Sept. 3, 2009

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The No. 20 Michigan State volleyball team (3-0) continues play this weekend as it travels to the CSU Invite presented by Crowne Plaza City Center on the campus of Cleveland State University. Joining MSU and host Cleveland State will be the Syracuse Orange. The Spartans begin play on Friday with a 1 p.m., match with Syracuse, followed by a 7 p.m., match with the host Vikings that evening. MSU will then return to action the following day, Saturday, at 4 p.m., to close out the invite with another match against CSU.

Scouting the Spartans
The Spartans are led by head coach Cathy George, who enters her fifth season at the helm of the Green and White. The Spartans are coming off their ninth consecutive MSU Showcase, which saw sophomore Kyndra Abron (Livonia, Mich.) post a .526 hitting percentage. Following the weekend's performance, Abron was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, as announced by the league office. MSU began the season by posting an upset win of then-No. 12 USC, winning 3-2. The following morning, against Albany, MSU came out firing, hitting an impressive .587, which became a program high, breaking the previous mark of .495, set against the University of Miami on Sept. 2, 2006. In the final match of the weekend, against North Carolina, MSU rallied back in the fourth and fifth sets to clinch the Showcase title. The 3-0 mark is the best start to a season for MSU since the 2006 season, when MSU began the year with a 6-0 record. MSU also entered the AVCA rankings this week, ranking No. 20. This is the earliest the Spartans have been recognized by the AVCA since the 2003 season, when MSU was the 25th-ranked team to open the season. In all, MSU is one of six Big Ten schools in this week's top-25.

Leading MSU in kills on the season is sophomore Jenilee Rathje (Mount Pleasant, Mich.), with 44. Sophomore Natalie Emro (Wildwood, Mo.), who was also named to the MSU Showcase All-Tournament team, currently leads all Spartans with a total of 115 assists on the season. Meanwhile, junior Allyson Karaba (Muskegon, Mich.) leads the team with 40 digs.

Scouting the Orange
Head coach Jing Pu and the Orange enter this coming weekend with a 4-0 record. Pu is in his 14th season with Syracuse, compiling a 248-159 while with the school. The Orange attack is led by senior Sarah Morton. Morton, a 2009 All-BIG EAST Preseason team selection, is leading her team with a total of 49 kills on the season, while hitting .292. Meanwhile, senior Shanetha McLaurin anchors the back court, tallying 75 digs thus far in the season, averaging 4.69 digs a set. The Spartans are tied in the overall series with SU, with each team winning one game. In the most recent meeting, MSU got the better end of the Orange, posting a 3-0 win last season at the Delaware/Asics Invite on Sept. 5.

Scouting the Vikings
Head coach Chuck Voss enters his 10th season at the head of the CSU volleyball team with a record of 151-125. The Vikings are led by sophomore Jordan Goad, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the LaSalle Invitational this past weekend. Goad posted a 10.42 assists per match average, along with an average of 2.17 digs. The Vikings enter this weekend with a 5-0 record on the season. Overall, MSU enters the weekend with an all-time series record of 10-2 against CSU, with MSU winning the most recent meeting on Sept. 3, 1999, 3-0.

Both of MSU's matches against Cleveland State can be streamed live free of charge at CSU Vikings.

Check with msuspartans.com for links to follow live Gametracker for all games this weekend.

MSU Women's Volleyball

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