Despite all the ups and downs, the No. 22 MSU volleyball team still is in the running for this year's Big Ten title.
The Spartans (12-6 overall, 4-4 Big Ten) not only need a win, but also must win more than one game in a row. MSU hasn't won two straight games since winning two in a day at the American Volleyball Classic in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 20.
"I'm just waiting for the weekend where we can go 2-0," head coach Chuck Erbe said. "We really need that."
Heading into this week's matches, MSU sits two games behind four teams atop the Big Ten, including the Spartans' Saturday opponent, No. 25 Minnesota (13-7, 6-2). No. 15 Penn State (17-3, 6-2), No. 23 Wisconsin (14-5, 6-2) and Illinois (15-3, 6-2) join the Gophers as co-leaders after four weeks of conference play. Just one game back from those teams are Purdue (12-6, 5-3) and Michigan (13-6, 5-3). Both teams swept MSU earlier this season.
Of the six teams ahead of the Spartans, MSU has beaten only one (Wisconsin) and has lost four of the other five. The Spartans have taken advantage of the four teams below them, going 3-0 against them. A match at Iowa (5-13, 0-8) is coming up this Friday.
A win over lowly Iowa on Friday would be the Spartans' second in a row after beating Northwestern (11-9, 2-6) last Saturday and surely would re-energize the team.
"It will be important for us to get a Friday win," senior libero Emmy Miller said. "Iowa is always a tough place to play, though. But if we play our game on Friday, that will give us momentum going into Saturday."
The stage has been set for an interesting second half of the Big Ten.
A change with the season
Since summer changed to fall, the Spartans have fallen in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll every week.
The Spartans started the fall season ranked No. 14. After a two-week stay there, the team has dropped in each of the past three weeks. The Spartans dropped to No. 16 after splitting games with U-M and Wisconsin, fell to No. 18 after another 1-1 weekend against Purdue and Indiana and then to No. 22 in Monday's new rankings.
Three, two, one
After eight conference matches, MSU has a trio of players near the top of three different categories.
Junior outside hitter Kim Schram is averaging 4.55 kills per game, good enough for third in the conference. Senior setter Nikki Colson is second in assists in the Big Ten, averaging 13.21 assists per contest.
Senior middle and preseason All-Big Ten selection Jenny Rood has lived up to the honor so far, leading the conference in hitting percentage with a .388 average. Rood has been MSU's best hitter of the year, with an overall average of .378.
The .600 club
MSU only has one player who has hit for .600 or better (6 kills minimum) in a match all season. Sophomore middle Brooke Langston, who had to switch positions midway through the season, is the only player to accomplish the feat.
Not only has she done it once, but she did it in two matches against Indiana (Oct. 11) and Illinois (Oct. 17).
Against Indiana, Langston hit an even .600 with 11 kills. She followed up her efforts against the Hoosiers with a better effort against Illinois, hitting .643 with 10 kills and only one error in the match.
