Volleyball Hosts First, Second Rounds Of NCAA Tournament Friday, Saturday
12/4/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Dec. 4, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
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NCAA TOURNAMENT HOSTS- Michigan State volleyball (19-11, 11-9) hosts one of the 16 First and Second Round sites for the 2003 NCAA Tournament, the first time MSU has hosted since 1998. State faces Atlantic 10 Tournament Champion Dayton (25-9) in an 8 p.m. match on Friday, Dec. 5. The tournament opens in East Lansing with a 5 p.m. matchup featuring No. 10 Nebraska versus Mid-Continent Conference and regular-season champion Valparaiso. The Cornhuskers have a 26-4 record entering the weekend, while Valpo comes to MSU with a 27-7 record. Saturday's second round matchup begins at 8 p.m. in Jenison Field House.
NCAA-BOUND - 2003 marks State's 10th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. Sixty-four teams are selected to the tournament, with the first and second and regional championship rounds played at campus sites. The 2003 National Championships take place in Dallas Dec. 18-20; nine schools have been crowed champion in the tournament's 23-year history, and all nine are in the 2003 bracket..
CONSISTENTLY AMONG THE BEST - There are 14 programs in the nation that have participated in the last eight NCAA Tournaments, including State, which makes its 10th consecutive appearance in 2003. Out of the Big Ten Conference, just Penn State has a longer streak of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, as the Nittany Lions are in for the 23rd straight year. Until this season, Ohio State had a 14-year streak of tournament appearances. Additionally, Pacific, Stanford and UC Santa Barbara have participated in all 23 championships, while Nebraska makes its 22nd straight appearance in the tourament.
BIG TEN DOMINANCE - The Big Ten has seven teams in the 2003 NCAA Tournament, the most of any conference in the nation. In addition to State, Minnesota, Penn State and Illinois are hosting First and Second Round competition, while Wisconsin, Northwestern and Michigan all received bids. The Big 12, of which Nebraska is a member, had six teams selected, as did the Pac-10 Conference, the Big West and the West Coast Conference.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW - Both Dayton and Valparaiso are making their initial appearances in the tournament, as are Kansas, Murray State, New Mexico State, Nicholls State, Ohio, St. Mary's (Calif.), San Francisco and Wisconsin-Green Bay.
IN NOVEMBER - The Spartans are 5-4 in November, and began the month with a 4-0 winning streak before losing four of their last five. In those nine matches, State has bested its opponent in every category except service aces.
Kills Attack Pct. Assists S. Aces Digs BlocksMSU 549 (15.69 pg) .231 506 (14.46 pg) 36 (1.03 pg) 513 (14.66 pg) 98.0 (2.80 pg)Opponents 521 (14.89 pg) .210 482 (13.77 pg) 40 (1.14 pg) 497 (14.20 pg) 88.0 (2.51 pg)
A LOOK AT DAYTON - Location: Dayton, Ohio
Enrollment: 10,279
Conference: Atlantic 10 Conference
Volleyball SID: Kevin Wilkinson; email:kevin.wilkinson@notes.udayton.edu
Dayton (25-9) is making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, after winning the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament. The Flyers posted a 12-2 record in A-10 play. Erin Treadway leads the Flyers with an average of 4.25 kills and 3.09 blocks per game. She has a .257 season attack percentage. Faye Barhorst and Shannon Gardner average 2.48 and 2.67 kills per game, respectively, but hit at a .314 and .344 clip each. Setter Nicole Schott has 1,064 assists on the season, and averages 2.56 digs per game to go along with that 8.72 assist average. Barhorst has a 1.44 blocks per game average, the best on the team.
Head coach: Tim Horsman (Frostburg State, 1991) is in his first season at Dayton. He was named the head coach on Jan. 22, 2003, after compiling a 97-50 record in three years at Robert Morris. His career record as a head coach is 122-59.
All-Time Series History: The Spartans and Flyers have met four times in history. MSU holds a 3-1 advantage, with all three State wins coming in East Lansing. Three of the meetings came in 1980 or earlier; Dayton played in the Coca-Cola/MSU Volleyball Classic in 2001.
