Friday, October 14
East Lansing, Mich.
7:30 pm
Michigan State University
vs
Michigan
Volleyball Preps for Battle at Breslin, Road Match at Indiana
10/12/2022 12:44:00 PM | Volleyball
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State volleyball is back in action this weekend for a pair of matches. First hosting No. 24-ranked Michigan in the Breslin Center at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 14 before traveling to Bloomington, Ind. for a 1:00 p.m. matchup with Indiana on Sunday, October 16. The first 500 fans in attendance on Friday will receive an exclusive 'Battle at Breslin' t-shirt. Parking on Friday is complimentary in Lot 63 and Ramp 7, while the lot in Jenison has a $5 charge due to a home event in Munn Ice Arena.
Back playing in the Breslin Student Events Center for the first time since 2010, the Spartans are set to host the Battle at Breslin on Friday when the team takes on Michigan. The event has held multiple names throughout the years, including Bust Breslin when the teams last met in the 14,797 seat arena in 2010. Michigan State hosted Jam Jenison in the years since, prior to the 2022 season. The two programs combined to set the all-time Michigan State volleyball Breslin Center attendance record in 2010, hosting 6,824 fans. That record was broken at Jam Jenison in 2016 when MSU housed 6,838 fans in Jenison Field House.
About Michigan
No. 24-ranked Michigan is 12-4 overall and 3-3 in Big Ten play this season. The Wolverines have conference victories over Rutgers, Penn State and Northwestern, while dropping matches to Ohio State, Minnesota and Nebraska. Michigan has lost two-straight with a pair of 3-0 losses over the weekend to the Golden Gophers and the Cornhuskers. UM is coached by Mark Rosen in his 24th season at Michigan and 31st overall. Rosen has a career coaching record of 463-290 with the Wolverines and 627-327 overall. Michigan is No. 23 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings and No. 20 in the KPI.
As a team the Wolverines rank No. 21 in Division I in hitting with a .268 hitting percentage. Michigan's defense is solid limiting opponents to .172 hitting, ranking No. 40 nationally. UM is No. 38 in assists per set (12.58) and No. 41 in kills per set (13.60). Jess Robinson is the nation's leader in hitting percentage, hitting .483 through 16 matches.
On the outside, Jess Mruzik leads the Wolverines with 4.26 points per set and 3.75 kills per set hitting .236. Mruzik is second on the team in digs with 113 on 2.42 digs per set. Kendall Murray is second on the team with 3.13 points per set and 2.65 kills per set hitting .220. Maddie Dowd and Scottee Johnson have seen a share of the setting responsibilities in 2022, with Dowd leading the team with 373 assists on 7.04 assists per set. Dowd played just one set against the Cornhuskers last Sunday, with Johnson playing in all three sets.
Hannah Grant leads the team with 226 digs and 4.11 digs per set, while also leading the team in service aces (27). Jacque Boney leads the Wolverine block with 61 total blocks (7s-54a) on 1.13 blocks per set.
About Indiana
Indiana is 9-9 overall and 2-4 in Big Ten play this season. The Hoosiers own conference wins over Maryland and Iowa, while dropping matches against Penn State, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Iowa. Indiana is coached by Steve Aird in his 5th season as a Hoosier and ninth season as a head coach. Aird previously coached four seasons at Maryland prior to his arrival in Bloomington. In five seasons at Indiana, Aird has a record of 52-80 with an overall record of 107-154. Indiana ranks No. 119 in the latest NCAA RPI and is No. 114 in the KPI.
Indiana is hitting .211 as a team which ranks No. 165 in Division I, while opponents have hit .195 against the Hoosiers to rank No. 132 nationally. IU ranks ninth among Big Ten teams in opponent hitting percentage and 12th in hitting as a team. Savannah Kjolhede is No. 68 nationally in hitting, hitting .360 through 18 matches.
Mady Saris leads the team with 3.75 kills per set and 240 kills overall, hitting .199 for the Hoosiers. Morgan Geddes (2.47) and Kaley Rammelsberg (2.15) join Saris averaging over 2.00 kills per set. Geddes is hitting .238, while Rammelsberg ranks second on the team in hitting at .309. Camryn Haworth leads the team with 590 assists on 9.22 assists per set.
Paula Cerame leads the Hoosiers with 236 digs, average 3.69 digs per set. Haworth is second on the team in digs with 161 to average 2.52 digs per set. Kjolhede leads the team in blocks by a wide margin with 62 total blocks on the season (22s-40a) a .97 blocks per set.
