MSU Hosts Ohio State In First Home Series


Michigan State vs (RV) Ohio State
Dates	Sunday, January 31, 2021 - 4 pm
	Monday, February 1, 2021 - 4 pm
Facility	Jenison Field House, East Lansing, Mich.
Radio	Spartan Media Network; John Kreger, pxp Sunday Monday
Television	Monday: Big Ten Network
Webstream	S unday (BTN+)
Live Statistics	Click Here
Game Notes	Michigan State \| O hio State
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram
Coverage	Watch this week's Coach George Press Conference

The Fine Print:
• Michigan State has switched up its schedule for week two of the Big Ten slate, and will welcome Ohio State to East Lansing on January 31-February 1. The Spartans were originally scheduled to tangle with Michigan this week (Jan. 28-30), but due to COVID-19 precautions, the Wolverines are not competing for two weeks. With similar precautions being taken at Penn State (Ohio State's scheduled opponent in week two), the MSU-Ohio State series was moved up from Feb. 5-6 to the new dates.

• The spring 2021 volleyball schedule in the Big Ten conference will consist of 10, two-match weekend series and one home-and-home series with its travel partner. Each team will play 22 Conference matches, and no matches against non-conference teams. Michigan State will not play No. 5 Nebraska or Indiana in spring 2021.

• Sunday's match will have a live video webstream via BTN+. Monday's game will air live on Big Ten Network.

• John Kreger returns behind the mic to call the action for Michigan State volleyball on the Spartan Media Network. The Spartan Media Network broadcasts begin on January 31 at home against Ohio State, and all remaining games will be carried with the exception of matches at Maryland and Iowa.

• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no fans in the stands at Jenison for home matches. However, a limited number of family members of the student-athletes will be allowed. For those family members in attendance, masks will be required at all times and complete screening survey upon entry, per State of Michigan and Michigan State University ordinances.

• MSU trails in the all-time series with the Buckeyes by a 33-47 record, but owns a 20-19 mark in matches contested in East Lansing. The Spartans have won five of the last seven meetings, with just one set loss in those five victories.

• Ohio State won a pair of five-set battles with Maryland in the opening weekend for both squads, including the second match which went to extra points in three of five frames. Both Jenaisya Moore and Emily Londot averaged better than 3.0 kills per set in the opening series, and Adria Powell added 1.8 kills and 1.0 blocks per set, hitting .406.

• Jen Flynn Oldenburg, a 2001 graduate of OSU and a former four-year standout for the Buckeyes, returned to Columbus as the head coach of the Ohio State women's volleyball last January.

• In 2019, these two teams faced off just once in Columbus, and Michigan State earned a 3-0 decision.
   The Spartans hit .340 in the match with 11 blocks, firing at a better than .400 clip through the first two sets. MSU committed a season-low six hitting errors in the match and had its seventh double-digit blocking match of the season and first in B1G play.
    MSU did it with a balanced offensive attack – Meredith Norris had 11 kills and hit .435 (11-1-23), while Naya Gros, Rebecka Poljan, and Alyssa Chronowski all had seven kills; Poljan had a match-best six blocks, hit .375, and added two aces, and Gros added four stuffs and hit .500.
    For the Buckeyes, Madison Smeathers had 12 kills and hit .290, while Gabby Gonzales had nine kills and seven digs.

Team Notes:
• Michigan State opened the season last weekend on the tough end of a pair of 3-0 decisions at No. 7 Minnesota. Two of the six sets went to extra points and a third was a three-point margin.

• With a 15-15 record in 2019, 12 of MSU's 15 losses came to teams in the AVCA top-25 or receiving votes at the time of the match. Seven of the 15 losses were to teams ranked in the top eight at the time of the match.

• In 2019, the Spartans averaged 2.63 blocks per set which ranked third the Big Ten and 22nd nationally. MSU's 289 total blocks ranked fifth in the B1G and 34th in Division I. Last weekend, MSU did not display its previous blocking prowess with just one block in the first match, but rebounded with six stuffs in the rematch.

• MSU currently ranks fourth in the Big Ten in digs per set (13.83). Minnesota took the top spot, averaging 16.33 per frame last weekend.

• MSU is not in current AVCA Top 25 National Poll. Six teams from the Big Ten are among the national top 25, with Wisconsin (1), Nebraska (5), Minnesota (7) and Penn State (9) taking up residence in the top 10. Purdue (13) and Michigan (21) round out the top 25 appearances for B1G schools, while both Illinois and Ohio State are receiving votes.

• 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 ranked ninth in total attendance among Division I institutions in 2019, welcoming 46,510 fans through the turnstiles, The Spartans also finished seventh in average attendance in 2019, with 3,101 per match. There will be limited or no fans at B1G matches in this spring season.
• Cathy George is one of four Big Ten head coaches to enter the spring 2021 season with 600+ career wins (653), along with Penn State's Russ Rose (1,299), Nebraska's John Cook (749), and Michigan's Mark Rosen (638). She ranks 13th among active coaches in coaching victories with a 653-427 overall record. She also ranks in the top 80 all-time in head coaching victories.