Date DU Result Games Location9/24/76 L 2-0 East Lansing 9/23/77 W 0-2 Neutral-Site unknown 10/10/80 L 2-0 East Lansing 8/31/01 L 3-1 Jenison Field House
COMPARING THE NUMBERSDayton Dayton Michigan State Michigan State Overall Per game Overall Per game Kills 1948 15.84 1833 16.40 Total Attacks 5165 42.00 4403 39.31 Att. Pct. .257 N/A .259 N/A Assists 1752 14.24 1679 15.00 Service Aces 183 1.49 110 1.00 Digs 2138 17.38 1666 14.90 Total Blocks 373 3.03 294.5 2.60
A LOOK AT NEBRASKA - Location: Lincoln, Neb.
Enrollment: 25,000
Conference: Big 12 Conference
Volleyball SID: Shannon Sherman; email:ssherman@huskers.com
No. 10 Nebraska is 26-4 on the season, and finished second to Kansas State in the Big 12 Conference with a 17-3 record. Nebraska's only non-conference loss of the year came to Georgia Tech at the US Bank/Arby's Classic, of which MSU was a part. Melissa Elmer is hitting .356 on the year with an average of 3.05 kills per game. She also averages a team-high 1.63 blocks per game. Jennifer Saleaumua is hitting .259 on the season with 3.24 kills per game, while Anna Schrad contributes an additional 3.06 kills per game. Setters Dani Mancuso and Michelle Lynch split time at the position, and have 626 and 781 assists on the year, respectively.
Head coach: John Cook (San Diego, 1979) is in his fourth season at Nebraska, and has a 122-8 record in that time. His 11-year career record stands at 281-81.
Earlier This Year: Nebraska swept MSU, 30-20, 30-20, 30-24, on Sept. 13 in the teams' second match of the US Bank/Arby's Classic. Kim Schram had 10 kills in the match for State, while Megan Wallin and Sara Villwock contributed nine and eight, respectively. Setter Nikki Colson had 31 assists in the match. Nebraska hit .331 to MSU's .122, and was led by Melissa Elmer and Anna Schrad, each of whom posted 11 kills.
All-Time Series History: Michigan State has never defeated Nebraksa, and the Cornhuskers own a 7-0-2 record against the Spartans. Nebraska and State have never met in East Lansing; four of the nine meetings have been in Lincoln, while the other five have been at neutral sites. Prior to the teams' meeting earlier this year, they last faced off in 2000, when the Huskers disposed of MSU in three games, 15-3, 15-3, 15-4.
Date NU Result Games Location11/4/78 T 1-1 Neutral-UCLA National Invitation Tournament 10/19/79 W 2-0 Neutral-Southwest Missouri St. Invitational 11/3/79 T 1-1 Neutral-Site unknown 12/14/95 W 3-2 Neutral-NCAA National Semifinal, Amherst, Mass. 9/6/96 W 3-0 Lincoln, Neb.-Arby's Classic 9/7/96 W 3-0 Lincoln, Neb.-Arby's Classic 12/6/97 W 3-0 Lincoln, Neb.-NCAA Second Round 9/9/00 W 3-0 Neutral-Notre Dame/addidas Invitational 9/13/03 W 3-0 Lincoln, Neb.-US Bank/Arby's Classic
COMPARING THE NUMBERSNebraska Nebraska Michigan State Michigan State Overall Per game Overall Per game Kills 1738 16.24 1833 16.40 Total Attacks 4351 40.72 4403 39.31 Att. Pct. .248 N/A .259 N/A Assists 1585 14.81 1679 15.00 Service Aces 211 1.97 110 1.00 Digs 1741 16.27 1666 14.90 Total Blocks 340 3.18 294.5 2.60
A LOOK AT VALPARAISO - Location: Valparaiso, Ind.
