Spartans Wrap Homestand With Two Top-10 Opponents

2019 Volleyball Week Nine/ Big Ten Week Five
MSU vs. No. 6 Wisconsin, No. 7 Minnesota
Dates	Friday, Oct. 25 vs. Wisconsin, 7 pm Webstream: BTN+ \| Live Statistics
	Sunday, Oct. 27 vs. No. 7 Minnesota, 12 pm TV: BTN \| Webstream: Fox Sports App \| Live Statistics
Facility	Jenison Field House \| MSU Athletics No-Bag Policy
Tickets	Spartan Ticket Office Friday: Four Seats, Four Treats BOGO: Buy a Wisconsin ticket, get a Minnesota ticket free Sunday: Family Four Pack
Radio	SpartanSportsNetwork.com (or download the SSN24/7 app)
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Wisconsin \| M innesota
Parking	Fans are reminded that the Jenison Field House lot fills quickly. Consider using Kellogg Center, IM West, or Breslin Center.
Preview	Watch this week's Cathy George Press Conference
Promotions	Friday: Dig Pink Night for Breast Cancer Awareness Dig Pink Headband Giveaway Freebie Friday: Register to win a pair of Apple Airpods
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram

The Fine Print

• MSU hosts its second and third consecutive top-10 teams when it welcomes No. 6 Wisconsin and No. 7 Minnesota to Jenison Field House this weekend.

• Friday's match against Wisconsin will have a live video webstream via BTN+.

• Sunday's match will air live on BTN. Lisa Byington and Beth Karpiak are on the call. The match is also available online via the Fox Sports App.

• 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 for the remainder of the season.

• On Friday, MSU will host its Dig Pink Breast Cancer Awareness game vs. Wisconsin. The program, in coordination with MSU's Sideout Club, held a silent auction over the last three weeks for the pink jerseys that will be worn against the Badgers. The winning bidder has the choice to put a person's name on their jersey that has been affected by cancer, and will receive the jersey after the match vs. Wisconsin.

• On Saturday morning, Cathy George will be inducted into the athletics Hall of Fame at her alma mater, Illinois State. The former Cathy Olson was a three-time All-Gateway/Missouri Valley Conference selection, helping her team to three straight NCAA Tournament bids and a 122-68 record in her career. She is still ranked fifth in the MVC record books in both aces in a season (95) and career (566). She has previously coached at North Dakota State, Texas-Arlington (where she was the first female head coach to bring a team to the Final Four, in 1989), Western Michigan before her current tenure with the Spartans, now in her 15th season.

• MSU and Wisconsin stage the first of two meetings this season on Friday, with the return date in Madison scheduled for Nov. 16.

• The Badgers, the favorite in the Big Ten preseason poll, sit atop the conference standings as the only undefeated team in B1G play (8-0) and are 12-4 overall with non-conference losses to Baylor, Marquette, and Washington (twice) - all teams in the top 11 of the AVCA coaches poll. Kelly Sheffield is in his seventh season as the Badgers head coach.

• Wisconsin earned a 3-0 win at Jenison Field House in the only meeting of the teams in the 2018 season. MSU had won two straight against Wisconsin before the 2019 loss, and trails 28-50 all-time in the all-time series..

• MSU and Minnesota's Sunday meeting will be the only one of the season between the two teams. The Gophers took both meetings in 2018, and lead the all-time series 55-19.

• The No. 7 Golden Gophers are 13-3 on the year and sit in a three-way tie for second place in the Conference standings with a 7-1 B1G mark. Head coach Hugh McCutcheon is in his eighth season at the helm of the program.

Team Notes
• MSU has split its matches in each of the four weeks of Conference play. Last week, MSU earned a 3-0 win over Rutgers at home on Friday, but fell to No. 8 Penn State on Sunday.

• The Spartans have now completed their season series with both Maryland (1-1) and Penn State (0-2).

• As the teams reach the midpoint of the Big Ten season, MSU sits in a tie for sixth place in the standings with a 4-4 record. MSU has two games this season against four of the top five teams in the conference standings (Wisconsin, Nebraska, Penn State, and Michigan), all teams with 6-2 B1G records or better.

