Volleyball Celebrates 2019 Season at Annual Banquet
1/19/2020 2:56:00 PM | Volleyball
The Michigan State volleyball program celebrated the accomplishments of the 2019 season on Sunday afternoon at its annual team banquet.
The achievements of the program – both on and off the court – were many. In addition to the team capturing two in-season tournament titles (at College of Charleston and Western Michigan), and had five players earn All-Tournament Team honors. MSU also ranked 22nd nationally in blocks per set, (2.63), a mark that found them third in the Big Ten. The Spartans also ranked third in the B1G in opponent hitting percentage, limiting foes to a .183 success rate on the season.
In the classroom, ten student-athletes earned Academic All-Big Ten honors - Alyssa Chronowski (Munster, Ind.), Jamye Cox (Oregon, Ohio), Talia Edmonds (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Julia Hatcher (Lexington, Ky.), Samantha McLean (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Maggie Midgette (DeWitt, Mich.), Meredith Norris (Corunna, Mich.), Rebecka Poljan (Bath, Mich.), Elena Shklyar (McLean, Va.), and Lauren Swartz (Pittsburgh, Pa.). The team achieved a 3.23 grade point average for the semester, and maintains a cumulative GPA of 3.3672.
Two of those academic standouts –McLean and Swartz achieved the highest academic honor in the country, earning CoSIDA Academic All-America kudos. McLean, a two-time selection, was a first team pick, and Swartz, a redshirt junior, was a third-team honoree.
McLean and Swartz were named the co-recipients of the Kirkby Scholar-Athlete Award. The duo each boast perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point averages - McLean as a Kinesiology major, and Swartz is pursuing her master's degree in Marketing Research after earning her undergraduate degree in Economics in three years.
McLean was a two-time winner on the day, also being voted as the recipient of the new Spartan Award, which is awarded to the student-athlete who best represents what it means to be a Spartan. The four-year letterwinner and 2019 team captain was a stalwart defensive player in addition to her success in the classroom. She twice earned the team's Most Inspirational Award and won the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in both 2018 and 2019. She appeared in 89 career matches over her four-year career as the team's primary DS, averaging 1.67 digs per set and 0.22 assists per frame.
The team's Extra Mile Award went to senior setter Maggie Midgette (DeWitt, Mich.). A four-year letterwinner, Midgette played whichever role was asked of her over her career, and not only delivered as a gun-slinging setup artist but also had a powerful serve that could frustrate opposing defenses. She averaged 4.78 assists per set to go with 0.97 digs in 14 matches, including starts in the final three contests of the season. For her career, she averaged 5.46 assists per set, and added 0.31 aces per frame.
Most Improved Award honors went to freshman Biamba Kabengele (Burlington, Ontario). Kabengele grew by leaps and bounds over the course of the season – she played in 23 matches, including 16 of 20 Big Ten contests, playing a larger role as the Conference season wore on and cracking the starting lineup in early November. She averaged 2.43 kills (second on the team) and hit .201, adding 0.59 digs and 0.37 blocks per set. Kabengele posted double-digit kill totals in each of the last four matches of the season and was MSU's leader in five of the last seven, including an 18-kill performance in a five-set thriller with No. 16 Purdue and a 15-kill effort with a .625 hitting percentage in a road match at Indiana. She was an All-Tournament Team pick at Western Michigan and twice earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors, just the fourth player in program history to earn that award twice in a season.
The program's Most Inspirational Award went to junior Bella Legarza (San Francisco, Calif.). She has been universally loved as a total team player and has been an emotional lift for her team both in practices and games.
MSU had two players this season reach significant milestones – setter Audrey Alford (Norman, Okla.) reached 3,000 assists in her four years of collegiate play at both MSU and Oklahoma, while junior libero Jamye Cox (Oregon, Ohio) moved past the 1,000 career digs mark. She has moved into eighth place all-time at MSU in career digs (1,213) and is also fourth in career digs per set in school history (3.78).
Once again, MSU ranked in the top 10 nationally in attendance. The Spartans welcomed 46,214 fans to Jenison Field House this season (ninth overall) and averaged 3,101 per match over 15 home contests. In MSU's 10 Big Ten matches, the average crowd was 3,435.
