After an 11-game preseason, it’s finally here. The Big Ten volleyball season has arrived, and it’ll start off with a bang. No. 15 MSU will take on No. 1 Penn State Friday and No. 13 Ohio State on Sunday.
This is the game that could put the MSU men’s soccer team on the map. The Spartans (4-1-0 overall) travel to Omaha, Neb. to take on No. 5 Creighton (5-1-0) at 8 p.m. tonight. Creighton is ranked second in the nation by topdrawersoccer.com.
It was difficult to tell what was more troubling for the Spartans early Saturday evening.
Nine days ago, Mark Dantonio officially named Connor Cook MSU’s starting quarterback. Following a 55-17 thrashing of Youngstown State, it was an admission by football head coach Dantonio and the MSU staff the sophomore quarterback Cook gives the Spartans the best chance to win games, thus ending weeks of quarterback uncertainty.
In addition to winning MVP honors in MSU’s 3-0 sweep of the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational, senior outside hitter Lauren Wicinski reached a major milestone.
In the wake of a week that saw the MSU men’s soccer team come away with a pair of wins, the team now is doing something it’s not used to — nothing at all. The five-day break between the Spartans’ (4-1-0) 1-0 win against Bowling Green, Sept. 18, at DeMartin Stadium and their trip to Omaha, Neb. to take on No. 5 Creighton Tuesday is the second-longest of the season.
Another week, another sweep. The Spartans (11-1 overall) won the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational last weekend. The wins over Eastern Michigan, Duquesne and Cincinnati come a week after sweeping the Butler Invitational.
After a shaky win against Duquesne earlier in the day, MSU (11-1 overall) bounced back to beat Cincinnati, 3-0 (25-11, 25-14, 25-19) to take the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational title.
South Bend, Ind. — A game that was supposed to bring clarity was instead characterized by confusion. MSU lost to rival Notre Dame for the third straight year in a game all parties involved probably wish they could redo, at least in some capacity.
South Bend, Ind. – Andrew Maxwell stepped on the field with a chance. Facing defeat at the hands of No. 22 Notre Dame, the senior quarterback opened the final drive of the game on MSU’s 33-yard line and an uphill battle to the end zone.
Two teams at a crossroads. Only one can survive.
Duquesne ended MSU’s run of 17 undefeated sets, but with the help of freshman outside hitter Chloe Reinig’s promising debut, the Spartans ultimately prevailed.
Sixteen straight home non-conference wins, 16 straight undefeated sets, 16 kills from senior outside hitter Lauren Wicinski. It’s a night of victory — and a night of 16’s — for the streaking Spartans.
MSU believes it finally found the proper recipe on offense with a guy named Cook. The ingredients came together in the last of three appetizer matchups to start the season a week ago.
Sept. 22, 2007. That was the day it started for Nick Hill. On a visit to the campus of the University of Notre Dame, Hill took in a viewing of the 71st annual rivalry game between MSU and Notre Dame.
Zach Bennett is a wall. In five games for the men’s soccer team (4-1-0 overall), the sophomore goalkeeper has four shutouts, bringing his career total to seven. The .80 shutout percentage is in the top 10 in the country.
In the last weekend before Big Ten play commences, the No. 14 MSU volleyball team (8-1 overall) will host Eastern Michigan, Duquesne and Cincinnati at Jenison Field House at the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational. It could be a big weekend for senior outside hitter Lauren Wicinski, who is 10 kills away from reaching the 2,000 kill career milestone.
After a rain delay just a few minutes into the MSU women’s soccer match against Nebraska, the Cornhuskers came out to secure a 1-0 win and hand MSU its first loss of the season. Nebraska freshman Jaycie Johnson gave the Cornhuskers (5-2-1 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) their first goal from 13 yards out in the 12th minute, which turned out to be the difference maker.
First-year assistant softball coach Charles Fobbs, 47, died yesterday afternoon in a single-car rollover accident. Police report the accident occurred around 6:30 p.m.
If there ever was an unofficial date in the minds of MSU players and coaches to end the quarterback drama and right the ship offensively, it would be Sept.