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Sports | Football 1000

FOOTBALL

QB continues family's tradition

The family business. It's a phrase that suggests a particular family's specialty, cultivated through years of hard labor and dedication. MSU redshirt freshman quarterback Stephen Reaves is now beginning to make a name for himself in his family's business - football.

BASEBALL

Lugnuts announce new deal with Blue Jays

The Lansing Lugnuts officially ended their six-year relationship with the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, announcing a new affiliation with the Toronto Blue Jays. With the new two-year agreement, the Lugnuts will be the Blue Jays' Class A minor league affiliate in the Midwest League effective for the 2005 season. Rumors about the switch have been circulating for about a week but Lugnuts officials declined to confirm them until Tuesday.

SPORTS

Wallin shines, breaks record

It's a good thing for the MSU volleyball team (5-1) that junior middle Megan Wallin likes a good fight. The 6-foot-3-inch Florida native has come out swinging this season, already breaking school and career records in the first two weeks of the season. "I thrive on competition - it doesn't matter if it's volleyball or a card game," Wallin said. During the Coca-Cola/MSU Volleyball Invitational, Wallin broke a school record after a .929 hitting percentage and had 13 kills, earning her a spot on the invitational's All-Tournament Team.

FOOTBALL

Receivers key in rivalry with Irish

The MSU-Notre Dame rivalry has a way of putting wide receivers in the limelight. Charles Rogers, Herb Haygood and Arnaz Battle are among the receivers whose names recently have been carved into history. As the Spartans attempt to beat the Irish for the seventh time in eight years at 7 p.m.

FOOTBALL

Smith names Reaves starter

MSU head coach John L. Smith named redshirt freshman Stephen Reaves as his starting quarterback for Saturday's game against Notre Dame. For now. "That's the way it is today," Smith said.

VOLLEYBALL

Spartans place 2nd in tourney

It was a never-say-die attitude that pulled the MSU volleyball team (5-1) to take second in this weekend's Green Mill Restaurant Classic in Wichita, Kan., after losing only one match, head coach Chuck Erbe said. Although the team fell to No.

SPORTS

Team claims second in tournament, Kent. 1st

The MSU men's golf team finished second at the 2004 Inverness Intercollegiate in Toledo, Ohio. The Spartans held a four-stroke lead entering Saturday's final round and shot a final round score of 304 for a three-round score of 885 (294-287-304). Kentucky took top honors with a three-round score of 877 (296-289-292). The team returns to action at the Central Regional Challenge, September 17-19 in South Bend, Ind.

FOOTBALL

Central running back ties 90-yard run record vs. 'U'

In the 2004 Central Michigan football media guide, running back Jerry Seymour lists former Detroit Lion and recently-inducted Hall of Famer Barry Sanders as his sports hero. The way Seymour danced around the Spartans' defense Saturday, he certainly showed a hint of Sanders' improvisational running style.

SPORTS

Greedy NCAA needs to pay its athletes

If you turned on the television last Saturday to engulf yourself in the first full week of college football, you might have noticed that Colorado was missing a key element to its football team. That's because earlier this summer, the NCAA denied speedy Colorado wide receiver Jeremy Bloom's request to continue playing football at the collegiate level.

SOCCER

'U' hopes to extend streak

As the MSU men's soccer team enters Sunday's game versus Dayton with a 3-0 record, the Spartans will be without Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week's Jordan Gruber. "I kind of pulled my groin, but now they're thinking it might be a hernia," the senior midfielder said.

SPORTS

Spikers prepare for 1st road trip

The MSU volleyball team has more to prove this weekend in the Green Mill Restaurant Classic at Wichita State in Kansas. The Spartans will be facing stronger competition in the weeks ahead such as Arkansas, Wichita State and Washington, head coach Chuck Erbe said. "The bar's going to be at a higher level, and we're going to have to play better this coming weekend," Erbe said. Among the biggest areas that the Spartans need to improve upon include diversifying combinations, hitting off the block and timing back court attacks, Erbe said. MSU (3-0) put up high numbers in its season and home opener last weekend and currently lead the Big Ten with a .347 hitting percentage an average of 3.28 blocks per game. The Spartans were second to Minnesota with 17.89 kills and 16.33 assists per game. But those numbers won't make up for serious errors in the future, said senior outside hitter Kim Schram.