Jam Jenison vs. Michigan On Tap Wednesday

2019 Volleyball Week 13 / Big Ten Week Nine:
No. 23 Michigan at Michigan State (Jam Jenison)
Michigan State at Indiana
vs. Michigan	Wednesday, Nov. 20, 7 pm \| Jenison Field House \| Tickets
	Webstream (BTN+) \| Live Stats
at Indiana	Sunday, Nov. 24, 1 pm \| Wilkinson Hall \| Tickets
	Webstream (BTN+) \| Live Stats
Facility	MSU Athletics No-Bag Policy
Promotions (Wednesday)	Jam Jenison (Free T-Shirt for first 250 patrons)
Radio	SpartanSportsNetwork.com (or download the SSN24/7 app)
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Michigan \| I ndiana
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram
Coverage	Watch this week's Cathy George Press Conference

The Fine Print

• MSU has its third straight split home/road weeks of action, starting out with Wednesday's Jam Jenison match at home against No. 23 Michigan before heading to Bloomington to tangle with Indiana in a Sunday matinee.

• Both matches will have a live video webstream via BTN+.

• 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.

• The Wolverines enter Wednesday's match at Jenison Field House with an 18-8 overall record and sit at 11-5 (fifth place) in Big Ten play after defeating Iowa and falling to Minnesota last week. Mark Rosen is in his 20th season at the helm of the Wolverines.

• MSU is 54-44-1 all-time against Michigan, and the Wolverines have won four straight after eight seasons of splitting the annual two meetings of the teams. The four consecutive victories is the longest winning streak for UM in the rivalry series.

• The teams met two weeks ago in Ann Arbor. Michigan took a 2-1 match lead and held off a surging Michigan State, 3-1.
    For the Spartans, Jamye Cox tied her season best with 28 digs, as the Spartans posted a season-high 82 in the match compared to 72 for the home team. MSU also out-blocked its host by a 12-6 margin. Meredith Norris had nine kills and eight digs to go with four blocks (one solo), while Alyssa Chronowski had eight kills and four stuffs (three solo) and three digs to her credit. Rebecka Poljan led MSU with five blocks and added eight kills, hitting a team—best .238
    Paige Jones had a double-double for Michigan with 26 kills (11 in the fourth set) and 14 digs, as did setter Mackenzi Welch with 53 assists and 11 digs. Freshman May Pertofsky was Michigan's only other player with double-digit kills (11) and she added five digs.

• In 1990, Michigan State and Michigan began a "State Pride" season series to celebrate the in-state rivalry. A State of Michigan flag, bearing the state motto "Tuebor" (`I Will Defend') serves as the trophy for winner of the head-to-head meetings of the two teams.
The two teams shared the Flag in 2014 as both tiebreakers (set wins, and then total points) were even. MSU had won or shared the Flag in six straight seasons (2010-15) before Michigan claimed the Flag in each of the last three years.

• Indiana is under the tutelage of second-year mentor Steve Aird, who was previously the head coach at Maryland after several years as an assistant coach at Penn State. Indiana is enjoying its first season in a new facility, Wilkinson Hall, that was dedicated last January and is used by both the wrestling and volleyball programs.

• The Hoosiers are 13-16 overall and sit in a three-way tie for 12th place in the Big Ten (with Northwestern and Rutgers) at 2-14 in league play. MSU will play Indiana twice in the last two weeks - the teams are each other's opponent for their Senior Day celebrations.

• The Spartans and Hoosiers met just once in 2018, a 3-2 victory at Jenison Field House. Michigan State has won four straight matches in the series, dating back to the start of the 2016 season.

Team Notes
• Michigan State suffered a 3-0 loss at No. 7 Wisconsin in its most recent action. The teams fought through 17 tie scores and eight lead changes with set scores of 23-25, 19-25, 22-25. The Spartans held Wisconsin to a .213 hitting percentage in the match (far below its B1G-best .294 entering the night), and the home team got five of its 10 blocks in the final frame to edge out MSU 10-9 in that category.
    The Spartans were led by eight kills from both Molly Johnson and Emma Monks; Monks had six of her eight terminations in the third set and added a block, while Johnson had three stuffs. Naya Gros led all players with seven blocks, and Jamye Cox had 11 digs and three assists.

• The Spartans have now completed their season series with Northwestern (1-1), Maryland (1-1), Wisconsin (0-2), Nebraska (0-2) and Penn State (0-2), and completed its one-plays with Minnesota, Ohio State, Illinois, and Iowa.

• MSU sits in ninth place in the B1G standings with a 5-11 record. MSU has two games this season against four of the top five teams in the conference standings (Wisconsin, Penn State, Nebraska, and Michigan), which are a combined 68-12 in Conference play and 100-24 overall.

• With a 14-12 record, 10 of MSU's 12 losses have come to teams in the AVCA top-25 or receiving votes at the time of the match: No. 5 and No. 8 Penn State, No. 5 and No. 6 Nebraska, No. 6 and No. 7 Wisconsin, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 19 Illinois, No. 21 Tennessee, and [RV] Michigan. Seven of the 12 losses are to teams in the top eight.

• The Spartans are averaging 2.68 blocks per set which ranks third the Big Ten and 19th nationally. MSU has limited opponents to a .175 hitting percentage, which is second in the Conference and 45th nationally.
• MSU has posted double-digit block totals in three of the last four matches, including a season-best 17 in the Nov. 9 match vs. Northwestern. The Spartans have eight double-digit blocking efforts in 16 Big Ten matches and 14 of 26 matches overall.

• 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 entered the season with three seniors, five juniors, seven sophomores, and three freshmen.

