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Volleyball heads into weekend tournament to conclude non-conference play

September 21, 2019

Michigan State Volleyball (8-1) will travel to Kalamazoo this weekend to compete in the Delta Hotel by Marriott Kalamazoo Conference Center Tournament. The Spartans will take on Auburn (5-5) and IUPUI (4-8) on Friday, Sept. 20 and host Western Michigan (9-2) on Saturday, Sept. 21, marking the end of their non-conference play this season.

“We will be into the league next Wednesday so it's a very quick turnaround,” Head Coach Cathy George said in a press conference. “We are going into a pretty big challenge over at Western Michigan University as they’ve been playing extremely well and they bring in a nice field of teams.”

The green and white are coming off of a successful week, with two shut-out wins against Oakland (5-5) and North Carolina (1-7). However, despite the victories, George didn’t see the team as playing at their best.

“It was a good game, I thought we started slow, kind of a little bit stale at first. I wasn’t really pleased with the way we started off the match but I think we finished on a strong note,” George said regarding the teams match against North Carolina last Sunday.

As the team travels to Kalamazoo, George acknowledged she will be walking back on turf where she has “great memories,” since she coached the Broncos for 11 years prior to coming to Michigan State.This tournament will be the first time she returns back to Kalamazoo after leaving in 2005.

“We’re there to play and to do a job and to get after it. So, I have to keep my focus in there and make sure that the teams focus is where it needs to be for the weekend,” George said.

Following the conclusion of this weekend’s tournament, the Spartans will kick off Big Ten play at Penn State. “Any weakness you have will be exploited,” George said in regards to the start of conference play. “It’s fun, it’s great and its daunting. It's exhausting, its all those things but I love the competition that you see each and every night.”



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