Spartans Head to Illinois for Final B1G Road Trip

EAST LANSING, Mich. – After splitting a pair of matches last weekend, the Michigan State volleyball team will once again meet Illinois and Northwestern this week, this time in the Land of Lincoln. MSU travels to Champaign, Ill. for an 8:00 p.m. ET match against the Fighting Illini on Friday, Nov. 18 before traveling north to face Northwestern at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 20. Illinois has won four of its last six matches, including wins over then #11 Penn State and a Michigan team that was receiving votes. Northwestern is on a four-match losing skid.

Michigan State Match Notes

ABOUT ILLINOIS
Illinois is 13-13 this season with an 8-8 record in the Big Ten and is 4-4 when playing at home. The Fighting Illini have won four of six including two wins over MSU and Michigan last weekend. Illinois is coached by Chris Tamas in his sixth season as head coach, bringing a 113-65 career record into the weekend. The Illini are No. 65 in the latest NCAA RPI.

As a team Illinois ranks No. 111 in hitting percentage (.225) and No. 202 in opponents hitting percentage (.210) among Division I programs.

Outside hitter Raina Terry leads the Illini attack average 4.13 kills per set on .235 hitting this season. Terry's kills per set rank No. 36 nationally and No. 4 in the Big Ten, while her 4.86 points per set rank No. 21 nationally and No. 3 in the B1G. Terry also leads the team in aces with 41 this season. Diana Brown is the setter in Illinois' system with 985 assists to her name this season on 10.37 assists per set. Brown's assists per set rank No. 44 nationally and No. 4 in the B1G.

Defensively Caroline Barnes leads Illinois with 338 digs on 3.56 digs per set this season. Brown is second on the team in digs with 236 on 2.48 per set. Middle blocker Rylee Hinton leads the team with 86 total blocks on 1.41 blocks per set.

Illinois leads the all-time series against Michigan State, 55-27, and are 26-9 against the Spartans when playing in Champaign.

ABOUT NORTHWESTERN
Northwestern is enjoying an improved season, sitting at 17-11 with a 6-10 mark in Big Ten play as the conference season nears its close. The Wildcats are No. 46 in the latest NCAA RPI. The Wildcats are coached by Shane Davis in his seventh season at the helm, with Northwestern having locked in its first winning season during his tenure. Davis brings an 87-110 career record into the weekend along with his upstart Northwestern team.

As a team, Northwestern ranks No. 39 in assists per set (12.74), No. 48 in kills per set (13.60), No. 69 in hitting percentage (.242) and No. 218 in opponent hitting percentage (.216).

Outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara leads the Wildcat attack with 4.27 kills per set on .260 hitting and 4.60 points per set. Thomas-Ailara ranks No. 22 nationally in kills per set and No. 3 in the B1G, while ranking No. 18 in total kills (401) and No. 44 in points per set. Grace Reininga, a DS by trade, has been filling in as a setter while Alexa Rousseau and Sienna Noordermeer are out with injury.

Libero Megan Miller leads the team with 4.13 digs per set with 417 total digs. Millers digs per set rank No. 5 in the B1G while her total digs lead the conference. Defensive specialist Ellee Stinson is second on the team in digs with 2.73 per set (276 total). Middle blocker Desiree Becker leads the team with 100 total blocks on 1.05 blocks per set.

Michigan State leads the all-time series against the Wildcats, 42-37, with a 16-20 mark when playing in Evanston.

SPARTAN NOTES
Junior libero Nalani Iosia is closing in on 1,000 career digs, sitting at 939 with four more matches to be played. Iosia would need to average 15.25 digs per match during the remainder of the schedule to hit that mark this season.

Freshman middle blocker Nil Okur is on pace to finish the season with one of the best hitting percentages by a first-year student-athlete in program history. Okur's .307 hitting percentage would rank fourth all-time by an MSU freshman.

Joining the team as freshmen next season will be Cameron Berger (Setter/Eden Prairie, Minn.), Makya Clayton (DS/Lee's Summit, Mo.), Zuzanna Kulig (Middle Blocker/Chrzanów, Poland), Karolina Staniszewska (Outside Hitter/Marki, Poland) and Taylah Holdem (Outside Hitter/Christchurch, New Zealand).

Michigan State volleyball set a program single-game attendance record this season, playing in front of the largest crowd in Spartan volleyball history with 7,326 fans in attendance at the Breslin Center on Oct. 14. The crowd broke the previous program record of 6,838 set in 2016. Michigan State currently holds the seventh best average attendance in the country this season and is on pace to continue its streak of consecutive Top 10 finishes (currently six straight) with an average home attendance of 3,302. This is the highest average attendance in program history in just year one of the Leah Johnson coaching era.

LAST TIME OUT – vs. Northwestern (11/12/2022)
Michigan State broke back into the win column last Saturday night in the Breslin Center, defeating Northwestern, who was receiving votes in the AVCA poll, by a final score of 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-14). Senior middle blocker Emma Monks had a career-best 11 kills. The Spartans out-hit Northwestern, .252 to .067, holding the Wildcats to -.050 hitting in set two. Northwestern was hitting well over .500 in set one before Michigan State adjusted after a series of timeouts. MSU out-blocked Northwestern 8-5 and had five service aces to the Wildcats' four. Sophomore Aliyah Moore matched Monk's kill mark for the night with 11 to lead the Spartans. Graduate setter Zoe Nunez posted her eighth double-double of the season and her second of the week with 25 assists and 12 digs.

UP NEXT
Michigan State wraps up the regular season at home next week, facing Rutgers at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 23 and Iowa on Saturday, Nov. 26. First serve for the match against Iowa is set for 2:00 p.m. The Spartans previously faced the Scarlet Knights on Sep. 25, dropping a 3-2 match. Next Saturday will be the first meeting of the season between MSU and the Hawkeyes.

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Players Mentioned

Cam Berger

Ky Clayton

Taylah Holdem

Nalani Iosia

Zuzanna Kulig

Emma Monks

Aliyah Moore

Zoe Nunez

Nil Okur