About the Spartans
Michigan State is 10-7 this season with a 1-5 mark in Big Ten play. The Spartans are 6-2 in the Breslin Center this season as the team has enjoyed a strong home court atmosphere. MSU is coached by Leah Johnson in her first year with the program. Johnson arrived in East Lansing in February and is in her 12th year as a head coach overall. Through 12 seasons, Johnson has amassed a career record of 194-158. Michigan State ranks No. 91 in the latest NCAA RPI and is No. 98 in the KPI.
Michigan State is led by Maradith O'Gorman's 3.16 points per set as the freshman outside hits .201 through 17 matches. Sophomore Aliyah Moore leads the team in kills per set at 2.85. Freshman outside Evie Doezema joins the two with 2.37 kills per set in her first season. Fifth year Zoe Nunez returned to the Michigan State lineup last week after missing five straight matches with an injury. Nunez leads MSU with 8.09 assists per set and 356 assists overall. The Spartans have played a 6-2 for most of the year with sophomore Julia Bishop sharing the load at setter. Bishop averages 4.24 assists per set with 246 total assists on the season.
Junior Nalani Iosia leads the team in digs with 258, averaging 3.97 digs per set. Freshman Jayhlin Swain has made several starts at DS for the Spartans with 99 total digs and 1.50 digs per set. Freshman Nil Okur leads the team with 47 total blocks (3s-44a) on .85 blocks per set. Senior Emma Monks leads the team in blocks per set at 1.00 and recently returned to the MSU lineup.
Michigan State owns a 54-48-1 advantage over the Wolverines in the all-time series dating back to 1974. The Spartans are 35-16 when playing Michigan in East Lansing. Friday marks the first time Michigan State has welcomed Michigan to the Breslin Center since a 3-0 victory on Nov. 24, 2010. Michigan State is 53-32 all-time against the Hoosiers dating back to 1974. The Spartans are 19-19 when playing in Bloomington, having lost each of the last two road dates with Indiana. Overall, the Spartans have won five of the last seven meetings between the two sides.
Up Next
Michigan State will once against split matches on the road and at home next week. The Spartans travel to No. 5-ranked Wisconsin for an 8:00 p.m. match on Friday, October 21 before returning to East Lansing for a home match against the Hoosiers at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 23. Wisconsin is 11-3 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten this season prior to matches against Iowa and Michigan this week.
Follow Along Live
Friday, October 14: Michigan State vs. #24 Michigan | 7:30 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch Live | Listen Live | Tickets
Sunday, October 16: Michigan State at Indiana | 1:00 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch Live | Listen Live
Friday, October 14: Michigan State vs. #24 Michigan | 7:30 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch Live | Listen Live | Tickets
Sunday, October 16: Michigan State at Indiana | 1:00 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch Live | Listen Live
Back playing in the Breslin Student Events Center for the first time since 2010, the Spartans are set to host the Battle at Breslin on Friday when the team takes on Michigan. The event has held multiple names throughout the years, including Bust Breslin when the teams last met in the 14,797 seat arena in 2010. Michigan State hosted Jam Jenison in the years since, prior to the 2022 season. The two programs combined to set the all-time Michigan State volleyball Breslin Center attendance record in 2010, hosting 6,824 fans. That record was broken at Jam Jenison in 2016 when MSU housed 6,838 fans in Jenison Field House.
About Michigan
No. 24-ranked Michigan is 12-4 overall and 3-3 in Big Ten play this season. The Wolverines have conference victories over Rutgers, Penn State and Northwestern, while dropping matches to Ohio State, Minnesota and Nebraska. Michigan has lost two-straight with a pair of 3-0 losses over the weekend to the Golden Gophers and the Cornhuskers. UM is coached by Mark Rosen in his 24th season at Michigan and 31st overall. Rosen has a career coaching record of 463-290 with the Wolverines and 627-327 overall. Michigan is No. 23 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings and No. 20 in the KPI.
As a team the Wolverines rank No. 21 in Division I in hitting with a .268 hitting percentage. Michigan's defense is solid limiting opponents to .172 hitting, ranking No. 40 nationally. UM is No. 38 in assists per set (12.58) and No. 41 in kills per set (13.60). Jess Robinson is the nation's leader in hitting percentage, hitting .483 through 16 matches.