• Four freshmen have joined the Spartans for the spring 2021 campaign. This class was the No. 13 ranked class among the fall 2020 group in Division I volleyball.

Player Notes:
• Three players new to the roster saw their first action in Green and White last weekend. Freshmen Sarah Franklin and Celia Cullen both earned a spot in the starting lineup both matches, while Cecilee Max-Brown came off the bench to provide a spark for the Spartans.

• Franklin led MSU with a pair of double-digit kill efforts. She averaged 3.5 kills per frame on a combined 77 swings - she ranks second in the league in attempts (12.83 per set) and also seventh in kills per set. She also contributed 2.33 digs per frame, which is third on the team.

• Franklin was the No. 29 Senior Ace in the Class of 2020, earned five varsity letters in volleyball as a prep player, and surpassed 2,000 kills in her high school career.

• Classmate Cullen ran a 5-1 in the MSU opener and put up 31 assists in her collegiate debut, to go with three kills, an ace, and five digs. MSU switched things up to run a 6-2 the next evening, and both she and Elena Shklyar contributed 13 assists. Cullen is averaging 7.33 assists per set, good for eighth in the B1G. She's also adding 1.5 digs/s.

• Cullen was a 2019 Michigan Miss Volleyball finalist and was the No. 24 Senior Ace (No. 6 among setters) in the class of 2020.

• Senior libero Jamye Cox posted 10 and 14 digs in the two matches at Minnesota. She averaged 4.0 per frame, which again has her near the top of the Big Ten leaderboard (fourth). She was MSU's digs leader in all but four matches last season, with double-digit totals in 26 of 28 contests.

• Cox's 1,237 digs ranks seventh all-time in the Spartan annals, while her 3.78 digs per set ranks fourth. In front of her on MSU's all-time digs list is Dana Cooke (1,245, 1993-96).

• Meredith Norris had 11 kills over the two matches in Minneapolis, and averaged 1.83 kills and 1.50 digs. She is a six-rotation player for the Spartans, and a year ago averaged a team-best 2.67 kills and 0.25 aces per frame to go with 2.00 digs and 0.44 blocks.

• Emma Monks saw her court time increase significantly over the course of her freshman season, and has seemingly picked right up with an increased level of play to start her sophomore year. She led MSU with a .357 hitting percentage in both games in Minneapolis (6-1-14), and shared the team lead in blocks in the finale (3). She averaged 2.4 kills per set, good for second on the squad. In 14 matches a year ago, she hit .355, contributing 0.75 blocks and 1.32 kills per set. Her seven solo blocks was fourth on the team.

• Naya Gros averaged 1.33 kills per set in Minneapolis, and had 0.67 blocks per set. She shared the team lead each night in blocks. A year ago, she averaged 1.23 blocks per set (which ranked seventh in the B1G and 53rd nationally), and added 1.72 kills and hit .282.

• Gros' career average of 1.21 blocks per set is on par with the career average of two-time All-American Alyssa Garvelink, who averaged 1.21 blocks per set from 2014-17. Gros' 244 career block assists is about 80 shy of getting her into MSU's all-time top 10 in that category, and her 282 career blocks is just over 100 away from joining the all-time list.

• Cecilee Max-Brown came off the bench and had an impact for MSU. In two sets of Saturday's match, she put down three kills on four swings, and in the finale had six kills, four digs, an ace, and an assist.

• Max-Brown is a transfer to MSU from Oregon State. She missed considerable time to injury during her freshman year in 2019, when she played in 11 matches and 38 sets, making eight starts. She finished the season with 111 kills and averaging 2.92 kills/set – second on her team.

• Junior Elena Shklyar was a part of MSU's 6-2 all of last year and also ran that offense for the Spartans on Sunday. She and Cullen each had 13 assists, and on the weekend Shklyar also added four digs and a service ace. She averaged 4.65 assists (14th B1G), adding 1.23 digs per frame a year ago.

• Molly Johnson had three kills and five digs in the series finale at Minnesota. She started both matches, and is looking to continue her year-over-year improvement, As a sophomore last year, she contributed an average of 1.64 kills, 0.43 digs, and 0.65 blocks per set , hitting .234 (tops among MSU's outsides).

• Lauren Swartz had three kills and a block in Sunday's game at Minnesota. She averaged 1.40 kills per frame in 2019 to go with her 0.75 blocks and 0.61 digs per set.

• Redshirt sophomore Talia Edmonds saw her first competition last weekend since November of 2018. (She missed all of the 2019 season with an injury.) The DS had a pair of service aces in her first game back, and she is ranked seventh in the Big Ten with 0.50 aces/set. Edmonds saw action in 56 sets over 19 matches as a freshman in 2018, when she averaged 0.30 digs and added seven service aces on the year.

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Players Mentioned

Alyssa Chronowski

Jamye Cox

Celia Cullen

Talia Edmonds

Sarah Franklin

Alyssa Garvelink

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Cecilee Max-Brown

Emma Monks

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Elena Shklyar

Lauren Swartz