• MSU is not currently in the AVCA National Poll. Seven teams from the Big Ten are among the national top 25, with Wisconsin (5), Nebraska (6), Minnesota (7) and Penn State (8) occupying the top 10, and Purdue (17), Michigan (23) and Illinois (25) rounding out the group.

• In the most recent RPI calculations, 10 of the 14 Big Ten teams appear in the top 92, which includes five squads in the top 25 and eight in the top 50. MSU comes in this week at No. 77.
   Among MSU's non-conference opponents, three are in the top 66 - Cincinnati (25), Tennessee (66), and North Carolina (66).

• 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 ninth in total attendance among Division I institutions, (36,513), The Spartans are seventh in average attendance in 2019, (3,043). The Spartans have three of their remaining four 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 averaged 3,727 fans over a recent four-match homestand vs. Rutgers, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

• 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

• The Spartans are getting some impressive contributions from their freshman class. Emma Monks produced season bests of eight kills and hit .747 (8-0-11) at Wisconsin, and led MSU with a pair of blocks and added four kills (4-0-10) against Wisconsin last Saturday. Biamba Kabengele had five kills and six digs against the Badgers, and had eight kills (.300) two digs and a block earlier in the week vs. Nebraska.

• Kabengele has twice been named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week this season, (Sept. 26 and Oct. 23). The first-year player is averaging 2.15 kills and 0.65 digs kills per frame. She's also contributing 0.36 blocks per set.

• Kabengele led the Spartans last week with 2.17 kills per set, and added 1.33 digs and 0.50 blocks vs. Nebraska and Wisconsin.

• Monks has earned more playing time, including starts in each of the last two matches. On the year, she is averaging 1.41 kills, 0.89 blocks, 0.37 digs, and a .392 hitting percentage. She has been MSU's match leader in blocks three times in the last seven contests.

• Lauren Swartz led the Spartans with 10 kills vs. Nebraska, her second straight match with 10, her season-best. On the year, she is averaging 1.36 kills per frame to go with her 0.80 blocks and 0.64 digs per set.

• Ann Arbor native Molly Johnson posted eight kills, hit .438, and added three blocks at Wisconsin, and on the season is contributing 1.58 kills, 0.69 blocks, and 0.47 digs, hitting .234 on the season.

• Meredith Norris is averaging 2.89 kills, 2.06 digs, and 0.46 blocks per set, and leads the team with 289 points as a six-rotation player.

• Norris has missed a double-double with on five occasions this season where she had double-digit kills and nine digs. She has two of MSU's five double-doubles this season.

• Alyssa Chronowski ranks second on the team with 2.33 kills per set, and adds 0.61 blocks and 0.47 digs per frame. She posted eight kills and four blocks (three solo) in the first meeting with Michigan.

• The Spartans have averaged a half a block better than their opponents through 26 matches (2.68-2.19). MSU has seven players who average between 0.61 and 1.23 blocks per set, led Naya Gros (1.23) and Becka Poljan (1.08); Emma Monks is third with 0.89, Lauren Swartz 0.80, Molly Johnson is at 0.69, and Alyssa Chronowski is at 0.61.

• Naya Gros is averaging 1.75 kills, hitting .279 and posting 1.23 blocks per set, good for sixth in the Conference.

• Gros posted a match-best seven blocks (one solo) in last Saturday's match at Wisconsin, the 14th time she has led MSU in blocks. Her four second-set stuffs ties the most in a set this season for any Spartan player.

• Rebecka Poljan ranks 13th in the Big Ten with 1.08 blocks per frame, adding 1.81 kills and 0.38 digs per set. She had eight kills, hit .238 and added five blocks in the last contest vs Michigan.

• Junior libero Jamye Cox had 17 and 11 digs in matches against Nebraska and Wisconsin last week, respectively, and now sits with 1,185 in her career, good for ninth on MSU's all-time list. She is 11 digs behind Kelly Collister (1985-88) for eighth place.

• Cox averages 4.06 per set this season (fifth, B1G) and 3.77 per set in her career, which is fourth all-time at MSU.

• Cox has been MSU's digs leader in all but two matches this season, with double-digit totals in 24 of 26 matches. She tied her season best of 28 digs in the previous match against Michigan, which is one shy of her career-high total of 29 (vs. Belmont, Aug. 2018).

• The Spartans run a 6-2 offense, with senior Maggie Midgette, sophomore Elena Shklyar and graduate transfer Audrey Alford all seeing action. They average 4.45, 4.91 and 4.60 assists per set, respectively.

• Shklyar ranks 15th in the Big Ten in assists per set (4.93), and is adding 1.27 digs per frame. She had a season-best 31 assists and added four digs in the Nov. 9 win over Northwestern, the most assists in a game for any of the three setters this season. She had 15 and 13 assists in her last two outings, with six digs in each.

• Alford has 2,967 career assists over her three years at Oklahoma and this year at MSU. She is averaging 4.60 assists and 1.52 digs per frame.

• Senior captain Samantha McLean is averaging 1.74 digs/s on the season as MSU's first DS. She had 12 digs in the first matchup with the Wolverines.

• MSU's depth at DS isn't always apparent because the squad runs a 6-2, but sophomore Lauryn Gibbs is averaging 1.97 digs with a pair of aces in 29 sets.

• Samantha McLean and Lauren Swartz were both named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team on Thursday. Both are two-time Academic All-Big Ten selections and Big Ten Distinguished Scholars, as well as hold Identical 4.0 GPA's.

Next Event

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

Rebecka Poljan

Elena Shklyar

Lauren Swartz