matches. She had 110 kills and hit a team-best .500 with five blocks in the three-set win over UNC-Greensboro.

• Johnson ranks 10th among conference freshmen with a 2.14 kills per set average on the season. She also is averaging 1.05 blocks per frame.

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

• Jamye Cox averaged 3.40 digs per set over the three matches last weekend, and ranks fifth in the Big Ten with a 4.41 digs per set average. Cox has five double-digit dig performances this season, which includes 14 in the matches vs. UNC-Greensboro and UNC.

• Cox compiled four service aces last weekend to push her season total to 10, which leads the team and ranks eighth in the Big Ten (0.45/s).

• Cox's 29 digs vs. Belmont is the single-match high for any Big Ten player this season.

• Sophomore OH Meredith Norris led the Spartans with 12 kills in the win over Chattanooga, and is averaging 2.08 kills and 3.08 digs per frame.

• Junior Samantha McLean had two double-digit dig performances this weekend, which included a career-best 13 in the win over UNC-Greensboro. She posted 11 in the finale against UNC, and is averaging 2.18 digs per set..

• As they did in week one, both setters saw action at UNC. Maggie Midgette earned the win over UMES with 36 assists, nine digs, and three service aces. Elena Shklyar had a career-best 44 assists vs. North Carolina, where she also had four digs, three blocks, and a pair of kills. Earlier in the day, she led the Spartans to a 3-0 sweep of UNC-Greensboro with 33 assists, seven digs, and had four kills on four attempts.

• On the year, Midgette is averaging 9.80 assists per set with 0.90 aces and 2.0 digs per frame. Shklyar is averaging 9.29 assists per set, to go with 1.57 digs and 0.57 blocks. Neither has enough playing time to qualify for Big Ten rankings, but Midgette would rank 10th in assists, and Shklyar 12th. Midgette's 0.90 aces per set would rank first.

• Midgette recorded five aces in the MSU win over Chattanooga (Aug. 25), which is tied for the single-match high among Big Ten players this season.

• Julia Hatcher had a career-best six kills, hit .400, and added two blocks in the win over UMES. She's averaging 0.75 blocks per set on the season.

• Freshmen back-row specialists Lauryn Gibbs and Talia Edmonds are bolstering MSU's passing game. Edmonds has stood out at the service line with five aces on the season (good for 13th among B1G freshmen).

• Edmonds will wear uniform No. 5 this weekend.

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

• MSU has been without the services of 6-5 redshirt sophomore Lauren Swartz the first two weekends due to injury.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alyssa Chronowski

Jamye Cox

Talia Edmonds

Lauryn Gibbs

Naya Gros

Maddie Haggerty

Julia Hatcher

Molly Johnson

Bella Legarza

Samantha McLean

Maggie Midgette

Meredith Norris

Elena Shklyar

Lauren Swartz