Spartans Return to Court, Host Penn State


Michigan State (2-7) vs No. 12 Penn State (7-5)
Opponent	No. 12 Penn State
Dates	Friday/Saturday March 19/20, 6 pm
Facility	Jenison Field House, East Lansing, Mich.
Radio	Spartan Media Network - John Kreger, pxp *Listen: Friday \| Saturday*
Television	none
Webstream	Friday (BTN+) \| Saturday (BTN+)
Live Statistics	Click Here
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Penn State
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram
Coverage	Watch this week's Coach George Press Conference

The Fine Print:
• Michigan State returns to the court after a three-week pause and will host No. 12 Penn State on Friday and Saturday at Jenison Field House.

• MSU was last on the court on February 21, a 3-1 loss to No. 1 Wisconsin. MSU missed weekend series with Illinois, Northwestern, and Purdue during its pause for Covid-19 issues.

• The spring 2021 volleyball schedule in the Big Ten conference will consist of , 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 is not scheduled to play Nebraska or Indiana in spring 2021.

• 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 home games will be carried.

• Penn State comes into the weekend series with a 7-5 record, having won three in a row - splitting with Purdue and sweeping Rutgers. MSU trails the all-time series with the Nittany Lions 7-48, and Penn State has won 11 straight between the teams, including a pair of 3-0 decisions in 2019.

• Russ Rose is in his 42nd season as the head coach of the Penn State program, and is the sport's all-time winningest coach with more than 1,300 career victories.

Team Notes:
• With nearly a full month between matches, the Spartans will be faced with trying to get quickly up to speed to face the Nittany Lions.

• The Spartans were 2-7 at the time of the Covid pause, having most recently come off a three-game week where MSU played Michigan midweek and twice against Wisconsin, the No. 1 team in the nation. MSU resumes play against the No. 12 team in the country, Penn State.

• In MSU's most recent match vs. Wisconsin, the Spartans had a season-best nine service aces - four from senior Meredith Norris and two each from sophomores Emma Monks and Cecilee Max-Brown. The previous high was eight in the second match at Maryland.

• 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.

• MSU is not in current AVCA Top 25 National Poll. Six teams from the Big Ten are among the national top 12: Wisconsin (1), Minnesota (4), Nebraska (5), Ohio State (9), Purdue (10), and Penn State (12).

• MSU is 0-5 at home and 2-2 on the road (2-0 at Maryland, 0-2 at Minnesota). The Spartans have played No. 9 Ohio State, No. 1 Wisconsin, and Michigan at home.

• 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:
• Only four players have appeared in all nine matches for MSU: setter Celia Cullen, libero Jamye Cox, middle Naya Gros, and DS Talia Edmonds. Gros is the only one to have started all nine.

• Freshman Sarah Franklin will miss the remainder of the season with an arm injury. She was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week after the Maryland series, and currently ranks seventh in the Big Ten in kills per set (3.81) and eighth in points per set (4.13). She is second in the league and 26th nationally in attempts per set (12.12). She is averaging 2.18 digs per set as a six-rotation player, second on the team behind libero Jamye Cox.

• Franklin had two 20-kill efforts in her final three matches, as well as delivering a pair of double-doubles. Her 3.82 kills per set would rank third in the MSU freshman record book. Only six players have previously averaged better than three kills per set in their freshman season: Veronica Morales, Jenna Wrobel, Kim Schram, Becky Belanger, Jenny Rood, and Erin Hartley.

• Freshman setter Celia Cullen has posted three matches with 40 assists or more, including her season best of 50 in the first match at Maryland. She ranks seventh in the Big Ten in assists per set (8.70), and is also averaging 1.91 digs and is tied for second on the team in service aces (5).

• Senior libero Jamye Cox posted 20 digs in her most recent game vs. Wisconsin. She is averaging 3.82 digs per set, good for ninth in the Big Ten.

• Cox ranks fourth all-time at MSU in career digs (1,339) and fourth in career digs per set (3.77). Ahead of her on the all-time digs list is Kori Moster (2,218, 2011-14), Veronica Morales (1,484, 1994-97), and Jill Crumm (1,466 1986-89).

• Lauren Swartz was the team's best hitter against Wisconsin (8-1-19, .368), adding a pair of digs. She's averaging 1.22 kills per set and hitting .265 on the season.

• Naya Gros hit .290 in the two games vs. the Badgers, leading the team with eight kills in game one. She averaged 1.71 kills and 0.86 blocks per frame in the two games vs. Wisconsin.

• On the season, Gros has averaged 1.45 kills and 0.94 blocks per set, and is hitting .190.

• Gros' career average of 1.18 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' 262 career block assists is about 70 shy of getting her into MSU's all-time top 10 in that category, and her 309 career blocks is just 80 away from joining MSU's top-10 all-time list.

• Biamba Kabengele ranks second on the team with 2.25 kills per set on the season, and is also tied for second on the team with five aces.

• Kabengele had all five aces in a win at Maryland, the second-most aces in a single game for a Big Ten player this season.

• Cecilee Max-Brown led MSU with 12 kills in the second match vs. Wisconsin, and averaged 2.29 kills per set (the team best) against the Badgers. Overall, she is averaging 2.23 kills per set and also contributing 1.23 digs per frame.

• 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.

• Meredith Norris played both matches against Wisconsin, and averaged one kill per frame, while contributing a team-best four aces, eight digs, and a block. She is averaging 1.10 kills and 1.52 digs per set on the season. 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.

• Alyssa Chronowski played five of the seven sets against Wisconsin and had five terminations in the second match. On the year, she's averaging 1.14 kills and has eight blocks (0.38 per set).

• Emma Monks came on and played in the final three sets vs. Wisconsin in the second match, posting five kills, two aces, and a pair of blocks (one solo). On the season she's averaging 1.73 kills and hitting .189, while also contributing 0.64 blocks.

• Talia Edmonds played all seven sets against Wisconsin, tallying a career-best 11 digs and an assist in Saturday's match. She's averaging 1.20 digs per set.

• Edmonds returned to the court after missing the 2019 season with an injury. She's third on the team in service attempts this season (94) and averaging 0.13 aces per frame.

• Lauryn Gibbs has also seen a significant increase in her defensive role for MSU. She posted seven digs and a pair of assists against the Badgers, and is averaging 0.89 digs per frame on the season.

• Rebecka Poljan has started all seven matches in which she has appeared, and is averaging 1.23 kills per set with a .225 hitting percentage. She's also contributing 0.59 blocks per frame.

• Molly Johnson has appeared in five matches this season, averaging 0.50 blocks and 1.33 kills per set.

• Elena Shklyar has developed into a serving specialist for MSU, coming into the game for 54 serves with just five errors against four aces on the year. She's also averaging 1.2 assists and 0.40 digs per set.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alyssa Chronowski

Jamye Cox

Celia Cullen

Talia Edmonds

Sarah Franklin

Alyssa Garvelink

Lauryn Gibbs

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Biamba Kabengele

Cecilee Max-Brown

Emma Monks

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Elena Shklyar

Lauren Swartz