Sept. 1, 2010

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State volleyball team (3-0) makes its first road trip of the season when it travels to Honolulu, Hawaii for the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic Sept. 2-4. The Spartans will face tough competition throughout the tournament as they battle No. 4 Hawaii, (rv) New Mexico and No. 10 Southern California.

Action begins on Thursday, Sept. 2, for the Spartans when they face New Mexico at 8 p.m. ET in the opening match of the tournament. Due to the six hour difference in time, the Spartans will conclude action on Saturday, Sept. 4, with a 1 a.m. ET match against host No. 4 Hawaii, and a 11 p.m. ET match against No. 10 USC.

Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic - Honolulu, Hawaii
Stan Sheriff Center

Thursday, September 2
MSU vs. New Mexico - 8 p.m.

Saturday, September 4
MSU vs. No. 4 Hawaii - 1 a.m.

Saturday, September 4
MSU vs. No. 10 Southern California - 11 p.m.

All times Eastern

Scouting New Mexico
New Mexico enters the weekend with a record of 2-1 on the year. The Lobos sit just outside the AVCA top-25 rankings. Kelly Williamson leads the Lobos offensively on the year with 28 kills and five blocks. Jade Michaelson has a team-high 75 assists. Allison Buck has tallied 32 digs on the year, while Ashley Rhoades has a team-best 12 blocks.

Series History: MSU trails 1-0 in the all-time series.
Last Meeting: MSU fell to the Lobos by a score of 3-0 on Aug. 31, 1990, as a part of the Arizona Invitational.
Coach: The Lobos are coached by Jeff Nelson who is in his fourth season. Nelson has an all-time record of 300-177 at three schools and is 60-31 at New Mexico.

Scouting Hawaii
Hawaii enters the weekend as the fourth-ranked team in the latest AVCA poll. The Rainbow Wahine has a record of 3-0 after the first weekend of action this season. Kanani Danielson currently has 52 kills with 32 digs and seven blocks. Dani Mafua has a team-high 124 assists this season. Defensively Elizabeth Ka`aihue is the top digger with 45, while Brittany Hewitt is the top blocker with 24 total.

Scouting Southern California
Southern California enters the weekend ranked 10th in the latest AVCA poll. The Trojans currently boast a perfect 3-0 record. Alex Jupiter has a team-best 29 kills. Natalie Hagglund leads the team defensively with 39 digs. Kendall Bateman has 130 assists on the year, while Alexis Olgard is the top Trojan at the net with six blocks.

Series History: MSU trails all-time 6-1.
Last Meeting: The Spartans last met the Trojans in East Lansing last year as a part of the MSU Showcase. MSU topped the then-No.12 USC by a score of 3-2 in the opening match of the tournament.
Coach: USC is coached by Mick Haley who is in his 10th season with the Trojans. Haley boasts an all-time record of 1002-242-1 while having a record of 229-54 at USC. Haley ranks fifth among winningest active coaches with 761 Division I victories.

Recapping Last Weekend
The Michigan State volleyball team captured its seventh-straight MSU Showcase title when it downed Evansville, 3-0, in the championship match. The Spartans also downed Bowling Green (3-0) and IUPUI (3-0) during the weekend. Earning MVP honors for her performance was Jenilee Rathje. Over the course of the three-day tournament, Rathje tallied 20 kills while hitting .424. Joining Rathje on the all-tournament team were Allyson Karaba and Megan Schatzle.

The 44 points the Spartans allowed against Evansville was the lowest point total in program history for a three-set match since the inception of the 25-point scoring system. MSU bested the previous low of 48 set last year against Albany in the 2009 MSU Showcase.

Over the course of the three-match weekend, MSU limited its opponent to a .098 hitting mark. The Spartans also dished out 14.22 assists per set and averaged 13.89 digs per set. MSU recorded a 2.44 blocks per set average for the weekend.

Conference Rankings
After one weekend of action in the 2010 season, Allyson Karaba currently ranks fourth in the conference in digs with a 4.22 digs per set average. As a team, the Spartans are third amongst the conference leaders in three categories. MSU is third in hitting percentage (.354), assists (14.22) and kills (15.00).

450 Career Wins
On Friday, Aug. 27th, head coach Cathy George became just the 36th active coach to achieve the 450 career win milestone. MSU downed Bowling Green by a score of 3-0 in the opening game of the MSU Showcase. George currently ranks 36th among active coaches in career victories with 452.

Streaking It
Dating back to the 2008 season, MSU has won 25 consecutive non-conference matches. The streak started in 2008 when the Spartans won their last 10 matches and it continued into 2009 when the Green and White won all 12 pre-conference matches.

A Challenging Schedule
MSU is one of two teams in the nation this season to be playing three of the four NCAA National Finalists from 2009. The Spartans battle Hawaii, Penn State and Minnesota, all of which appeared as one of the four remaining teams in the NCAA Championship. The Green and White are joined by Illinois as the other team to face such a challenging schedule. Illinois will face Penn State, Minnesota and Texas on its 2010 schedule.

Preseason Recognition
Prior to the 2010 season, several Spartans were recognized for their work both on and off the court. Junior Kyndra Abron was tabbed as one of 16-members of the Preseason All-Big Ten Team. Abron found herself on the conference coaches' radars after earning First-Team All-Big Ten and AVCA All-America Honorable Mention honors her sophomore campaign.

Red-shirt junior Jenilee Rathje was recognized by the conference in July for her dedication to her class work. Rathje was one of 484 student-athletes to receive Big Ten Scholar Athlete distinction. In order to be recognized, each student-athlete must achieve at least a 3.7 or higher for the corresponding academic year.

As a team, the Spartans were tabbed as the sixth-best team in the conference as announced by the coaches poll earlier this summer. Nationally, MSU was ranked tied for 44th in the AVCA Pre-season Poll, voted on by the coaches association.

15th Anniversary
The 2010 season marks the 15th anniversary of Michigan State's historic 1995 NCAA National Semi-Final run. In only the program's second NCAA tournament appearance, the Spartans advanced to the NCAA Semi-Finals after stunning Hawaii on its home court in the Regional Final, 3-2. After receiving a first-round bye, the Green and White took care of business against Brigham Young in the sound round and San Diego State in the Regional Semifinal with 3-0 wins over each opponent. After dispatching Hawaii in five sets, the Spartans' magical journey came to an end with a 3-2 loss against Nebraska. MSU got out against the Huskers in the first set, winning it 15-10. However, Nebraska took sets two (15-8) and three (15-8), before MSU squared the match in set four with a 15-9 win. The Huskers closed out the match with a 15-8 win over the Spartans en route to the 1995 NCAA Volleyball Championship.

Fandemonium
Annually, the Spartans have found themselves as one of the national leaders in attendance among NCAA Division I teams. Michigan State has been ranked in the top-25 in average attendance in 14 of the last 15 seasons. MSU posted a program best sixth during the 1996 campaign. The 2008 season saw the Spartans welcome the most total fans in a given season with 36,419. That season also saw Michigan State rank seventh nationally in attendance.