Nov. 5, 1997

Spartans Host Ohio State and Purdue

WHO'S NEXT?-
Nov. 7  OHIO STATE  Jenison Field House 7 p.m. 
Nov. 8  PURDUE      Jenison Field House 7 p.m.  

Television: Fridays match versus Ohio State will be televised in the Greater Lansing area. For the Media One Greater Lansing area, the match can be seen on channel 6/17 (old/rebuilt system). It can also be seen on TCI cable channel 13 and Horizon cable channel 11.

THE COACHES-
Michigan States Chuck Erbe (Cal State Fullerton, 1972) is 104-54 in his fifth season as head coach at Michigan State and 414-175-3 overall in his 17th year as a head coach.

Ohio States Jim Stone (Ball State, 1975) is 358-151 in his 16th year at OSU and 408-193 overall.

Purdues Joey Vrazel (Texas A & M, 1984) is 30-54 in her third season as the Boilermakers mentor and overall.

OPPONENT UPDATE-
Ohio State is 18-7/9-4. OSU defeated Purdue on Wednesday night, 15-7, 15-12, 15-6. Vanessa Wouters tallied a career high six service aces and had 16 kills to lead the team. The Buckeyes defeated Iowa 3-1 (15-4, 15-7, 10-15, 15-12) on Oct. 31 and defeated Minnesota, 3-0 (15-13, 15-4, 15-6) on Nov. 1. OSU is on a six-match winning streak. Purdue is now 9-15/2-11 after a loss to Ohio State on Wednesday night. The Boilermakers lost to Minnesota on Oct. 31, 3-1 (9-15, 15-13, 13-15, 9-15) but came back on Sunday to defeat Iowa, 3-2 (15-6, 6-15, 15-12, 8-15, 15-12). After starting out the Big Ten schedule with nine consecutive losses, the Boilermakers have won two of their last four matches.

SERIES RECORDS-
Ohio State leads the series over Michigan State, 27-15. On Oct. 11, MSU traveled to Columbus, losing 1-3.

Purdue leads the series, 31-14. On Oct. 10, State beat the Boilers, 3-0.

BOO-BOOS
Sophomore middle hitter Jenny Whitehead was lost for the season on Oct. 9, suffering a non-union fibular fracture in her right leg. She underwent surgery on Mon., Oct. 13.

Freshman middle hitter Sarah Gustin, who has seen substantial playing time this season was diagnosed with a stress fracture to her left tibia. The injury was revealed during a bone scan on Oct. 9. She may see limited action this weekend.

JAMMING JENISON
Jenison Field House was rocking on Sunday as MSU defeated Michigan, 3-1. 3,023 fans filled the building, the highest attendance of the season and the ninth-best all-time.

NUMBERS GAME+

FIVE MORE
MSU raised its record to 3-0 in matches of five games or more with its win over Northwestern, 3-2, on Oct. 31. In the Spartans season-opener, on Aug. 29, MSU defeated Duke, 3-2, while Indiana took State to five games before falling on Oct. 24.

SEVEN AND COUNTING
Jenna Wrobel has tallied 20 kills or more in each of the last seven matches, including 32 versus Michigan on Sunday, a season-high.

FOURTEEN
Jenna Wrobel tied the MSU single-season record for 20-kill matches on Sunday with her 14th of the season. She is tied with Veronica Morales who had 14 20-kill matches in 1994.

TWENTY-EIGHT
Wrobel also set the MSU record for career 20-kill matches this season. She has 31 in her career. Veronica Morales is second on the list with 28.

HALLOWEEN HEX R.I.P.
The Spartans no longer have to be spooked about playing on Halloween. MSUs victory over Northwestern on Oct. 31, was the first time since 1975 that the Spartans have won on Halloween. The streak extends over 10 matches.

STUFF IT!
Senior Chris DeJarlais received the first stat of her MSU career on Sunday versus Michigan. DeJarlais, seeing action in only the second match of her career subbed in as a middle blocker. She recorded a solo block on the first side-out of game four. She would have recorded two solo blocks if not for a back-row attach call on Michigan on the very next play. DeJarlais also played in one game versus Xavier on Aug. 30.

MSU DEFEATS MICHIGAN/NORTHWESTERN
No. 25 MSU defeated Michigan on Sunday and Northwestern on Friday to move into a tie for third in the Big Ten with Michigan and Ohio State. State defeated Michigan 3-1 (15-13, 15-3, 8-15, 15-12. Jenna Wrobel tallied a season-high 32 kills to lead the Spartans. Veronica Morales hit .457 with 24 kills and 15 digs, while Lindsey Clayton had a near triple-double with 18 kills (career high), 10 digs and eight blocks. On Friday, Northwestern gave the Spartans a scare, taking the team to five games. MSU won, 17-15, 15-7, 8-15, 13-15, 16-14. Morales hit a match-high 22 kills with 15 digs. Wrobel had 21 kills, 13 digs and seven blocks while Clayton had 11 kills, seven digs and eight blocks.

HALF MAST
Despite defeating Michigan on Nov. 2, the Spartans were not able to hold on to the State Pride flag, the traveling trophy between the two schools. Because both teams won four games each between the teams two matches this season, the winner was determined by total points scored. Michigan won, 101-89. State had held the flag for the previous four seasons.

TV GUIDE
Four more Michigan State volleyball matches will be televised this season: November 7 vs. Ohio State (TCI, 7 p.m. EST), November 14 at Illinois (ESPN2; 8 p.m. CDT); Nov. 16 at Wisconsin (SportsChannel; 4 p.m. CST); and Nov. 28 vs. Penn State (ESPN2; TBA).

MSU VERSUS TOP 25
No. 25 Michigan State has a 2-4 record against ranked opponents this season. MSU lost to then No. 15 Southern California on Aug. 30 and fell to No. 7 UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 12. On Sept. 26, MSU lost to No. 11 Wisconsin. The Spartans victories came against No. 15 Loyola Marymount on Sept. 13 and No. 25 Illinois on Sept. 28. MSU lost at No. 1 Penn State on Oct. 25.

RECORDS WATCH
With her 30 digs last weekend, Veronica Morales still stands in the No. 2 spot on the all-time digs chart with 1,356 career saves. She needs 111 digs to overtake first place, currently held by Jill Krumm with 1,466. *Jenna Wrobel is fourth on the all-time kills chart with 1,455 career kills after her 53 kills last weekend. She needs 64 kills to move into No. 3, currently held by Val Sterk with 1,518.

Wrobel holds the No. 4 spot on the all-time attempts chart with 3,470 career attempts, after totaling 131 last weekend. She needs 98 attempts to move into the number three spot.