Spartans Host Final Games of 2021 Season


B1G Week Ten- Spartans vs. [23] Illinois, Northwestern
vs. [23] Illinois	Friday, Nov. 26 \| 7 pm
vs.Northwestern	Saturday, Nov. 27 \| 8 pm
Location	Jenison Field House; East Lansing, Mich.
Radio	Spartan Media Network; John Kreger, play-by-play vs. Illinois \| vs. Northwestern
Webstreams (B1G+/$)	vs. Illinois \| vs. Northwestern
Live Statistics	Click Here
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Illinois \| Northwestern
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram
Press Conference	Watch this week's Cathy George Press Conference
Gameday Program	Download this week's game progam
Parking Information	Please be aware that outbound football traffic may affect your route to Jenison Field House. The lot at Jenison fills quickly; fans are encouraged to utilize parking lots at the Breslin Center, IM West, or the Kellogg Center parking ramp, which features a walkway to Jenison Field House.

In line with indoor mask mandates campus-wide, all fans, media, and individuals working at Michigan State volleyball matches will be required to correctly wear a mask.

THE WEEKEND AHEAD
• The Spartans prepare for the final weekend of the season, welcoming Illinois and Northwestern to Jenison Field House.

• John Kreger returns behind the mic to call the action for Michigan State volleyball on the Spartan Sports Network. He will call both matches this weekend.

• Both matches will have live video webstream on B1G+. MSUSpartans.com has links to all live statistics, broadcasts, and webstreams.

• MSU will honor its senior class in a post-match ceremony on Saturday following the match against Northwestern. Seniors Talia Edmonds, Lauryn Gibbs, Naya Gros, Molly Johnson, and Rebecka Poljan will be recognized for their accomplishments in Green & White.

• MSU dropped a pair of matches in a split home-road pair last weekend. The Spartans began the weekend with a tough 3-1 loss at No. 5 Wisconsin, and then fell 3-0 at home to Michigan in the annual Jam Jenison event.

• The Spartans have not faced either of this weekend's opponents since the 2019 season. Both are one-plays on the Spartan schedule this season.

• Illinois is 19-10 on the season and 11-7 in Big Ten action, and most recently swept Indiana and Maryland. The Illini will play Wednesday at Michigan before coming to East Lansing on Friday. Chris Tamas is in his fifth season as the head coach at Illinois.

• MSU trails the all-time series with the Illini by a 27-53 mark, with a 13-23 record in games played at Jenison Field House. The Spartans have dropped three straight in the series since defeating the Illini twice in 2017 - once in the NCAA Sweet 16.

• Saturday's meeting with Northwestern is the 78th all-time between the squads, and MSU is 41-36 against the Wildcats (23-12 at Jenison Field House). In 2019, the teams split the two matches, with each team winning on its home court. (0-3, 3-2).

• The Wildcats have dropped four straight, most recently to Maryland and Purdue. Northwestern is 11-18 overall and 6-12 in Big Ten play entering this weekend's matches. NU plays at Michigan on Friday.

• Shane Davis is in his sixth year as the coach at Northwestern. NU assistant Kristen Kelsay was a four-year letterwinner and two-time captain at MSU, and also served as a Spartan assistant for four seasons prior to moving to Northwestern.

Team Notes
• MSU has been without the services of at least one starter in every match this season. Senior DS/L Lauryn Gibbs missed the first 13 matches of the season,MB Rebecka Poljan recently returned after missing nine contests and Cecilee Max-Brown has not played in each of the last eight.

• The Spartans won an epic 36-34 set at Wisconsin last Friday, the most points for any team in the Big Ten in a set this season.

• MSU's top three hitting percentages in Big Ten matches this season have come on the road - the Spartans hit .324 in the road win at Iowa, .313 in the five-set victory at Purdue, and .316 in the five-set loss at Penn State. MSU's best hitting percentage in a home B1G match came against Rutgers (.235).

• MSU's average of 1.52 service aces per set on the season ranks third in the Big Ten. MSU's 140 total aces ranks fourth.