• With a 13-5 record, four of the five losses have come to teams in the AVCA top-25 at the time of the match: No. 5 and No. 8 Penn State, No. 5 Nebraska, and No. 21 Tennessee.

• The Spartans are averaging 2.85 blocks per set and lead the Big Ten, and rank 11th nationally. MSU has limited opponents to a .145 hitting percentage, which is second in the Conference and also ranks 11th nationally. Offensively, MSU ranks seventh in the league (53rd nationally) in hitting percentage (.242).

• MSU has been out-blocked in just six matches this season, and three of those were one-block deficits: vs. Oakland (7-6) vs. Tennessee (11-10), and the second match against Maryland (13.5-12.5). The 14-9 margin between Nebraska and MSU was its largest differential with an opponent this season, and Penn State outblocked the Spartans 10-8 in Sunday's match .

• In its 20 set losses this season (25-point sets), MSU has been held under 20 points just six times (two coming at Nebraska, three against Penn State over two matches). The Spartans are averaging 20.5 points in their set losses, which includes four sets that went to extra points.

• The Spartans returned 14 letterwinners from the 2018 squad, and all but one starter - 2018 Team MVP Maddie Haggerty is now serving the team as a fifth-year student coach as she finishes her final semester of work toward her degree. MSU's 2019 squad features 18 players, as head coach Cathy George enters the season with three seniors, five juniors, seven sophomores, and three freshmen.

• MSU is not currently in the AVCA National Poll. Six teams from the Big Ten are among the national top 20, with four appearing in the top eight. Michigan is among teams receiving votes.

• In the most recent RPI calculations, 13 of the 14 Big Ten teams appear in the top 100, which includes five squads in the top 25 and eight in the top 50. MSU comes in this week at No. 51, just missing that cut.
   Among MSU's non-conference opponents, two are in the top 50 (Cincinnati and Tennessee).

• In the NCAA's ranking of toughest schedules remaining, the Spartans' final six weeks ranks in a tie for eighth place. MSU's remaining opponents boast a .648 winning percentage.

• MSU has gone 141-27 (.844) in non-conference action in Cathy George's tenure (2005-19), and has never lost more than four games prior to the beginning of the Big Ten season.

• MSU currently ranks 10th in total attendance among Division I institutions, (22,961), The Spartans are ninth in average attendance in 2019, (2,870). The Spartans have seven of their remaining 12 regular-season matches at home. MSU has been in the national top 10 for average attendance four straight years and 11 consecutive in the top 20, while MSU has ranked 16th or better in total attendance for 11 straight season as well.

• MSU welcomed a new associate head coach in the off-season, bringing Kimi Olson to East Lansing after four seasons as the head coach at Eastern Michigan. Jesse Ortiz is in his third season on the Spartan sideline, and Vlad Frenc joins the staff in 2019 as the volunteer assistant.

• Cathy George is one of four Big Ten head coaches to enter the season with 600+ career wins (638), along with Penn State's Russ Rose (1,271), Nebraska's John Cook (721), and Michigan's Mark Rosen (617). She ranks 15th among active coaches in coaching victories with a 638-414 overall record. She also ranks in the top 80 all-time in head coaching victories.

Player Notes
• Meredith Norris averaged 3.33 kills and 2.17 digs per frame in last week's Big Ten matches. She was MSU's kill leader in both matches.

• Norris just missed a double-double with 11 kills and nine digs against Rutgers. It was the seventh time this season that she recorded nine digs, and she had double-digit kills on five of those occasions. She has two of MSU's five double-doubles this season.

• Norris ranks 11th in the Big Ten in kills per set (3.30), and 11th in aces per set (0.33). She's also contributing 2.18 digs per set as a six-rotation player, and is second on the team in that category.

• Alyssa Chronowski ranks second on the team with 2.54 kills per set, and adds 0.59 blocks and 0.44 digs per frame, hitting .257.

• Chronowski had seven kills in each of the two matches last weekend, adding four blocks in the win over Rutgers. In the Oct. 12 match at Iowa, Chronowski went off for 24 kills and hit a career-high .465. It was one kill one shy of her career best, which she set in 2018 vs. Indiana.

