When MSU women’s basketball head coach Suzy Merchant cast her vote on Tuesday morning, she encountered a broken ballot machine — a good representation of the week the Spartans had.
For MSU volleyball’s assistant coach Russ Carney, a day’s work might seem like something it would take an army of people to accomplish. But after 10-12 hours a day filled with coaching and tracking the team’s academics, housing situations and even parking on game days, Carney still can’t get enough of his job.
The last time Jay Chapman took the soccer field against Indiana, he walked away with his first collegiate hat trick and a 3-1 win for MSU men’s soccer (8-9-1 overall, 3-3-0 Big Ten). Chapman looks to have similar success as the Spartans open up the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday in Evanston, Ill., against the No. 22 Hoosiers at 1 p.m., Central time.
There are times when Tom Izzo wonders what MSU athletics director Mark Hollis has gotten him into. Traveling more than 4,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to open the No. 14 MSU men’s basketball season in Germany was one of those times.
For the past two years, sophomore center Madison Williams has been the biggest cheerleader for the MSU women’s basketball team during the game against Grand Valley State on Sunday afternoon, she was back at it again.
For the MSU volleyball team, the unsettling feeling in the stomach after a hard loss was starting to be a routine.
As it is, Branden Dawson has plenty of challenges heading into his second year with the MSU men’s basketball team. Coming off a major tear of his left anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, in March, along with the continued process of maturing his game to become one of the leaders for head coach Tom Izzo’s squad, the sophomore has plenty on his mind moving into the team’s first regular-season game against Connecticut.
It was an offensive explosion for the MSU women’s basketball team as it trounced Grand Valley State 83-36 in its final exhibition game of the season.
As soon as she heard the question, asking to sum up a week that saw two of her top players lost for the season with major injuries, Suzy Merchant sighed, closed her eyes and shook her head. “It was a rough week. It was probably the roughest week I’ve had in a long time,” Merchant said.
For the second consecutive weekend, the MSU hockey team (3-4-1 overall, 2-2-0 CCHA) split its weekend, walking away with a loss Friday night and a win Saturday.
It finally happened. After more than a month of tough losses in a challenging conference, the MSU volleyball team grabbed its first undefeated Big Ten weekend, topping Iowa and No. 4 Nebraska.
The MSU women’s basketball team never trailed, as they rolled over Grand Valley State, 83-36 in their final exhibition game.
After a week of injuries and lineup uncertainty the MSU women’s basketball team is looking to find cohesion in its exhibition finale Sunday afternoon. It was all MSU in the first half, with the Spartans dominating Grand Valley State from start to finish, leading 43-16 at halftime.
Allow me to set the scene. Junior cornerback Darqueze Dennard had just made a miraculous play to keep the ball out of the hands of Nebraska wideout Kenny Bell, forcing the No. 21 Cornhuskers to try a 37-yard field goal to send the game into overtime. Spartan Stadium erupted as the ball fell to earth, but hushed just seconds later, as a yellow piece of laundry did too.
Some might consider it sweet revenge for a loss on the gridiron. Others might say it was a stroke of luck, albeit one of great triumph. But regardless of the phrasing, the MSU volleyball team defeated No. 4 Nebraska in a thriller on Saturday at Jenison Field House. And, for what it’s worth, it certainly serves as head coach Cathy George and the team’s signature victory of the season.
It happened again. For the fourth time this year, the MSU football team (5-5 overall, 2-4 Big Ten) had its heart ripped out in the game’s final minute, with the latest gut-wrenching loss coming at the hands of No. 21 Nebraska (7-2, 4-1). The Cornhuskers stunned the Spartans 28-24 after junior quarterback Taylor Martinez found sophomore receiver Jamal Turner for a 5-yard touchdown pass with six seconds remaining.
Ann Arbor, Mich. – With the regular season Big Ten title on the line, MSU men’s soccer team lost 1-0 to Michigan in what was a classic rivalry game in Ann Arbor on Saturday night.
An 80-yard touchdown drive with 1:20 remaining helped No. 21 Nebraska (7-2 overall, 4-1 Big Ten) stun the MSU football team (5-5 overall, 2-4 Big Ten) 28-24 Saturday night at Spartan Stadium.
After a number of grind-it-out offensive struggles this season, offensive fireworks were on display as the MSU football team (5-4 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) and Nebraska (6-2, 3-1) head into the halftime locker room tied at 14.
When Tom Izzo looked into the stands Friday night he saw something unusual: his mother wearing a sweatshirt with the opposing team’s colors.