Last weekend, volleyball head coach Cathy George told her team it needed to loosen up. The team, riding a four-game losing streak and just coming off an embarrassing 3-0 loss at home to then-No. 19 Illinois, was playing stiff and wasn’t bringing its unique personalities to the court, George said.
The MSU volleyball team suffered another rough weekend, losing to No. 19 Illinois and No. 18 Purdue. The Spartans, on a five-game losing streak, have now fallen to 11-10 on the season and 3-7 in the Big Ten. The team struggled mightily against Illinois on Friday, falling quickly in three sets (25-17, 25-18, 25-17). MSU seemed overmatched, as Illinois used long rallies in the middle of all three matches to open up insurmountable leads.
When the MSU volleyball team went on its first Big Ten road trip, it felt a little overwhelmed.
Going into this season, the MSU volleyball team knew it had two returning starters and a very young team.
The MSU volleyball team suffered its first home loss of the season on Saturday, getting swept 3-0 by No. 21 Wisconsin. “I thought we were playing fairly well at times but we didn’t kick it in at the right times,” head coach Cathy George said. “We have to learn how to close things out.”
The MSU volleyball team needed every bit of five sets Friday in its 3-2 win against Northwestern on Friday at Jenison Field House.
After a tough weekend that saw the team lose two conference games, including a drubbing by No. 1 Penn State, the MSU volleyball team is looking to get back on track at home. The season’s first conference road trip didn’t go as planned. The team snapped its 10-game winning streak, losing 3-1 to Indiana and 3-0 to Penn State. The losses move them to 10-5 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten.
When the athletics department scheduled the MSU volleyball team for two games at Breslin Center, it called it an experiment. The experiment was a success as more than 9,000 fans filled the arena for two games against Ohio State and Michigan.
When sophomore outside hitter Jenilee Rathje fell to the ground holding her knee early in the fourth set against Ohio State last Friday, the team was left to scramble for answers.
After being named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for three straight weeks, senior running back Javon Ringer wasn’t able to earn a fourth one this week. Ringer racked up 198 yards on 44 carries and recorded a touchdown in the Spartans’ 42-29 victory over Indiana on Saturday, but didn’t do enough to win over Northwestern quarterback C.J. Bacher.
Drawing more than 9,000 fans at Breslin Center during the weekend, the MSU volleyball team set the school’s single-game attendance record while picking up a pair of 3-1 victories over Ohio State and No. 21 Michigan. Aided by more than 1,500 students, many coming from the Izzone campout at Munn Field, the goal to “Bust Breslin” was achieved when the team drew 5,335 fans to Saturday’s matchup against U-M.
With a record crowd supporting them, the MSU volleyball team upset No. 21 Michigan on Saturday at Breslin Center 3-1.
The MSU volleyball team started off the Big Ten season with a win Friday, beating Ohio State 3-1 at Breslin Center.
The last time the MSU volleyball team played at Breslin Center was Nov. 4, 1995. That was four days before Tom Izzo coached his first game at MSU and the same weekend the MSU football team beat Michigan 28-25 at Spartan Stadium. The Spartans will look to “Bust Breslin” in two games this weekend: Friday against Ohio State and Saturday against No. 21 U-M.
The MSU volleyball team struggled to extend its winning streak Tuesday night with a 3-1 defeat of Oakland. After a slow start, the team dominated the first set, rallying from a 7-7 tie early on to win the set 25-15.
The MSU volleyball team will finish its nonconference schedule this week with matches against Oakland and Central Michigan, the first of which will be played tonight at Jenison Field House.
The MSU volleyball team continued to roll this weekend, winning the MSU Showcase at Jenison Field House for the fifth straight year. The Spartans didn’t drop a set on the weekend, defeating Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Florida A&M and Connecticut to claim the title and stretch their winning streak to six.
After starting the season 0-3, the MSU volleyball team began to work more on teamwork and defense, something head coach Cathy George said helped the team slow down the action on the court. The change worked, as the Spartans moved to 3-3 on the season last weekend, winning the Delaware Invitational.
Last week’s tough tournament hasn’t dimmed the MSU volleyball team’s outlook on the season. The team, which lost to No. 10 Cal Poly and No. 22 Wichita State on way to an 0-3 start, will work on limiting errors if it wants to turn its season around when it travels to the Delaware Invitational this weekend.
The MSU men’s soccer team opened up the regular season this weekend with a win and a loss in the MSU/Radisson Fall Classic at the new DeMartin Soccer Complex.