The achievements of the program – both on and off the court – were many. In addition to the team capturing two in-season tournament titles (at College of Charleston and Western Michigan), and had five players earn All-Tournament Team honors. MSU also ranked 22nd nationally in blocks per set, (2.63), a mark that found them third in the Big Ten. The Spartans also ranked third in the B1G in opponent hitting percentage, limiting foes to a .183 success rate on the season.
In the classroom, ten student-athletes earned Academic All-Big Ten honors - Alyssa Chronowski (Munster, Ind.), Jamye Cox (Oregon, Ohio), Talia Edmonds (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Julia Hatcher (Lexington, Ky.), Samantha McLean (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Maggie Midgette (DeWitt, Mich.), Meredith Norris (Corunna, Mich.), Rebecka Poljan (Bath, Mich.), Elena Shklyar (McLean, Va.), and Lauren Swartz (Pittsburgh, Pa.). The team achieved a 3.23 grade point average for the semester, and maintains a cumulative GPA of 3.3672.
Two of those academic standouts –McLean and Swartz achieved the highest academic honor in the country, earning CoSIDA Academic All-America kudos. McLean, a two-time selection, was a first team pick, and Swartz, a redshirt junior, was a third-team honoree.
McLean and Swartz were named the co-recipients of the Kirkby Scholar-Athlete Award. The duo each boast perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point averages - McLean as a Kinesiology major, and Swartz is pursuing her master's degree in Marketing Research after earning her undergraduate degree in Economics in three years.
McLean was a two-time winner on the day, also being voted as the recipient of the new Spartan Award, which is awarded to the student-athlete who best represents what it means to be a Spartan. The four-year letterwinner and 2019 team captain was a stalwart defensive player in addition to her success in the classroom. She twice earned the team's Most Inspirational Award and won the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in both 2018 and 2019. She appeared in 89 career matches over her four-year career as the team's primary DS, averaging 1.67 digs per set and 0.22 assists per frame.
The team's Extra Mile Award went to senior setter Maggie Midgette (DeWitt, Mich.). A four-year letterwinner, Midgette played whichever role was asked of her over her career, and not only delivered as a gun-slinging setup artist but also had a powerful serve that could frustrate opposing defenses. She averaged 4.78 assists per set to go with 0.97 digs in 14 matches, including starts in the final three contests of the season. For her career, she averaged 5.46 assists per set, and added 0.31 aces per frame.
Most Improved Award honors went to freshman Biamba Kabengele (Burlington, Ontario). Kabengele grew by leaps and bounds over the course of the season – she played in 23 matches, including 16 of 20 Big Ten contests, playing a larger role as the Conference season wore on and cracking the starting lineup in early November. She averaged 2.43 kills (second on the team) and hit .201, adding 0.59 digs and 0.37 blocks per set. Kabengele posted double-digit kill totals in each of the last four matches of the season and was MSU's leader in five of the last seven, including an 18-kill performance in a five-set thriller with No. 16 Purdue and a 15-kill effort with a .625 hitting percentage in a road match at Indiana. She was an All-Tournament Team pick at Western Michigan and twice earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors, just the fourth player in program history to earn that award twice in a season.
The program's Most Inspirational Award went to junior Bella Legarza (San Francisco, Calif.). She has been universally loved as a total team player and has been an emotional lift for her team both in practices and games.
MSU had two players this season reach significant milestones – setter Audrey Alford (Norman, Okla.) reached 3,000 assists in her four years of collegiate play at both MSU and Oklahoma, while junior libero Jamye Cox (Oregon, Ohio) moved past the 1,000 career digs mark. She has moved into eighth place all-time at MSU in career digs (1,213) and is also fourth in career digs per set in school history (3.78).
Once again, MSU ranked in the top 10 nationally in attendance. The Spartans welcomed 46,214 fans to Jenison Field House this season (ninth overall) and averaged 3,101 per match over 15 home contests. In MSU's 10 Big Ten matches, the average crowd was 3,435.
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