Sept. 9, 2010

Complete Release in PDF Format

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State volleyball team (4-2) returns to Jenison Field House this weekend (Sept. 10-11) for its second home tournament of the fall, the Spartan Invitational. MSU will face tough competition throughout the tournament as it hosts Clemson, Eastern Illinois and Eastern Michigan.

Action begins on Friday, Sept. 10, for the Spartans when they face Clemson at 7 p.m. MSU will conclude action on Saturday, Sept. 11, with a 12 p.m. match against Eastern Illinois, and a 7 p.m. contest against Eastern Michigan. In the other three games, EMU will face the Panthers on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The following day, Clemson will open the morning against Eastern Michigan, and the Tigers will then face Eastern Illinois at 4:30 p.m.

Complete Spartan Invitational Schedule
Friday, Sept. 10
4:30 p.m. Eastern Michigan vs. Eastern Illinois - Live Stats
7 p.m. Michigan State vs. Clemson - Live Stats | Listen Live

Saturday Sept. 11
10 a.m. Clemson vs. Eastern Michigan - Live Stats
12 p.m. Michigan State vs. Eastern Illinois - Live Stats | Listen Live

4:30 p.m. Eastern Illinois vs. Clemson - Live Stats
7 p.m. Michigan State vs. Eastern Michigan - Live Stats | Listen Live

Scouting Clemson
Clemson enters the weekend with a record of 6-0 on the year. The Tigers offensively are led by Sandra Adeleye with 67 kills and 21 blocks. Lacy Hayes has a team-high 136 assists. Cansu Ozdemir has tallied 90 digs on the year, while Moneshia Simmons has a team-best six aces.

Series History: The series is tied, 1-1.
Last Meeting: MSU topped Clemson by a score of 3-2 on Sept.. 18, 2009, as a part of the Clemson Classic.
Coach: The Tigers are coached by Jolene Jordan-Hoover who is in her 17th season. Jordan-Hoover has an all-time record of 459-226 and is 366-195 at Clemson.

Scouting Eastern Illinois
Eastern Illinois currently have a record of 3-1 after opening the season last weekend with the Harvard Invitational. Alex Zwettler currently leads the team with 43 kills, 30 digs and seven blocks. Chrissie Albers has a team-high 148 assists this season. Defensively Brittany Wallace is the top digger with 50, while Jorie Dieter is the top blocker with 17 total.

Series History: The series is tied, 3-3.
Last Meeting: The Spartans topped the Panthers in straight sets, 3-0. MSU faced EIU on Sept. 19, 1997, as a part of the Kentucky Conference Challenge.
Coach: Head coach Kate Price is in her first season as a collegiate head coach and is 3-1 in her short career.

Scouting Eastern Michigan
Eastern Michigan enters the weekend with a perfect 8-0 record. Rachel Iaquaneillo has a team-best 103 kills. Haley Stein leads the team defensively with 113 digs. Ashley Mason has 300 assists on the year, while Jenn Swartz is the top Eagle at the net with 23 blocks.

Series History: MSU leads all-time, 26-7-1.
Last Meeting: The Spartans last met the Eagles in Ypsilanti in 2007. MSU topped EMU by a score of 3-0 in a non-conference contest.
Coach: Eastern Michigan is coached by Kim Berringer who is in his 15th season with the Eagles. Berringer boasts an all-time record of 317-299, while having a record of 214-223 at EMU.

Recapping Last Weekend
The Michigan State volleyball team hit the road for the first time this season as it travel to the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic hosted by Hawaii. Over the course of the weekend, the Spartans compiled a recorded of 1-2 for a third-place finish.

The Spartans opened competition against New Mexico on Thursday afternoon with a 3-2 win. The following night the Green and White faced tournament host No. 4 Hawaii. MSU found itself up two games to one, before the Rainbow Wahine came back to take the match, 3-2. Michigan State closed out the tournament on Saturday night with No. 10 Southern California. After playing two-straight five-set matches, MSU ran out of energy as it fell, 3-0.

Junior Becca Zlabis earned all-tournament honors after recording 3.31 kills per set along with 2.69 digs per set. Zlabis recorded a career-high 21 kills in MSU's match against Hawaii.

History in the Making
MSU has won 37 consecutive home non-conference contests. The last loss occurred against Clemson in the MSU Volleyball Classic on Sept. 4, 1999. The streak began on Sept. 1, 2000, when the Spartans topped Rutgers, 3-0.

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 453.

Streaking It
MSU saw its 26 consecutive non-conference win streak come to an end in a 3-2 loss at No. 4 Hawaii. The streak started in 2008 when the Spartans won their last 10 matches and continued into 2009 when the Green and White won all 12 pre-conference matches. The Spartans started the 2010 season by winning their first four 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.

Illinois State Connection
Cathy George and Clemson's coach, Jolene Jordan-Hoover have known each other for several years. The two head coaches played together at Illinois State from 1983-85. Together, the two went to three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and compiled a recorded of 88-31 (.739) over their three seasons together. Jordan-Hoover player setter, while George was an outside hitter. George currently ranks second all-time in service aces (233) and third in both kills (1,595) and attempts (3,968) at ISU. Jordan-Hoover is sixth in total blocks (435) and eighth in assists (2,197).