• Seven of MSU's 11 victories have come by 3-0 scores, with three in four (Central Michigan, Rutgers twice) and one in five (at Purdue). Eight of MSU's 13 losses are to either a ranked team (No. 13 BYU, No. 12 Nebraska, No. 7 OSU, No. 8 Minnesota, No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 15 Penn State) or a team receiving votes in the AVCA poll (Wright State, Michigan).
• Michigan State completed the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 7-2 record. MSU's two losses came in five sets (to RV Wright State) and three sets (to No. 13 BYU).

• MSU has gone 148-30 (.844) in non-conference action in Cathy George's tenure (2005-21), and has never lost more than four games prior to the beginning of the Big Ten season.

• Three schools on MSU's non-conference schedule were NCAA Tournament qualifiers in 2020, while five Big Ten teams were selected. As a result of Covid-19, the NCAA Tournament consisted of just 48 teams in 2020, compared to the usual 64. A 64-team event returns in 2021.

• MSU currently ranks seventh in overall attendance this season (34,595), a list which features eight B1G teams among the top 15 attendance draws. The Spartans are seventh nationally in average attendance through 13 weeks of the 2021 campaign (2,661).

• Cathy George is one of four Big Ten head coaches to enter the 2021 season with 600+ career wins (656), along with Penn State's Russ Rose (1,309), Nebraska's John Cook (765), and Michigan's Mark Rosen (642). Through the 2020-21 season, she ranks 13th among active coaches in coaching victories with a 663-443 overall record. She also ranks 45th all-time in head coaching victories.

Player Notes
• Sarah Franklin is averaging 3.99 kills per set and 4.56 points per frame, which rank third and fourth in the Big Ten, respectively. In Conference games only, she ranks third in the Big Ten with 4.77 points and 4.16 kills (second) per frame. She is also averaging 2.22 digs and 0.61 blocks per set.

• A six-rotation player, Franklin delivered her 10th double-double of the season last Friday at Wisconsin (19k, 10d). Franklin is also the opponent's top serving target, as she has 715 receptions on the season - more than 250 more than the next closest player.

• Franklin has three of the top seven kill performances in Big Ten games this season, with 27 at Penn State (Nov. 6) and 25 each in matches against vs. Michigan (Sept. 29) and Purdue (Oct. 20). Her 25 at Michigan is tied for the most in a four-set match, while her 20 in a win at Iowa is tied for the most in a three-setter.

• Junior Biamba Kabengele is third on the team in kills (2.41/s) and is also averaging 1.91 digs per set. She tied her career best with 18 kills at Rutgers (11/5), as well as establishing a new career high in digs at Penn State the next day (17). She had nine kills in the most recent game against Michigan and added two blocks and a pair of aces.

• Kabengele recorded her second career five-ace game against Michigan (Sept. 29), a mark she originally set last February against Maryland. She is fourth in the Big Ten and 54th nationally with 0.41 aces per set.

• Molly Johnson has started seven of the last eight matches and like Kabengele, has established several new season or career bests. She had a season-best nine kills vs. Rutgers (Nov. 12), and tied her season high with five blocks at Penn State (Nov. 6). She tied her career bests with nine digs at Penn State and four aces at Rutgers (Nov. 5-6)

• Johnson had four kills and four stuffs in the most recent match vs. Michigan. She is averaging 1.26 kills and 0.70 blocks per set, along with 1.15 digs.

• Cecilee Max-Brown also played six rotations for the Spartans, but has missed the last eight matches and is ruled out for the season. She has five double-doubles on the year, which included MSU career bests in both kills (17) and digs (18) at Purdue (10/20).

• In 19 starts, Max-Brown averaged 2.86 kills, 2.39 digs, and 0.33 blocks, and 2.83 kills, 2.53 digs, and 0.44 aces in Conference games.

• MSU boasts a trio of middle blockers which includes two three-year starters in Naya Gros and Rebecka Poljan, as well as junior Emma Monks. It has proven to be MSU's deepest and most prolific position.

• Poljan missed nine straight matches, beginning Oct. 3 at Nebraska and returned to the lineup sparingly on Halloween at Ohio State. . On the season, Poljan is hitting .360 (sixth, B1G), and averaging 2.05 kills, 0.71 blocks, and 0.29 aces per set. She had eight kills at Wisconsin last Friday, but did not play until the third set vs. Michigan.

