In its next step on the trek to the Big Ten, the MSU volleyball team (5-1) will challenge Notre Dame, South Carolina and No. 2 Southern Cal this weekend in the Gamecock Invitational in Columbia, S.C.
This tournament won't be a picnic, head coach Chuck Erbe said.
"I don't like to play a soft nonconference schedule," he said. "I don't think that prepares you for anything.
"I look at this as a great opportunity for our team to mature and to compete and to give them something to aspire to. When you play the best teams in the country, you want your players to aspire to that level."
If Hurricane Ivan takes a turn toward the Carolinas, there may be a change in plans for the tournament, Erbe said.
While the chance is small, a contingency plan was developed this week to move the invitational to Notre Dame's campus in South Bend, Ind., should remnants of the Category 5 hurricane make conditions unsafe for visiting teams flying into South Carolina.
Erbe said the week after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the team's flight was grounded and that weekend's invitational was canceled.
"It really had an impact on the rest of the season," Erbe said.
"We really needed that weekend of competition for our team.
"Everybody is of the same opinion that we need to play, we want to play."
The volleyball players wouldn't mind the switch, either.
"Personally, it'd be great," junior libero Marley Bellwood said.
"It'd be a short bus ride, more time to practice."
No matter where the game is played, this weekend's match against Notre Dame should be an interesting rivalry for freshman setter Maggie Griffin, who was actively pursued by the school before she chose MSU.
"I just felt the volleyball program here had my kind of volleyball," she said. "I've always wanted to play in the Big Ten."
Griffin also will oppose a close friend on the Fighting Irish, but it is not the first time she has been in this situation.
She also had several friends playing for the St. John's squad that visited East Lansing during the Coca-Cola/MSU Classic a few weeks ago.
But that adds an extra bonus when the Spartans come out with a victory, she said.
The Spartans will open the tournament this weekend against Notre Dame at 5 p.m. Friday. MSU will play South Carolina at noon Saturday and will battle USC at 11:30 p.m. Sunday.
