Volleyball Hosts Northwestern On Friday.
10/15/1999 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 15, 1999
? STATE UPDATE: Michigan State defeated Michigan on Wednesday, 3-0 (15-9, 15-6, 15-5) to break a four match losing streak. With the win, MSU is up 1-0 in the 1999 State Pride series.
Last weekend, the Spartans lost to Iowa (15-3, 11-15, 7-15, 18-16, 12-15 and Minnesota (7-15, 8-15, 6-15). Iowa broke an eight-match losing streak against Michigan State with its win on Oct. 7. The Spartans four-match losing streak was the longest since 1993, when MSU dropped its final four matches of the season (at Ohio State, at Penn State, Michigan, Illinois).
? NORTHWESTERN: Northwestern is 2-14 overall and 0-6 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats fel lin three to both Penn State (8-15, 4-15, 2-15) and Ohio State, 0-3 (6-15, 5-15, 8-15) last weekend. Carmen Burbach (2.70), Jennifer Zagorski (2.52), Kitty Owen (2.38) and Sarah Ballog (2.21) all average 2.20 kills per game or better for the Wildcats. Zagorski leads the team in digs, contributing 3.09 per game. Setter Kelli Meyer adds 10.12 assists per game, while NU?s leading blocker is Leah Ackerman at 0.67 pg. State has won the last nine meetings against the Wildcats. Northwestern leads the series, 25-12. Michigan State won the last meeting 15-7, 9-15, 15-4, 15-10 on Oct. 30, 1998 in East Lansing.
? MULTI-MEDIA: Tonight?s match is being televised live locally by AT&T Cable so put on your best smile and yell GO GREEN, GO WHITE. Ben Stark has the play-by-play, Jamie Ianni provides color analysis and former Spartan Corie Richard is the sideline reporter.
? THAT?S A BIG NEGATIVE: Michigan hit -.017 against Michigan State on Oct. 13 in Jenison Field House to MSU?s .283. The last time MSU held an opponent to a negative hitting percentage was against Niagara in the WMU Ameritech Invitational on Sept. 17 (-.107). Last year no State opponent was held to less than .000.
? 500 and 1: Erin Hartley tallied the 500th kill of her career against Michigan on Wednesday. She led all hitters with 16 kills on .600 (16-1-25) hitting, ending the match with 501 career ka-booms.
? 600: Sarah Gustin hit the 600th kill of her career against Michigan. She had 10 kills to begin tonights match at exactly 600.
? WAIT FOR ME!: Jessica Sanborn needs just 25 kills for 500 in her Michigan State career.
? YOU?RE IT: Jessica Sanborn passed Sarah Gustin on the MSU total blocks chart last weekend. She is now in seventh place with 282 (53-229). Gustin moved into a tie for eighth place with 281 total blocks (45-236). However, Gustin leads Sanborn on the MSU block assists career chart with her 236, placing her seventh. Sanborn is in eighth place on that chart with her 229. In another category, Gustin is currently second all-time at MSU in hitting percentage (.312) while Jessica Sanborn is fourth at .290.
? BASIL SPICE: Junior setter Vicki Basil is in seventh place on the MSU all-time assists chart. She now has 1,643 in her career, the eighth player in spartan history to record more than 1,500. Sixth place is held by Amy Rauch (199-92) with 1,697.
? PERFECT GPAs: Two MSU players are averaging 4.00 kills per game or better. Sarah Gustin is earining extra credit by averaging 4.16 pg (7th in the Big Ten), while Erin Hartley comes in at 4.00.
? GOOD ATTENDANCE TOO: Michigan State is ranked 24th in the nation in attendance. The Spartans are averaging 789 fans per match at home through nine matches this season.
? TEAM BLOCK: Michigan State has recorded 187.5 blocks as a team this season. Were the season to end today, MSU?s total would rank it 16th on the school?s single-season chart. Last year, the Spartans ended with 394 total blocks, nine short of the school record of 403, established in 1997.
? CAREER MARKERS: ? Tammy Vonderheide needs 3 digs to reach 500 in her career. ? Chuck Erbe needs six wins to reach 150 at Michigan State. ? Vicki Basil needs 54 assists to move into sixth place on the MSU career assists chart. ? Sarah Gustin needs 35 digs for 500 in her career. ? Angela Morley needs 12 more blocks for 100 in her career. ? Jessica Sanborn needs 25 more kills for 500 in her career.
? ON THE AIR: All of Michigan State?s home matches will be televised live by AT&T Cable Services (Channel 13/17). MSU will also have two network matches, both aired on a tape-delay basis: Fox Sports Chicago will air the Oct. 2 match (MSU at Wisconsin) on Oct. 3 at 4 p.m., while espn2 which will air MSU?s home match with Minnesota (Oct. 9) on Oct. 13 at 1 p.m. Eight of State?s matches will also be broadcast on the radio by 730-AM WVFN (Sept. 24, Sept. 25, Oct. 1, Oct. 2, Oct. 8, Oct. 9, Oct. 13 and Nov. 24).
? SEEING DOUBLE: Five players have combined for 12 double-doubles so far this season. Here?s the rundown: Christie Landry - 41 ast, 12 digs v. Texas A&M, 9/4, 49 assists, 13 digs v. Loyola, 9/18, 65 assists, 12 digs v. Penn State, 9/25 Jessica Sanborn - 15 kills, 12 digs v. Texas A&M, 9/4 Erin Hartley - 19 kills, 10 digs vs. UMass, 9/11, 15 kills, 10 digs v. WMU, 9/18, 22 kills, 18 digs v. Penn State, 9/25 Maren Witzel - 15 kills, 11 digs vs. UMass, 9/11, 10 kills, 16 digs v. Loyola, 9/18 Sarah Gustin - 12 kills, 12 digs vs. Seton Hall, 9/11, 23 kills, 11 digs v. Penn State, 9/25, 31 kills, 10 digs v. Iowa, 10/7
? SPARTANS IN THE NCAA (as of 10/12): Jessica Sanborn is 20th in the nation in hitting percentage at .379. As a team, MSU is 17th in hitting percentage at .277.
