The scores may have been too close for comfort for the MSU volleyball team, but the Spartans still managed to extend their winning streak to nine games on Saturday night when they defeated Central Michigan.
Football leagues such as the XFL, NFL Europe and the United States Football League, or USFL, have tried, and ultimately failed to challenge the NFL for football supremacy over the years, but now another league is trying to break onto the football scene with a different objective.
The State News caught up with sophomore forward Lauren Hill. Hill and the women’s soccer team will host Eastern Michigan at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Old College Field.
Prior to Saturday’s game, MSU was the least penalized team in the Big Ten, but its 125 penalty yards against Pittsburgh accomplished a feat the Spartans had not reached in three seasons.
The Spartans have said their schedule only gets tougher as the year goes on – Saturday’s 17-13 victory over Pittsburgh was a testament to that statement.
Senior linebacker Sir Darean Adams started 23 consecutive games for the Spartans, but that streak came to a halt when he took a back seat to redshirt freshman Jon Misch for MSU’s season opener two weeks ago against UAB.
The dead bolt has been cut from the cage, and the dogs of the MSU defense are out hounding opposing quarterbacks this season. Bowling Green quarterback Tyler Sheehan felt the bite last Saturday, getting sacked seven times – giving MSU 12 total sacks in two games. Last season, the Spartans ended with only 16.
While junior wide receiver Devin Thomas was busy fielding questions from the media about his four catch, 156-yard performance that included a touchdown last Saturday against Bowling Green, senior defensive end Ervin Baldwin made the receiver who was almost impossible to stop do just that.As Baldwin was exiting the press trailer, he exclaimed “showtime,” referring to Thomas’ nickname. The interjection prompted several questions aimed at the Spartans’ new big play threat.
Coming off a tough overtime loss to Lehigh on Sunday, the MSU women’s soccer team was looking for a rebound performance Wednesday against Detroit Mercy. They got it.
The first chapter of Lauren Hill and Lauren Sinacola’s MSU careers couldn’t have been scripted any better. As freshmen, Hill and Sinacola finished one-two in goals and points for the Spartans and were both selected to the Big Ten All-Freshman team.
Sweep. That is the story once again for the MSU women’s volleyball team which swept Eastern Michigan, 3-0, Tuesday night.
Men’s soccer coach Joe Baum has had a lengthy and storied career as a player and coach at MSU. As both a player and a coach, he has won championships. His players have received too many accolades to count, but Sunday Baum earned an accolade of his own, becoming just the second Big Ten coach to reach the 300-win mark.
Freshman Jantine Steinmetz has been named Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week for her efforts in both weekend match-ups against Lindenwood and Saint Louis. This marks the second consecutive week that a member of the MSU field hockey team has earned this award.
Freshman Jenilee Rathje was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts in the Harvard Invitational this past weekend.
MSU alumni and former members of the women’s golf team Emily Bastel and Allison Fouch finished as the top two money leaders in the 2007 Duramend Futures Tour, earning their tour exemption for the 2008 LPGA season.
While Pittsburgh will come to Spartan Stadium looking to avenge last year’s loss to MSU, the Spartans are looking to get a little retribution of their own for head coach Mark Dantonio. In Dantonio’s three years as Cincinnati’s head coach, he never beat its Big East opponent Pittsburgh — losing 33-15 in 2006 and 38-20 the year before.
With an 0-2 start, no bowl wins since the 2002 Outback Bowl and a never-ending underground movement for his removal, Michigan football head coach Lloyd Carr is likely done after this season as King of the Rodents.
Two close games turned out two different results for the MSU women’s soccer team on their weekend road trip. The Spartans managed a split on their trip out East, beating Penn 1-0 Friday and dropping 2-1 to Lehigh in overtime Sunday.