• Molly Johnson's steady play and consistent improvement has been on display in recent weeks. In the two Week Four Big Ten matches, she hit a team-best .348, posting 1.67 kills and 0.86 blocks per set. She also tied her career best with seven blocks at Iowa on Oct. 12. On the season, she's contributing 1.55 kills, 0.78 blocks, and 0.54 digs.

• Lauren Swartz is averaging 1.24 kills per frame to go with her 0.86 blocks, 0.75 digs, and .165 hitting percentage. She shared the team lead with six blocks against Rutgers, which tied her career best for the second time in three weeks.

• The Spartans have averaged nearly a block better than their opponents through 12 matches (2.84-2.12). MSU has five players who average between 0.59 and 1.32 blocks per set, led Naya Gros (1.32) and Becka Poljan (1.25); Swartz is third with 0.86, Johnson is at 0.78, and Chronowski is at 0.56. Gros leads the way with 11 solo blocks, Chronowski six, and Swartz four.

• Gros averaged 1.67 blocks per set in the Rutgers/Penn State weekend, sharing the team lead both against the Scarlet Knights (6) and Nittany Lions (4).

• Gros ranks 13th in the Big Ten with a .329 hitting percentage and is third in blocks (1.32), which is 29th among Division I players. She's also contributing 1.80 kills per set, good for third on the team.

• Poljan boasts a .307 hitting percentage (16th, B1G,) and averages 1.85 kills per set, while ranking seventh in the Big Ten and 45th nationally with 1.25 blocks per frame. She is third on the team with 12 aces (0.20 per set) and is adding 0.44 digs per set.

• Poljan had four kills (.250) and shared the team lead with four blocks against Penn State.

• Junior libero Jamye Cox averages 3.86 digs per frame, good for seventh in the Big Ten. Cox has posted double-digit dig efforts in 16 of the 18 matches this season, including 28 vs. Duke in the season opener - one shy of her career best. She had 11 and 13 against Rutgers and PSU, respectively, and added a pair of assists against the Scarlet Knights,

• Cox with 17 digs in MSU's match at Maryland (Oct. 5), she achieved 1,000 in her career. With 1,058 in her career, she is just outside MSU's all-time career top 10 in that category. Judy Doles holds down the No. 10 spot with 1121 career digs. Cox ranks fourth all-time in MSU's career digs per set rankings (3.70).

• The Spartans run a 6-2 offense, with senior Maggie Midgette, sophomore Elena Shklyar and graduate transfer Audrey Alford all seeing action. They average 4.53, 4.76, and 4.92 assists per set, respectively.

• Alford was the team's assist leader against Rutgers (17) and Penn State (18), adding four and five digs in those two matches. Alford ranks 12th in the Big Ten in assists per set, and averages 1.60 digs per frame.

• Shklyar had 14 assists and seven digs against the Nittany Lions after posting 12 and five against Rutgers. Shklyar's 4.76 assists per set is 14th in the Big Ten.

• Senior captain Samantha McLean is averaging 1.91 digs/s on the season as MSU's first DS. She had five digs, three service aces (to tie her career best) and added two assists against Rutgers.

• McLean ranks ninth in the Big Ten in service aces in B1G games only, averaging 0.38.

• Freshman Emma Monks saw her first Big Ten action in the match at Nebraska, and had a kill and a pair of digs. She came off the bench last Friday in the third set against Rutgers, and put down three kills and three blocks in just one set. She is now averaging 1.33 kills per set, 0.67 blocks, and hitting .571 in limited action.

• Freshman Biamba Kabengele is averaging 2.33 kills per set and hitting .239 overall on the season.

• MSU's depth at DS isn't always apparent because the squad runs a 6-2, but sophomore Lauryn Gibbs is averaging 1.04 digs with a pair of aces in 25 sets.

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Players Mentioned

Audrey Alford

Alyssa Chronowski

Jamye Cox

Lauryn Gibbs

Naya Gros

Maddie Haggerty

Molly Johnson

Biamba Kabengele

Samantha McLean

Maggie Midgette

Emma Monks

Meredith Norris

Elena Shklyar

Lauren Swartz