Spartans Set to Compete at Iowa, Nebraska


B1G Week Two - Spartans at Iowa, at [12] Nebraska
at Indiana	Friday Oct 1 - 8 pm ET/ 7 pm CT Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa
at [12] Nebraska	Sunday, Oct 3 - 4 pm ET/ 3 pm CT Devaney Center, Lincoln, Nebraska
Radio	none
Television	Sunday - Big Ten Network / Fox Sports App
Webstreams (B1G+/$)	at Iowa
Live Statistics	at Iowa \| at Nebraska
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Iowa \| Nebraska
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram
Media	Watch the Cathy George Press Conference

FRIDAY UPDATE: Friday's match vs. Iowa has been moved to Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

THE WEEKEND AHEAD
• MSU continues its four-match road swing in Big Ten play with games at Iowa (Friday) and Nebraska (Sunday).

• Friday's match against the Hawkeyes will have a live video webstream on BTN+. Sunday's game against Nebraska will air on Big Ten Network. Chris Vosters and Michelle McMahon will call the action in Lincoln. MSUSpartans.com has links to all live statistics and webstreams.

• MSU opened Big Ten play last weekend with tough losses at Indiana (0-3) and Michigan (1-3). The Spartans had leads in each of the first two sets at IU but saw the home team come back in each one, as the Spartans were hamstrung by service errors (13) and 22 hitting errors despite a 9-3 edge in blocks. Sunday was a tight affair as the Spartans and their archrival settled each of the four sets by three points or fewer, with the Wolverines taking the fourth and deciding set by a 28-26 score.

• The Spartans went 2-1 in each of the first two weekends of non-conference tournaments before sweeping the final weekend of non-conference play with wins against Oakland, IUPUI, and Central Michigan in the Green & White Classic.

• Iowa is playing in the brand-new Xtream Arena, and this will be MSU's first games in the new facility. The Hawkeyes are 2-10 overall on the season and are 0-2 in the B1G with a five-set loss to Illinois and a 3-0 setback vs. Nebraska in the opening weekend. Vicki Brown is in her fourth season at Iowa.

• MSU is 51-27 all-time in the Iowa series, which includes a 22-14 mark in road matches. The teams met twice in 2020-21 in Iowa City at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, splitting the two matches.

• John Cook is among the game's winningest coaches, and is in his 22nd season at the helm of the Nebraska program. He has guided his team to an 8-3 mark on the year, with all three losses coming to top-20 competition (Utah, Stanford and Louisville).

• MSU trails the all-time series with the Huskers by a 2-21-2 margin, and MSU is still looking for its first-ever win at the Devaney Center. Nebraska has won six straight, but the teams have not met since the 2019 campaign.

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

• MSU dialed up a season-best 13 service aces in the match at Michigan last Friday. MSU's average of 1.70 service aces per set on the season ranks third in the Big Ten and 63rd among Division I institutions. The Spartans are averaging 2.0 service aces per set in Conference games.

• For the first time this season, the Spartans lost a match when recording more service aces than their opponent. MSU had 13 to Michigan's six on Sunday, and allowed just one ace against to the Hoosiers last Friday.

• MSU has limited its opponents to a .163 hitting percentage against, which is seventh in the B1G and 47th nationally.

• MSU is averaging 2.42 blocks per set, which ranks 10th in the B1G and 52nd nationally. Opponents are averaging just 1.49 blocks against MSU, a n average of a +0.93 differential.

• MSU has led in kills in nine of its 11 matches, and has been tied or led in blocks in nine as well. The Spartans are a perfect 7-0 when leading in hitting percentage, and have just one opponent in non-conference play to hit .200 or better.

• Six of MSU's seven victories have come by 3-0 scores, and the seventh a 3-1 triumph against Central Michigan. Three of MSU's four losses are to either a ranked team (No. 13 BYU) 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, having won its final three matches. 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 10th in overall attendance this season, list which features six B1G teams among the top 15 attendance draws. The Spartans are 14th nationally in average attendance through five weeks of the 2021 campaign (2,242).

• 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 663-443 overall record. She also ranks 45th all-time in head coaching victories.

Player Notes
• Four players have appeared in all 11 matches for MSU thus far: Naya Gros, Rebecka Poljan, Cecilee Max-Brown, and Talia Edmonds. Only Max-Brown and Edmonds have started all 11.

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

• Poljan ranks fourth in the Big Ten in hitting percentage (.420), which ranks 15th nationally.

• Poljan is second on the team in blocks (0.74) and points (3.26) per set, and is also contributing 2.5 kills per frame (third) on the year.

• Poljan delivered seven kills or more in seven of MSU's 11 matches, and has hit .300 or better in seven of 11 matches as well.

• Naya Gros ranks second in the Big Ten and third nationally with 1.79 blocks per set on the season, and her 59 total blocks is third in the B1G and 45th among Division I players. She compiled 13 stuffs in seven sets last week. She is hitting .330 and averaging 1.39 kills per frame.