On the outside, Jess Mruzik leads the Wolverines with 4.26 points per set and 3.75 kills per set hitting .236. Mruzik is second on the team in digs with 113 on 2.42 digs per set. Kendall Murray is second on the team with 3.13 points per set and 2.65 kills per set hitting .220. Maddie Dowd and Scottee Johnson have seen a share of the setting responsibilities in 2022, with Dowd leading the team with 373 assists on 7.04 assists per set. Dowd played just one set against the Cornhuskers last Sunday, with Johnson playing in all three sets.
Hannah Grant leads the team with 226 digs and 4.11 digs per set, while also leading the team in service aces (27). Jacque Boney leads the Wolverine block with 61 total blocks (7s-54a) on 1.13 blocks per set.
About Indiana
Indiana is 9-9 overall and 2-4 in Big Ten play this season. The Hoosiers own conference wins over Maryland and Iowa, while dropping matches against Penn State, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Iowa. Indiana is coached by Steve Aird in his 5th season as a Hoosier and ninth season as a head coach. Aird previously coached four seasons at Maryland prior to his arrival in Bloomington. In five seasons at Indiana, Aird has a record of 52-80 with an overall record of 107-154. Indiana ranks No. 119 in the latest NCAA RPI and is No. 114 in the KPI.
Indiana is hitting .211 as a team which ranks No. 165 in Division I, while opponents have hit .195 against the Hoosiers to rank No. 132 nationally. IU ranks ninth among Big Ten teams in opponent hitting percentage and 12th in hitting as a team. Savannah Kjolhede is No. 68 nationally in hitting, hitting .360 through 18 matches.
Mady Saris leads the team with 3.75 kills per set and 240 kills overall, hitting .199 for the Hoosiers. Morgan Geddes (2.47) and Kaley Rammelsberg (2.15) join Saris averaging over 2.00 kills per set. Geddes is hitting .238, while Rammelsberg ranks second on the team in hitting at .309. Camryn Haworth leads the team with 590 assists on 9.22 assists per set.
Paula Cerame leads the Hoosiers with 236 digs, average 3.69 digs per set. Haworth is second on the team in digs with 161 to average 2.52 digs per set. Kjolhede leads the team in blocks by a wide margin with 62 total blocks on the season (22s-40a) a .97 blocks per set.
About the Spartans
Michigan State is 10-7 this season with a 1-5 mark in Big Ten play. The Spartans are 6-2 in the Breslin Center this season as the team has enjoyed a strong home court atmosphere. MSU is coached by Leah Johnson in her first year with the program. Johnson arrived in East Lansing in February and is in her 12th year as a head coach overall. Through 12 seasons, Johnson has amassed a career record of 194-158. Michigan State ranks No. 91 in the latest NCAA RPI and is No. 98 in the KPI.
Michigan State is led by Maradith O'Gorman's 3.16 points per set as the freshman outside hits .201 through 17 matches. Sophomore Aliyah Moore leads the team in kills per set at 2.85. Freshman outside Evie Doezema joins the two with 2.37 kills per set in her first season. Fifth year Zoe Nunez returned to the Michigan State lineup last week after missing five straight matches with an injury. Nunez leads MSU with 8.09 assists per set and 356 assists overall. The Spartans have played a 6-2 for most of the year with sophomore Julia Bishop sharing the load at setter. Bishop averages 4.24 assists per set with 246 total assists on the season.
Junior Nalani Iosia leads the team in digs with 258, averaging 3.97 digs per set. Freshman Jayhlin Swain has made several starts at DS for the Spartans with 99 total digs and 1.50 digs per set. Freshman Nil Okur leads the team with 47 total blocks (3s-44a) on .85 blocks per set. Senior Emma Monks leads the team in blocks per set at 1.00 and recently returned to the MSU lineup.
Michigan State owns a 54-48-1 advantage over the Wolverines in the all-time series dating back to 1974. The Spartans are 35-16 when playing Michigan in East Lansing. Friday marks the first time Michigan State has welcomed Michigan to the Breslin Center since a 3-0 victory on Nov. 24, 2010. Michigan State is 53-32 all-time against the Hoosiers dating back to 1974. The Spartans are 19-19 when playing in Bloomington, having lost each of the last two road dates with Indiana. Overall, the Spartans have won five of the last seven meetings between the two sides.
Up Next
Michigan State will once against split matches on the road and at home next week. The Spartans travel to No. 5-ranked Wisconsin for an 8:00 p.m. match on Friday, October 21 before returning to East Lansing for a home match against the Hoosiers at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 23. Wisconsin is 11-3 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten this season prior to matches against Iowa and Michigan this week.
Players Mentioned
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