As the No. 18 MSU volleyball team travels to Chicago this weekend and looks to improve on its 6-0 start, it can draw on experiences from last season as a guide.
If the No. 7 MSU field hockey team thought it would get a break after playing the first two weekends on the road against quality opponents, it isn’t about to get one. The Spartans will embark on arguably their hardest road trip of the young season as they square off with No. 9 Old Dominion Saturday and No. 8 Syracuse on Sunday, both at Syracuse.
It was the complete opposite of what typically goes on behind the scenes of the MSU athletics department. Mark Hollis — MSU athletics director, mastermind behind the “Basketbowl” and “Cold War” and the man who wants to play basketball on an aircraft carrier — raised his eyebrows at an unconventional idea.
For the MSU volleyball team, defense starts with a capital K. That’s because the Spartans defense is anchored in part by the sister duo of Allyson and Mandi Karaba, who were born about 10 months apart and have helped lead the way to a 6-0 start for MSU. Allyson, a junior libero, was named the tournament MVP for this past weekend’s Cleveland State Invitational, which the Spartans won by winning all three of their games.
Cara Freeman will play anywhere for the MSU women’s soccer team. The junior played forward in high school, is now playing outside midfielder for MSU and even mentioned playing in net for head coach Tom Saxton — an offer she said he wasn’t exactly thrilled about. “I just look at it as if we win as a team; I don’t really look at what I do individually,” Freeman said.
For the first time in more than three decades, “Hockey Cheer” is gone from the Spartan Marching Band’s song sheet. Traditionally a fixture in its pregame show and on third downs during football games, the band did not play the cheer during this past week’s pregame show, but it did play it sparingly in the game.
When MSU women’s soccer assistant coach Tammy Farnum was asked earlier this summer which incoming freshman had the potential to burst onto the MSU sports scene like All-American sophomore forward Laura Heyboer did in 2008, she listed three names. One of those was Olivia Stander, a freshman forward with an impressive sports résumé out of Grosse Pointe High School.
There are only a handful of differences between Domenic and Mark Barone. Mark has long hair compared to Domenic’s short hair. Mark is left-footed while Domenic is right-footed. And Domenic was born exactly two minutes before Mark.
The MSU men’s tennis team announced the addition of Matt Roberts to the coaching staff on Thursday, naming the 25-year-old professional as the assistant head coach.
After a season opener that went mostly according to plan, the MSU football team is preparing for a much tougher opponent in Central Michigan this week. The Chippewas, coming off a 19-6 loss at Arizona, are expected to be plenty motivated against an in-state rival.
A shutout, a goose egg, a clean sheet — MSU junior goalkeeper Avery Steinlage has heard every term for not allowing a goal during a game.
The MSU men’s golf team will take part in what head coach Sam Puryear called a “life-altering experience” beginning Tuesday, when they begin competition in the 27th annual Topy Cup in Tokyo.
The No. 20 MSU men’s soccer team was looking for revenge when they traveled to No. 10 Illinois-Chicago on Sunday.
In Saturday’s season-opening game against Montana State, 68 of 100 dressed players saw the field for the MSU football team.
All of the talk in the offseason was how the Big Ten would respond to a 1-6 bowl record last season and an increasingly poor national reputation.
Just two weeks into their respective seasons, the MSU volleyball and field hockey teams have collected a combined nine wins and each are off to strong starts in their young seasons.
The Central Michigan defense was able to tame the MSU women’s soccer team’s top two scorers in the first half Sunday, but the forward duo of sophomore Laura Heyboer and senior Lauren Hill did what they do best in the second.
Through one game, MSU’s “quarterback controversy” is just as muddled as it was in January. And April. And August.
Caulton Ray had never taken a handoff in a college game before, so he was understandably nervous. “The adrenaline was pumping but as soon as I got on the sidelines and the Star Spangled banner came on, I felt good,” he said. “I was a little nervous but after I got the ball a few times I felt very good.”
Senior forward Lauren Hill scored late in the second half, but Santa Barbara’s Erin Ortega answered minutes later as the MSU women’s soccer team tied Santa Clara, 1-1, Thursday night at Santa Clara.