• Poljan's .778 (14-0-18) hitting percentage vs. Weber State (9/3) is the best single-game percentage by a player in the Big Ten this season, and her .632 vs Oakland is ranked 10th.

• Naya Gros ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 18th nationally with her career best of 1.32 blocks per set on the season, and her 123 total blocks is fifth in the B1G. She is hitting a career-best .312, and averaging 1.70 kills per frame. She averaged 1.14 blocks and 1.71 kills per set last week, and ranked third with 16 points.

• Gros' career average of 1.20 blocks per set ranks sixth on MSU's career list, and is just behind the career average of most recent two-time All-American Alyssa Garvelink, who averaged 1.21 blocks per set from 2014-17. Gros' 391 career block assists and 455 total blocks both rank seventh in the MSU annals.

• Gros' 1.20 blocks per set average for her career ranks 14th among active Division I players this season.

• Emma Monks had a big match at Ohio State (Oct. 31), posting a career-best 10 blocks and nine kills and hitting a season-best .600 (9-0-15). She led MSU with six blocks in each of the two games last weekend, and averages 1.46 kills and 1.09 blocks per set, hitting .259 on the season.

• Both Gros and Monks have 10-block performances this season. Gros' came against Dixie State (Sept. 3), with five solo and five block assists. Monks had one solo and nine block assists at Ohio State. Ten blocks is the fourth highest total in a game overall this season, and the third highest in a Big Ten game. Gros' five solo blocks vs. Dixie State (Sept. 3) tied the record for solo stuffs in a three-set match, last accomplished by Alyssa Garvelink vs. Michigan in 2015.

• MSU's most youthful position is at setter, but both sophomore incumbent Celia Cullen and freshman Julia Bishop have seen significant action. MSU has utilized both as setters over the last 11 matches after Bishop saw some time in early B1G games in a defensive role.

• Cullen has led MSU in assists in each of the last three matches, and on the season is contributing 8.30 assists, 0.17 aces, 1.76 digs, and 0.49 blocks as well.

• Cullen has five double-doubles this season , with her most recent a 35-assist, 10-dig performance last Friday at Wisconsin. She added four kills and three blocks.

• Bishop is averaging 4.73 assists per set on the season splitting time between setter and DS, and is adding 1.44 digs per frame. She earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors on Nov. 8 after posting a pair of double-doubles at Rutgers and Penn State - right after dishing out a career-best 50 assists in a tough five-set loss to the Nittany Lions.

• The two setters are MSU's most reliable at the service line. Cullen has just nine service errors in 227 chances (.960), while Bishop has five miscues in 164 serves (.970).

• Senior Lauryn Gibbs returned to the lineup against Ohio State and Minnesota (10/8-9) after missing the first six weeks with injury. She has worn the libero jersey over the last 11 matches. She had 22 and 21 digs in each of the two matches last weekend, the 22 at Wisconsin tying her career best. She is currently averaging 2.77 digs per frame.

• Redshirt junior and captain Talia Edmonds wore the libero jersey in the first 16 matches of the season, and averages 2.56 digs per set. She is adding 0.58 assists and 0.14 aces per frame as well. She returned to the lineup last week after missing two matches.

• First-year DS Grace Danziger has appeared in 16 of 18 B1G matches for the Spartans She is averaging 0.73 digs per set and has five aces.

• Freshman outside Eleanor Stothoff saw her first action in a Green & White jersey in the match against BYU, and her first career kill came as match point in the win over Central Michigan.

• Abby Olin, Aubrey O'Gorman and Lia Moore have not yet appeared in any matches in 2021. Olin and Moore will miss the entire season with injury.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Julia Bishop

Celia Cullen

Grace Danziger

Talia Edmonds

Sarah Franklin

Lauryn Gibbs

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Biamba Kabengele

Cecilee Max-Brown

Emma Monks

Lia Moore

Aubrey O'Gorman

Abby Olin

Rebecka Poljan

Eleanor Stothoff