• Gros has a pair of single-match performances which both rank among the top 10 in the Big Ten this season. She put up 10 blocks against Dixie State (second), and had seven block assists in the most recent game against Central Michigan, which ranks in a tie for 10th.

• 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. Her 10 total blocks in the contest tied for the fifth-highest total in a three-set match, last posted by Sarah Gustin vs. Northwestern in 1998. The school record of 12 total blocks in a three-setter is held by Alexis Matthews vs. Michigan (November 2010).

• Gros' career average of 1.23 blocks per set ranks fourth on MSU's career list, and is just ahead of the career average of most recent two-time All-American Alyssa Garvelink, who averaged 1.21 blocks per set from 2014-17. Gros' 333 career block assists ninth all-time at MSU in that category, and her 391 ranks 10th in the MSU annals.

• Monks led MSU with three solo blocks in the Spartans' first home tournament. On the year, she's hitting .463, averaging 1.91 kills and 0.55 blocks per frame in five matches.

• Redshirt freshman Sarah Franklin led the Spartans with 5.43 kills, 2.86 digs, 0.71 blocks, and a .245 hitting percentage in the first weekend of B1G play.

• A six-rotation player, Franklin put down a career-best 25 kills and added 14 digs for her third double-double of the season at Michigan, which followed her 2021 B1G debut of 12 kills, a season-best four blocks, and six digs at Indiana.

• Franklin's 25 kills vs. Michigan is the third-most by a B1G player this season, the second-most in a Conference contest.

• Franklin is ranked third in the Big Ten in kills per set (3.94), and she is fifth in points per frame (4.47) - both numbers which rank 60th among Division I players. . Her 2.44 digs per set is tied for second on the team, and she is also chipping in 0.62 blocks, third among all Spartans.

• Cecilee Max-Brown also plays six rotations for the Spartans. In 11 starts, she's averaging 2.81 kills, 2.32 digs, and 0.43 blocks. She has been the top target in MSU's serve receive (269 chances).

• Max-Brown averaged 2.43 kills and 2.71 digs per set last weekend in MSU's first two B1G games. She recorded her third double-double of the season at Michigan with 13 kills and 10 digs, and also set a career best with three service aces against the Wolverines.

• Junior Biamba Kabengele is averaging career bests in both kills (2.4) and digs (2.4) this season. She had a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs against Wright State, establishing a new career best in digs. She had 10 digs at Indiana and contributed eight kills and seven digs at Michigan.

• Kabengele recorded her second career five-ace game against the Wolverines, a mark she originally set last February against Maryland. She leads the Big Ten with 0.55 aces per set this season.

• Senior Molly Johnson has appeared in eight of MSU's 11 matches, starting two. She's averaging 1.12 kills 0.41 service aces, and 1.88 digs per frame.

• MSU's most youthful position is at setter, but both sophomore incumbent Celia Cullen and freshman Julia Bishop have seen significant action.

• Cullen ranks third in the Big Ten with 10.79 assists per frame, and is averaging 0.31 aces, 2.17 digs, and 0.59 blocks as well.

• Cullen posted 50 assists at Michigan to tie her career best, initially set last February at Maryland. She also contributed eight digs, three blocks, and a pair of aces in that contest.

• Kabengele and Cullen each have one of the Big Ten's most prolific performances from the service line this season. Kabengele's five at Michigan is the second-most overall and tied for the lead in a B1G game, while Cullen's four service aces against Dixie State (Sept. 3) is fourth.

• Franklin and Max-Brown each have three double-doubles this season, and Cullen has two. Kabengele also has recorded one. Both Franklin and Max-Brown have one of their three in Big Ten Conference matches.

• Bishop made her first career start at Brigham Young, delivering 26 assists, seven digs, and two blocks; she also recorded four kills on seven attempts without an error.

• Bishop saw the most time as a back-row specialist in the Green & White Classic, starting two matches. Overall on the year, she has started three of the seven matches in which she has appeared, and is averaging 4.16 assists and 1.05 digs.

• Redshirt junior and captain Talia Edmonds earned the libero jersey this season, and has responded with a team-best 3.86 digs per set, which is good for ninth in the Big Ten. She is tied for third on the team in service aces (9), and adding 0.81 assists per set.

• Edmonds dug up 18 balls in the match at Michigan, her third-most in a match this season and the most for her career in a B1G contest.

• First-year DS Grace Danziger played each of the two B1G matches for the Spartans She is averaging 0.47 digs per set and has two 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..

• Senior Lauryn Gibbs has missed each of the first five weekends of the season with an injury. She had seen a significant increase in her defensive role for MSU, and in 2020-21 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.

• Abby Olin and Lia Moore did not appear in any non-conference matches for medical reasons. Olin will miss the entire season with injury. Freshman middle Aubrey O'Gorman is behind a deep, talented group of veterans.

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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