Enough with all these long drawn out tournaments. I'm tired of the Spartans volleyball team schooling these nonconference teams - let's get to the good stuff. Which, if you haven't noticed, is the real part of the schedule and it begins when they play rival Michigan at home on Sept.
The women's soccer team continues to excel on the defensive side of the ball, having allowed only two goals in the first six contests of the year. Senior defender Nina Mastracci said the team places an emphasis on defense everyday in practice and each game the team feels better about the progress being made. "We have an experienced back line this year and a great goalie backing us up," she said.
Things haven't started the way Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr envisioned. Coming into the season ranked No.
MSU head coach John L. Smith hasn't really had a true bandit since becoming head coach before the 2003 season. Now, in his third year, he may have finally found his man. Sophomore Sir Darean Adams has risen up and taken control of the spot. "I really like what he's done," Smith said. "The last two weeks, he's really focused and said 'I'm going to get better each day,' and that's the way he's taken the field.
The MSU men's soccer team split a pair of weekend games at the Michigan Invitational in Ann Arbor, defeating Long Island 2-1 on Friday before losing 1-0 to Louisville on Sunday. Sophomore forward Kenzo Webster scored off an assist from senior midfielder John Kaczmarek in the sixth minute on Friday to give MSU an early lead. Freshman forward Doug DeMartin then scored the eventual game winner less than six minutes later off a corner kick from senior midfielder Ryan McMahen. Long Island scored in the 86th minute, but couldn't get the equalizer. On Sunday, MSU outshot Louisville 14-6, but couldn't find the back of the net with either of the two shots that were on target. McMahen paced the Spartans with five total shots and had the only two shots on net. Louisville's goal was scored by back Frank Jonke in the 59th minute of play.
After a close match against Bowling Green Friday night, the MSU women's soccer team picked up its game and defeated Toledo 4-0 Sunday, despite high game-time temperatures. It also was the 20th anniversary for the Spartans which was celebrated during halftime.
Sorry, Jason Teague, you weren't missed. At least not by head coach John L. Smith. The senior running back was suspended indefinitely and did not dress Saturday in the Spartans' 42-14 win at Spartan Stadium. "He'll have some work to do," Smith said after the game. "Teague and I are having a father-son spat right now and usually the father wins." Teague worked his way back on the team - and into the starting lineup - for the season opener following an off-field incident.
The MSU field hockey team (6-1 overall) continued their early season success this past weekend with overtime wins against James Madison and St.
It's apparent MSU and Hawaii have a rivalry in the making. But it's too bad that six hours and more than 4,000 miles separate the Spartans from meeting the Warriors again, not to mention two years, which is when MSU travels to Hawaii. But maybe that's a good thing. Leading up to the game, the Spartans said there was a "payback factor" stemming from last season's loss at Hawaii, where they made the exhausting trip only to leave in heartbreak.
The MSU volleyball team didn't hang its heads long after suffering its first lost of the season in the Pizza Hut Jayhawk Invitational against host Kansas on Friday.
After an offseason of relentless questions about its ability, the MSU defense has put some critics to rest. With two games against teams with damaging passing attacks under its belt, the Spartans' defense has yielded just 28 points. Aided by the return of senior cornerback Jaren Hayes and the explosion of sophomore bandit Sir Darean Adams, the Spartans were largely able to shut down Hawaii. MSU head coach John L.
• What a weekend for football! Michigan lost. Ohio State lost. Iowa lost. The only thing that could have made it better would have been a commanding Spartans win.
After their success at home, the MSU volleyball team will kick off its six-game road trip at the Jayhawk Invitational, where the Spartans will compete against nonconference foes Temple Virginia Commonwealth and host Kansas for the Invitational title MSU head coach Cathy George is calling this "international flavor weekend" and believes it's going to be one of MSU's toughest tests of the young season, as the Spartans (4-0) face a wide variety of talent. "We play Temple first, and Temple is a team that has a lot of Chinese players on it," George said.
With a record of 1-0-1, the MSU men's soccer team is entering their second weekend of regular season play with a match at 4:30 p.m.
After a win and a tie last weekend against Texas A&M and Texas, the MSU women's soccer team (2-1-2) hopes to stay on a roll when they play Bowling Green State at 4 p.m.
After outscoring opponents 9-1 in its last three games, the MSU field hockey team looks to continue its success this weekend with home games against James Madison on Friday and St.
MSU has agreed to play a pair of neutral-site men's basketball games with Texas Tech, including one at Ford Field, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reports. The Spartans will play in Dallas on Dec.
After a win against UMass and a tie against Denver, the MSU men's soccer team is getting into the flow of the season and preparing for its weekend tournament. Those games were the only ones the Spartans (1-0-1) will have to play back to back, and even though it took a physical toll on the team, head coach Joe Baum said there are positives to playing two games close together. "Going through the physical demands of playing two games in two days - we got through that, and that will help us from a physical and preparation standpoint," he said. The Spartans face Long Island on Friday in the U-M Tournament in Ann Arbor. Baum said the freshmen are fitting in well, making an immediate contribution.
Isaiah Dahlman, a 6-foot-6 swingman from Braham, Minn. has verbally agreed to play basketball with MSU starting next season. Dahlman, a senior in high school, averaged 28 points, six rebounds and five assists last season and led his team to a 33-0 record and the Minnesota Class 2A title. He is the first commitment MSU men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo has secured from the class of 2006. "He's definitely a top 100 player," said Chris Monter, midwest recruiting analyst for the recruiting service Collegebasketballnews.com.
The first week of the NFL season is upon us and that means the return of fantasy football. Here are a list of this week's studs, duds and sleepers. Studs: • QB Brett Favre, Green Bay at Detroit, 4:15 p.m.