As the MSU volleyball team closes its season on the road at Northwestern and No. 18 Illinois, they will focus on getting healthy and playing well in preparation for the NCAA Tournament.
"I think that win (over Iowa) pretty much puts us in the NCAA Tournament, especially with the schedule that we've played," head coach Chuck Erbe said. "I'm not going to leave anything to chance, though, on our trip this weekend to Northwestern and Illinois. We need nothing less than a split this weekend."
Despite the win over Iowa (6-22 overall, 1-17 Big Ten), rumors of already being in the NCAA Tournament and crippling injuries, the Spartans (19-9, 11-7) still want to play well and get two wins this weekend.
"It's really important that we just focus on our game, and we're really competitive, even though we have injuries," sophomore middle Megan Wallin said.
The main thing for MSU will not only be to win a match but to stay healthy. The team is confident the players who have been sitting on the sidelines with injuries will be able to practice more than they have been the past few weeks.
In their Monday coaches' meeting, Erbe and his assistants discussed the injury situation and said the three players who had been out, senior setter and co-captain Nikki Colson, senior middle Jenny Rood and junior outside hitter Sara Villwock, would be day-by-day decisions.
Erbe said Colson's tendinitis in her knee has been feeling better this weekend, and although Villwock's foot is unstable, she is expected to finish out the season.
Both weekend opponents present challenges to the Spartans. They face the Big Ten's biggest front line in Illinois (23-5, 14-4), headed by 6-foot-5 Lisa Argabright.
The last time the two teams played, Illinois came to Jenison Field House and swept the Spartans 3-0 with Argabright leading the way. This time around, MSU is looking for the tides to turn.
"With Illinois beating us in three games at home, we have a little bit of pride to get back on Saturday," sophomore libero Marley Bellwood said. "Hopefully, we can play a lot better than our first showing against them and beat Northwestern again."
The Spartans are not overlooking the Wildcats (17-13, 8-10), even though they lost both of their matches last weekend. MSU knows anything can happen, especially when Purdue started 4-1 in the conference before losing nine straight conference matches.
The Spartans are tied with Wisconsin for fourth place in the conference going into this weekend's matches. If MSU wins both its matches, it guarantees itself a tie for fourth, which would duplicate what the team accomplished two years ago, when it finished in a tie for fourth place with 13-7 conference record.
