SPORTS
Penn State on a roll after worst start in years
Last year’s game against Penn State still doesn’t sit well with MSU sophomore quarterback Jeff Smoker.
SPORTS
Cross country teams take 11th, 18th at NCAAs
The MSU men’s and women’s cross country teams placed 18th and 11th, respectively, at the 2001 National Championships in Greenville, S.C., on Monday. MSU freshman Chris Toloff paced the Spartan harriers, placing 54th with a time of 30:33 in the 10K race.
SOCCER
Ecstatic team wins first NCAA bid since 1969, faces Butler
For a team that didn’t know if they would be on the list, the expectations were high.The MSU men’s soccer team congregated at Trippers, 354 Frandor Ave.
ICE HOCKEY
Miller ignores Hobey talk, focuses on team play
Granted, it’s still early in the season, but Ryan Miller said the H-word hasn’t come up too much so far. Last season, the goaltender stormed through the regular season and set numerous team, conference and national records en route to winning the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s outstanding player. Now a junior, Miller is subject to the question that nags every underclassman who wins a major award... Can he do it again? “Some people were asking me before the season, before they saw what kind of team I have to play with,” Miller said last week.
VOLLEYBALL
Morley racks in awards
The wins keep on coming for the MSU volleyball team. But this time, it’s personal. Junior middle blocker Angela Morley was named the National Volleyball Player of the Week on Monday for her 31 kills and .558 hitting percentage in MSU’s weekend upsets of No 9.
FOOTBALL
Dowdell humbled in debut
Some players try to control their nerves by puking or taking naps before games. But all Damon Dowdell needed to shake his jitters in his first collegiate start was a love tap from Purdue defensive end Akin Ayodele.
BASKETBALL
Team drags to 72-62 OT victory
TV cameras weren’t around to witness this one.And that was probably a good thing - the MSU men’s basketball team didn’t feed the net until the 15:54 mark of the first half.
SPORTS
One win away from destiny
Do players and coaches realize how much a bowl game can mean to a fan? I’m not sure. But I know, (dramatic pause) I owe my life to one. Let me explain. In 1965 the MSU football team was phenomenal.
ICE HOCKEY
Miller reigns over RedHawks
Apparently new players and a fresh season don’t make much difference - at least not for MSU and Miami (Ohio).The fourth-ranked Spartans blanked Miami 3-0 on Friday and 2-0 on Saturday, extending their defensive dominance over the RedHawks (6-5-1 overall, 4-3-1 CCHA) to four straight games.MSU also shut out Miami twice last January - 1-0 and 5-0 - and the RedHawks haven’t scored against the Spartans in 292:07 minutes of hockey, dating to the first period of a 5-1 MSU win on March 11, 2000.All five games in the streak have been played at Munn Ice Arena.“I’m always surprised we get a shutout,” MSU head coach Ron Mason said.
SPORTS
Two Spartans grapple to second-place
The MSU wrestling team opened its season Saturday with the MSU Wrestling Open, where nine Spartans advanced to Sunday’s semifinals.
VOLLEYBALL
Stunning upsets elate Spartans
It’s the trip no volleyball team wants to make - traveling to No. 9 Ohio State and No. 13 Penn State on consecutive nights. Only three teams have ever survived the weekend with two wins.
SPORTS
Spartans bury Bruins in home tournament
The statistics didn’t look like those of a winning team.But with some unseemly numbers, the MSU women’s basketball teams beat Buffalo 50-42 and UCLA 67-63 to take first in the season-opening Spartan Chevrolet Classic on Friday and Saturday at Breslin Center.The team began the tournament at 8 p.m.
FOOTBALL
Dortch finally home from hospital, contemplating playing future
Sophomore cornerback Tyrell Dortch had a lot of time to think as he lay in a Madison, Wis. ,hospital bed for more than two weeks.
ICE HOCKEY
Miami weekend series first in cluster matchups
Miami (Ohio) rolls into East Lansing tonight with a high-octane offense and one of the CCHA’s premier players in forward Jason Deskins. But the RedHawks (6-3-1 overall, 4-1-1 CCHA), who finished second to MSU in the CCHA last year, were the pupils of a Spartan defensive clinic in the teams’ last meeting.
SPORTS
Womens hoops holds tourney
The MSU women’s basketball team will host the Spartan Chevrolet Classic for the 14th time on Friday and Saturday at Breslin Center. The tournament field includes Buffalo, Liberty, UCLA and MSU. Boston College won the tournament last year, downing MSU 63-61 in the championship game. Before last season’s championship game loss, the Spartans had won the tournament four consecutive years. MSU has advanced to the title game 12 of 13 years, its only first-round defeat coming in 1989 to the eventual champion, Kentucky. The first game sets Liberty against UCLA at 6 p.m.
BASKETBALL
Exhibition set for mens b-ball
The No. 15 MSU men’s basketball team has started 2-0 and still has one more exhibition game to tighten things up before the regular season continues. The Spartans play their second exhibition game of the year at 2 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL
Spartans prepared for Lady Lions, Buckeyes after losses
It isn’t just about the Big Ten anymore. When the Spartans (16-7, 9-7 Big Ten) travel to face No.
SPORTS
Mens swimming team slips by Toledo while women dominate Rockets 192-108
Not only did the men and women’s swimming teams defeat another Mid-American Conference team Tuesday against Toledo, but the women’s 200-medley relay broke the pool record with a time of 1:48.55. Going into Toledo, the women’s team had a three-meet winning streak and the team continued its dominance by winning 13 events to defeat the Rockets 192-108. The record setting 200-medley relay team, consisting of junior Kathryn Duncombe, freshman Jessica Henning, junior Heather Wellings and freshman Alicia Copestick, broke the old pool record by .67 seconds. Copestick helped the women’s team in other events as well, swimming on the 400-yard freestyle relay team that won, 3:35.11.
FOOTBALL
Pundits show no love for Boilermakers, pick Spartans again
It isn’t officially rivalry week until Grambling and Southern duel it out in the Battle of the Bands, but many big-time rivalries are this week, including Florida vs.