With the completion of the annual Spartan Showcase tournament this past weekend at Jenison Field House, volleyball season officially is under way. The Spartans dominated, much as they have in the past, earning their ninth-straight Spartan Showcase title by defeating McNeese State, Youngstown State and Eastern Kentucky in the title match.
The No. 13 Spartans are three days from opening their season against No. 24 Boise State under the lights at Spartan Stadium, and for Dantonio, the excitement only is mounting.
Head coach Chris Petersen said the nationally televised matchup against the No. 13-ranked MSU football team (8:00 p.m., ESPN) will be one of the biggest challenges his team has faced in his six years as the Broncos’ head coach.
The final day of the MSU men’s soccer team’s (0-1-1) season-opening weekend kicked off with an MSU women’s soccer (3-1-0) game versus Cal State Fullerton. The women kept the game scoreless until halfway through the second half, when Cal State Fullerton netted one, finishing the game 1-0. Shortly after, the men took the field against the New Hampshire Wildcats (1-1-0), or UNH, meeting a similar fate as their female counterparts.
With 24 Spartan alumni on hand, the MSU women’s soccer team couldn’t handle Cal State Fullerton, as they fell 1-0.
The MSU men’s soccer team opened up the 2012 season with a 0-0 draw against Valparaiso Sunday at DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field.
The MSU women’s soccer team picked up their third win of the season after defeating Loyola 3-1 Friday at DeMartin Stadium at Old College Field.
The MSU volleyball team began its 2012 campaign on a high note after topping McNeese State, 3-0 in its season opener at Jenison Field House Friday night.
Surrounded by the trophies and accomplishments of past Spartan teams, head coach Mark Dantonio announced junior quarterback Andrew Maxwell, junior linebacker Max Bullough and senior linebacker Chris Norman will serve as the team’s captains going into the 2012 season.
With the first regular season game of the season Friday night, the MSU volleyball team has high hopes for what their young team can accomplish this season.
Even in returning a talent-heavy roster, there were doubts facing MSU women’s soccer coach Tom Saxton headed into the 2012 season. As is the case of any head coach who is forced to replace 11 players from a single team, there will be questions. And for Saxton, the questions are fairly obvious.
Blaring Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit In The Sky” — recalling memories of “Remember The Titans” — the MSU football team took to the practice field Friday morning for its final day of two-a-day practices during fall camp. And after two weeks of practice, things are beginning to fall into place for the Spartans.
Even with his history of placing MSU in marquee events, Mark Hollis might trump them all with his greatest scheduling triumph yet.
When MSU football head coach Mark Dantonio took the podium Tuesday evening at the “Meet the Spartans,”, talk of going to the Rose Bowl was on the tip of his tongue. “We continue to raise our goals as we move forward,” he said to the crowd.
Larry Nassar is the U.S. gymnastics national medical director and has traveled to four Olympics as the team physician.
Picking up right where they left off last season, the Spartan defense stole the show Sunday during MSU’s first jersey scrimmage of training camp by claiming a 74-54 victory over the offense using a modified scoring system.
In the case of junior safety Isaiah Lewis, it’s easy to wonder, “What if?” What if the referee in the inaugural Big Ten championship game last year didn’t flag him for running into the punter? What if he wasn’t instructed to go for the block? What if he had gotten a clean block and the Spartans had scooped up an easy touchdown to take the lead late in the game?
Speed. Size. Knowledgeable. Physical. Those are the words sophomore wide receiver Tony Lippett used to describe himself and the rest of the wideouts who enter this season with little to no experience.
Forty-six stretch. That was the play that permanently etched senior running back Larry Caper’s name into MSU football lore.
Junior quarterback Andrew Maxwell wants you to know he’s his own man. He isn’t going to try to be someone he’s not, replace any one player or step into another man’s shoes. Still, when his teammates look at him, they can’t help but be reminded of someone else.