SPORTS

Ohio State looks to extend perfect season

No. 4 Ohio State at Wisconsin The Buckeyes tote an unscathed record to Camp Randall Stadium this weekend, flying high after punishing San Jose State, 50-7, Saturday. In three and a half quarters of action, signal caller Craig Krenzel set career highs in both passing yards (241) and touchdowns (3). Tailback Maurice Clarett added another eye-popping performance against the Spartans with 132 yards and 18 carries to head the Buckeyes’ offense, along with two rushing and one receiving touchdowns.

VOLLEYBALL

WEB ONLY: Volleyball team sets itself for Wisconsin, Northwestern

Chris Mackinder

October 18, 2002

Slowly, the No. 23 Spartans have been trying to figure out what has gone wrong this season. They started out the season as the 15th-ranked volleyball team in the nation and were ranked as high as 12th.

SPORTS

Saginaw native impresses Big Ten with legs

Andrew Fifer

October 18, 2002

It’ll be a homecoming for more than just MSU alumni this weekend. Minnesota’s running back Terry Jackson will have about 50 friends and family coming to watch him play at Spartan Stadium on Saturday. The Saginaw native returns to the Great Lakes State to play about 80 miles from the high school where he won a state championship.

ICE HOCKEY

Comley keeps emotions in check for homecoming

James Jahnke

October 18, 2002

Rick Comley has been through this before. “When we went down to Lake Superior - I can still remember to this day - they did the introductions, the teams were lined up, they introduced me as Northern’s head coach and everybody in the building booed,” Comley said.

SPORTS

Football polls select perennial powers as well as a few surprises

Take a glance at The Associated Press Top 25 poll. Notice anything interesting? Year after year, the Top 25 is sprinkled with the perennial powerhouses such as Florida State, Texas and Tennessee.

SPORTS

Under the scope

Krista Latham  and  Kristofer Karol

October 18, 2002

MSU football fans aren’t happy. Alumni are grumbling, fan mail has soured and administrators are quick to defend head coach Bobby Williams and to chide frustrated fans.

SPORTS

Spartans need to stand behind coach in time of crisis

Tell that roommate, you know, the one who eats your Fritos and drinks your Labatt’s, to clean off your dishes - the ones your mother gave you from your home.

SOCCER

WEB ONLY: Spartans fall to Note Dame, battle Penn State this weekend

Dawn Klemish

October 18, 2002

The road has not been kind to the men’s soccer team. After compiling a 7-2 overall record, MSU has dropped three out of four games on its month-long road trip, the most recent a 2-0 loss at No.

SPORTS

Pigskin Prognosticators

Basically, your favorite Pigskin Prognosticators took a page from the Spartans and tanked last weekend. McSkinny (18-15) finished 2-3 and gained a game on Death Ro (20-13), whose 1-4 mark was his worst of the season. Both let their Green-and-White blood cloud their thinking, but only McSkinny was able to quell his hatred for the Wolverines. But as the conference schedules heat up and more top 25 teams face off, the race for No.

SPORTS

Lovett steps up as a No. 2

Eric Mckinney

October 18, 2002

There are many unanswered questions surrounding the Spartan football team. But the question as to who is MSU’s No.

ICE HOCKEY

Coach urges team to turn up the volume

James Jahnke

October 17, 2002

Rarely does a 55-year-old man want a bunch of college kids to play their music louder.But that’s one of the things head coach Rick Comley still is trying to get his 10th-ranked hockey team (1-1-0) to do in his first year at the helm.Comley wants noise.

VOLLEYBALL

Injury bug depletes Spartans

Chris Mackinder

October 17, 2002

A rash of injuries have left the No. 23 Spartans dealing with more physical pains then they’d like to this season. For the second straight weekend and fifth straight game, junior outside hitter Sara Villwock was sidelined nursing an injured left foot. Prior to Villwock’s injury, she led the team with 113 kills total, she also was the team’s biggest defensive threat, digging 3.29 balls per game. Her presence has been felt on the bench, but it has lacked on the floor - where the Spartans have been hurting.

SPORTS

A grueling goal pays off with lifetime of memories

It was my dream. A dream that I told people about just so they would tell me I was crazy. So, for the last two years, I’d prepared for one of the most grueling, but fulfilling events ever created.

FOOTBALL

Spartans look forward to second half of season

Andrew Fifer

October 17, 2002

The season for the MSU football team has not developed the way anyone could have imagined. The Spartans (3-3 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) have dropped three of their last four games - two of which have been blowout losses. “We’re not anywhere near where we should be or where I expected this team to be,” head coach Bobby Williams said at a Tuesday press conference.

BASEBALL

Team scrimmages for last time, prepares for upcoming season

Chris Mackinder

October 17, 2002

The San Francisco Giants and the Anaheim Angels aren’t the only teams playing baseball this deep into October.The MSU baseball team took the field Wednesday afternoon for the last time this year in the final game of the three game Green/Gray World Series.In the contest, the Gray team came out victorious with some last inning heroics.

BASKETBALL

Healthy Spartans work better

Andrew Fifer

October 16, 2002

Last season, the MSU men’s basketball team lacked enough healthy bodies for intense practices. The Spartans had just eight scholarship athletes on the roster and various injuries - including redshirt junior forward Adam Wolfe’s season-ending injury - forcing walk-ons and others to play minutes they had not earned. Head coach Tom Izzo said practices were played “safe.” This fall, the first three days of practices have been more to Izzo’s liking.

ICE HOCKEY

Team downsizes, falls 3 in rankings

James Jahnke

October 16, 2002

Hockey head coach Rick Comley’s ax finally fell last week, and little-used junior defenseman Mike Porter took the brunt of it. Porter, a 6-foot, 185-pounder, was cut from the MSU team to fulfill Comley’s wish for a 26-man active roster. The 23-year-old Northville native played three games last season, but didn’t register any statistics.

SOCCER

Mens soccer scores victory over Michigan

Dawn Klemish

October 15, 2002

MSU defeated Big Ten rival Michigan 2-1 Sunday in Ann Arbor. With the victory, the Spartans jumped to 8-4 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten, while the Wolverines fell to 4-6-1, 0-3. After an equal first half where each team registered six shots on goal, senior forward Brett Konley broke the tie, floating one past Michigan goalkeeper Joe Zawacki at the 66:36 mark. Two minutes later MSU struck again, this time on a header from junior midfielder Jeff Krass to put the Spartans up by two. MSU faces Notre Dame in its next matchup at 8 p.m.

SPORTS

Field Hockey forward earns Big Ten honor

Sophomore forward Michelle Carstens was awarded Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors Monday after netting three goals in weekend action. The first tally came Saturday in a 5-1 victory over Indiana (3-9 overall, 1-2 Big Ten). Carstens went on to strike twice Sunday during a heated matchup against No.

SPORTS

Mens tennis finishes with six doubles wins

Dawn Klemish

October 15, 2002

The Spartans finished the Minnesota Invitational this weekend with six doubles wins. Two doubles teams, seniors Adam Hourani and Jimmy McGuire, and sophomore Anthony Stefani and freshman Mike Brown, each collected two victories in the tournament on Sunday. The Spartans will travel next to Madison, Wis., after 10 days of rest to compete in the Omni Hotels Region IV Tournament.