Volleyball Opens 2021 Season at Home


Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational
Opponents	Canisius, Western Michigan & Wright State
Dates	Friday-Saturday, August 27-28, 2021
Facility	Jenison Field House, East Lansing, Mich.
Radio	Spartan Media Network; John Kreger, pxp Listen Live
Television	none
Webstreams (BTN+/$)	v s. WMU \| vs. Canisius \| vs. Wright State
Live Statistics	Click here for Sidearm Statistics
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Canisius \| Western Michigan \| Wright State
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram
Tournament Website	Click Here \| Download Digital Game Program

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
• MSU hosts the Auto-Owners Spartan Invitational this weekend, welcoming Canisius, Wright State, and Western Michigan to Jenison Field House. Each team will play three games - the intra-state rivalry between MSU and WMU will be played on Friday evening, and the Spartans will play Canisius (noon) and Wright State (7 pm) on Saturday.

• The Tournament Central Website has the complete tournament schedule, links to all webstreams, live statistics, and broadcasts. It also provides an overview for all patrons of the campus building mask mandate and no-bag policy.

• All six matches this weekend will have a live video webstream on BTN+.

• John Kreger returns behind the mic to call the action for Michigan State volleyball on the Spartan Sports Network. All home games will be carried live.

• Michigan State begins its 2021 season with a bit of a return to pre-COVID normalcy from a schedule standpoint. On tap is four non-conference weekends and the customary 20-game Big Ten schedule.

• Western Michigan is coached by Colleen Munson, who played for George at Texas-Arlington and served as her assistant coach in Kalamazoo before raising to the top spot when MSU head coach Cathy George departed for Michigan State in 2005. Munson guided her team to an 18-5 record in 2020-21, advancing to the championship game in the MAC Tournament.

• Canisius is led by Shannon Thompson, who is in her second year as the mentor of the Golden Griffins. Her squad went 9-4 in a Covid-shortened 2020-21 season, reaching the MAAC Championship match.

• Wright State, receiving votes in the 2021 preseason AVCA poll, is coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance and regular-season and conference titles in the Horizon League in 2020-21. Allie Matters is in her fourth season at the helm of the program.

TEAM NOTES
• Michigan State enters 2021 with a 16-man roster, which includes four seniors, four juniors, two sophomores, and six freshmen.

• MSU went 3-12 in a Covid-19 challenged 2020-21 season, with seven matches canceled due to the virus. 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.

• Over the first four weeks of the season, the Spartans will play 11 non-conference matches, hosting tournaments Aug. 27-28 (Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational) and Sept. 17-18 (Green & White Classic). On Sept. 10-11, MSU will welcome North Carolina and Duke to Jenison Field House for B1G-ACC Challenge matches, and Labor Day weekend sends the Spartans to Utah to participate in the BYU Invitational.

• 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, the NCAA Tournament consisted of just 48 teams in 2020, compared to the usual 64. A 64-team event returns in 2021.

• MSU has gone 141-27 (.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.

• 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.

• 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). She ranks 13th among active coaches in coaching victories with a 656-439 overall record. She also ranks 45th all-time in head coaching victories.

• The team hosted its unofficial start to the season last Saturday with the Green & White exhibition. The teams split the match two sets each, and each of the first three sets were determined by three points or less.

PLAYER NOTES
• Two of the three players who appeared in all 15 matches a year ago return to the Spartan lineup this season: setter Celia Cullen and middle blocker Naya Gros. All but one player on MSU's roster who played last season started at least two matches.

• MSU returns a trio of middle blockers which includes two three-year starters in Gros and Rebecka Poljan, as well as junior Emma Monks and newcomer Aubrey O'Gorman.

• Gros' career average of 1.16 blocks per set ranks seventh on MSU's career list, and is close to on par with the career average of two-time All-American Alyssa Garvelink, who averaged 1.21 blocks per set from 2014-17. Gros' 281 career block assists is 48 shy of getting her into MSU's all-time top 10 in that category, and her 332 total blocks is just 56 away from joining MSU's top-10 all-time list.

• Gros averages 1.8 kills and 1.16 blocks per set over her career, hitting .283. She averaged 1.5 kills and 1.0 blocks last season.

• Poljan averages 1.7 kills per frame and boasts a .255 hitting percentage over her first three collegiate seasons, averaging 1.0 blocks per set. She ranks second among MSU's returning point scorer behind Gros, as they average 2.4 and 2.5 points per set, respectively.

• Monks has started 21 of the 60 matches in which she has appeared over two seasons, and averages 0.8 blocks, 1.4 kills, and a .289 hitting percentage in her career, MSU's active leader in that category. In 2020-21, she posted 1.5 kills and 0.8 blocks per set.

• Redshirt freshman Sarah Franklin returns to the active roster after an injury derailed her 2020-21 season. She was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week after the Maryland series, and through her seven matches posted 3.81 kills per set and 4.13 points per set - both would have ranked sixth in the Big Ten last season. She also averaged 2.18 digs per set as a six-rotation player.

• 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.

• Cecilee Max-Brown could also play six rotations for MSU, and last year averaged 2.3 kills and 1.1 digs per set, contributing six service aces. The junior transferred to MSU from Oregon State after her freshman season.

• Molly Johnson started six of the 10 matches in which she appeared last season, and has started 70 matches over three seasons. A career .206 hitter from the outside, Johnson has averaged 1.7 kills and 0.7 blocks per set.

• Biamba Kabengele is one of two international student-athletes (both from Canada) on the roster - she is from Ontario, while roommate Cecilee Max-Brown is from British Columbia. She appeared in 10 matches a year ago after exploding in the final third of her freshman season. She averages 2.3 kills per set and hit over .200 as a freshman.

• Sophomore Lia Moore and freshman Eleanor Stothoff add depth and talent to MSU's outsides. Moore did not see any action in 2020.

• MSU's most youthful position is at setter, but both sophomore incumbent Celia Cullen and freshman Julia Bishop exude in talent what they lack in collegiate experience. Bishop was the 2020 Miss Volleyball recipient in the state of Michigan, while Cullen was a finalist for the same award the year prior.

• Cullen played in all 55 of MSU's sets in 15 matches a year ago, alternating between a 6-1 and 5-2 offense. She contributed 7.98 assists per frame, while contributing 1.7 digs per set and adding seven assists.

• Redshirt junior and captain Talia Edmonds and senior Lauryn Gibbs lend experience to the defensive side of the ball.

• Edmonds, who missed the entire 2019 season with an injury, played in 12 matches a year ago. She contributed 1.16 digs per frame, and has 12 service aces over her 31 career matches.

• Gibbs has seen a significant increase in her defensive role for MSU, and in 2020 averaged 0.36 assists and 1.28 digs per frame. She had the third-most service aces and boasted a .934 percentage. She has played in 63 matches (179 sets) over her first three seasons, averaging 1.4 digs and 0.2 assists per frame.

• Grace Danziger is a January 2021 enrollee at MSU, and therefore was not eligible to play until the fall 2021 campaign. She will look for her first collegiate playing time this fall.

• Freshman Abby Olin suffered an injury prior to enrolling at Michigan State last spring and will miss the entire 2021 season.

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