Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Take a peek behind the curtain and test drive the NEW StateNews.com today!

Multimedia

VOLLEYBALL

Column: Volleyball seeing season turnaround

In the past couple weeks, a storybook season for the volleyball team steadily declined into anything but. After being ranked No. 5, winning six-straight matches at the start of Big Ten play and posting the best start to the season since 1996, the Spartans (17-5 overall, 6-4 Big Ten) lost the fire that enabled them to topple some of the top teams in the nation.

WOMEN'S SOCCER

No Big Ten Tourney again for women's soccer

For the second-consecutive season, the MSU women’s soccer team will not make a trip to the Big Ten Tournament. After a 2-1 victory at Northwestern on Friday to stay in the hunt for a tournament berth, the Spartans (9-7-2 overall, 3-7-0 Big Ten) couldn’t find a way to win against Illinois (9-7-2, 4-5-1), losing 2-0 Sunday afternoon.

ICE HOCKEY

One win, one loss in weekend for Spartan icers

One win against a top-15 opponent, and two players scoring their first collegiate goal. Overall, it was a good weekend for the MSU hockey team (1-3 overall). MSU lost to preseason No. 1, and currently No. 18-ranked UMass-Lowell Friday night before scoring three goals in the third period to upset No. 13 Boston University on Saturday.

MSU

Student organization looking to engage more Hispanics into engineering fields

Everyone comes to MSU with different incentives in mind. Students choose majors based on different reasons, but when MSU administrators and faculty members noticed a growing trend of minorities lacking degrees in science, math, engineering and technology, or STEM, they made it their mission to take action. At MSU, African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Pacific Islanders typically makeup about 11 percent of STEM fields at a freshmen level and only six percent actually graduate in the STEM fields, said Associate Dean for Engineering Undergraduate Studies Thomas Wolff.

NEWS

MSU police looking into unarmed robbery

MSU police are investigating an unarmed robbery that occurred at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday near Holmes Hall. Early Sunday morning, officers responded to a call from a male student saying his cell phone was taken from him, according to an MSU police crime alert.

FEATURES

Balloons released for breast cancer awareness

The sky above the rock on Farm Lane was covered with pink Sunday in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The Sigma Lambda Gamma sorority held a balloon release, each carrying a message of encouragement and awareness, to raise money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

ICE HOCKEY

MSU hockey rallies to beat Boston, 3-1

Three goals in the third period lifted the MSU hockey team to a 3-1 upset of No. 14 Boston University Saturday night. Goals from junior forward Bent Darnell and freshman forward Joe Cox were the difference as the Spartans (1-3 overall) won their first game of the season.

VOLLEYBALL

Volleyball: Indiana downs struggling Spartans

After a hot start to the season, the volleyball team is reeling. With a loss to Indiana (9-12 overall, 1-9 Big Ten) in five sets (17-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-21, 12-15) on Saturday night, the volleyball team (17-5, 6-4) has now lost four straight Big Ten matches after a 6-0 start to conference play.

SPORTS

Column: Cook had cinematic bounce-back after rough Purdue outing

CHAMPAIGN, ILL. – Connor Cook’s performance in Saturday’s 42-3 win at Illinois was something straight out of a movie. Not in the traditional hero-versus-villain sense, although it wouldn’t surprise me if he was hiding a cape beneath that white MSU jersey with the record-setting day he had throwing the ball.

SPORTS

Field hockey has Senior Day spoiled by Northwestern

The field hockey team (8-9 overall, 3-2 Big Ten) dropped its second straight game Saturday night, losing to No. 13 Northwestern, 2-1. Despite the loss, it was a day of celebration for the seniors. It was Senior Day, and goalkeeper Molly Cassidy, midfielder Kristen Henn, midfielder Katherine Jamieson, midfielder Adelle Lever and midfielder Mallory McDonagh played their last game at Ralph Young Field.

SPORTS

Orange crushed

CHAMPAIGN, ILL. — Connor Cook was at a crossroad. Coming off an underwhelming passing performance in a 14-0 victory against hapless Purdue, the sophomore quarterback spent the week answering questions of whether he had regressed, or perhaps if the offense ever actually progressed in the first place. A tedious and tiring project, Cook stood in defense of a team once briefly met with praise on the offensive side of the ball, knowing one play could turn the tide.

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Women's soccer takes down Northwestern in tough conditions

Despite difficult playing conditions and winds up to 20 miles per hour, the MSU women’s soccer team beat Northwestern, 2-1, in Evanston, Ill., on Friday night. MSU (9-6-2 overall, 3-6-0 Big Ten) quickly fell behind the Wildcats (3-12-2, 1-8-0) when, in the 15th minute, Northwestern midfielder Margo McGinty shot from 18 yards out and got it past Gauruder in the top left corner of the net. Head coach Tom Saxton said the Wildcats got the best of them physically in the early going and got better position than the Spartans.