As the MSU volleyball team gets ready to start the second half of the Big Ten season, it only needs to look back to last weekend's play for confidence.
For the first week in the Big Ten, the Spartans (13-7 overall, 5-5 Big Ten) did not lose a match 3-0. They did lose 3-1 to Minnesota on Saturday in Minneapolis, but the Spartans played well in two of the four games.
"I think there were a lot of positives from that match," senior libero Emmy Miller said. "We watched film yesterday and (head coach) Chuck (Erbe) did point out the positives."
One positive was the energy MSU received from the bench. After losing game two, 30-15, the Spartans could not get it together and lost game three by the same score. Erbe went to his bench looking for answers.
He found them from junior outside hitter Diana Steplyk.
"What was really nice to see was in game four we had a lot of fight in us," Erbe said. "I give Diana Steplyk a lot of credit for that. Di came in in game four and gave us an emotional lift, which carried us."
The Spartans fell in game four, but by playing well against Minnesota, they finally might have something to build on.
MSU has to come to some realizations. As Erbe put it, they probably won't win the Big Ten with five losses. Last season, five losses were good for second place in the conference. This season, it looks like that could be the case again.
"I have to be realistic, our team has to be realistic and the focus now has to be the NCAA Tournament," Erbe said.
Exit stage right
MSU left the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll for the first time this season.
For 10 weeks, the nine regular season polls and the preseason poll, MSU has been anywhere from No. 14 to No. 25 in the rankings. After the team's fifth straight 1-1 week, the Spartans dropped out of the top 25.
MSU did garner 63 votes, good enough for the psuedo-ranking No. 27, as one of 11 other teams receiving votes.
Kopka injury update
A little more than a month ago, junior outside hitter Michelle Kopka was taken out of the lineup due to an unknown back injury.
Now Kopka might be out for the rest of the season, due to the seriousness of the injury she suffered. It wound up being a stress fracture in her lower back, but the MSU staff could not have predicted the severity of the injury.
"There is no positive update on Michelle," Erbe said. "My understanding is when you have a stress fracture in the sacrum, it is a very slow healing process."
With only a month remaining on the 2003 MSU volleyball season, Kopka will take things slow and only return if she is 100 percent healthy.
Around the Big Ten
The two hottest teams in the Big Ten are No. 23 Minnesota (15-7, 8-2) and No. 25 Illinois (17-3, 8-2). Both are tied for the conference lead with No. 20 Wisconsin (16-5, 8-2), which currently is on a four-game winning streak. .
The Fighting Illini are ranked for the first time this season and are riding a six-game winning streak. They are the only Big Ten team with three losses but haven't been ranked because of a weak nonconference schedule. That won't matter, however, if the Illini take home the Big Ten title this season.
Minnesota is the hottest team in the conference, winning eight straight after dropping its two opening Big Ten matches. The Golden Gophers were last season's champions, but it didn't look as if they would repeat after a 7-7 overall start. They turned the tide quickly and have been untouchable in the past month. If Minnesota wins the title outright, it would be the third team to do so in the past six years. Wisconsin did it in 2000-01 and Penn State did it two years earlier.