Enrollment: 3,700
Conference: Mid-Continent Conference
Volleyball SID: Ryan Wronkowicz; email: Ryan.Wronkowicz@valpo.edu
Valparaiso has a 27-7 record overall and a 13-1 record in the Mid-Continent Conference in 2003. The Crusaders won both the regular season and conference championships to earn their tournament berth. Michelle Robinson averages 3.63 kills per game with a .207 attack percentage. Lauren Moulton has 365 kills on the year, an average of 2.97, to go along with an average of 1.02 blocks per game. Liz Mikos is Valpo's blocks leader, though, with 193 on the season. Setter Cyndi Norman has 1373 assists on the season, an average of 11.84. Two Crusaders, Marion Hansen and Lindsey Moore, led the team with 28 service aces each.
Head coach: Carin Avery (Ball State, 1996) is in her second year at Valparaiso, and she has led her team to two 20-win seasons in that time, posting a combined 47-17 record. Prior to arriving at Valpo, she held head coaching positions at Southern California College and Bethel (Ind.), and she has a career record of 102-41.
All-Time Series History: The Spartans and Valparaiso have met just once in the teams' histories, with MSU taking the 3-0 win in East Lansing in 1989.
Date VU Result Games Location9/9/89 L 3-0 East Lansing
COMPARING THE NUMBERSValparaiso Valparaiso Michigan State Michigan State Overall Per game Overall Per game Kills 1869 15.10 1833 16.40 Total Attacks 5137 41.43 4403 39.31 Att. Pct. .238 N/A .259 N/A Assists 1702 13.7 1679 15.00 Service Aces 198 1.60 110 1.00 Digs 2346 18.9 1666 14.90 Total Blocks 370.5 3.0 294.5 2.60
NEARLY 20, AGAIN - The Spartans are just one win away from their eighth 20-win season in head coach Chuck Erbe's 11 years at MSU. State won at least 20 matches from 1995-99 and 2001-02.
PLACES, FOR ONCE AND FOR ALL - The Spartans were tied with Wisconsin for fourth entering the final weekend of Big Ten play, but two losses at Northwestern and No. 18 Illinois put them into sixth place for the end of the season. Penn State stands alone at the top with a 15-3 record, while Illinois and Minnesota are tied for second place at 14-4.
COLSON RECORD SET - Senior setter Nikki Colson, who set the season record for assists in a year (1,577) in 2002, set the school record for career assists Nov. 8 at Wisconsin. The record-setting assist came off a kill from Sara Villwock and broke Judy Doles' record (4,151) that stood for 15 years. Entering her final weekend of Big Ten play, Colson has 4,491 career assists. Colson's career average of 11.52 assists per game ranks second among all-time Spartans. She is averaging 13.37 assists in Big Ten Conference matches, and with 1,513 assists in 2003, she has posted at least 1,000 in each of the last three seasons.
ANOTHER COLSON RECORD? - With 1,513 assists this season, senior setter Nikki Colson is just 65 assists from breaking the season assist record she set last year (1,577). At 1,513 entering the weekend, and on a recent pace of 13 assists per game, Colson needs approximately five games to reach the 1,577 mark. That translates to anywhere from one to two matches; the NCAA tournament is single-elimination. In last weekend's matches against Northwestern and Illinois, she moved into third place on the season assist list. She's 47 assists from claiming second place (1,559-Julie Pavlus, 1996).
SCHRAM STREAK SNAPPED - Kim Schram had a streak of nine matches from Oct. 18 to Nov. 15 during which she posted at least 19 kills. In that span, she recorded 20 or more kills six times.
THE WALL(IN) - Throughout the last seven matches, sophomore Megan Wallin has led the Spartans' blocking efforts with 29, an average of 1.12 blocks per game (7 block solos/22 block assists).
COLSON CONTINUES - Setter Nikki Colson, who set the career assists record at Wisconsin on Nov. 8, has contributed at least 40 assists in 21 of MSU's 30 matches on the season. She's had 50 or more in 14 matches, including five of the last nine.
NOT SINCE 1994 - The Spartans' back-to-back five-game match wins at Michigan and Wisconsin Nov. 5-8 marked just the fourth time in MSU history the Spartans pulled out 3-2 victories in consecutive matches. The last time it happened was Sept. 9-10, 1994. That two-match span saw the Spartans defeat Michigan, 3-2 on Sept. 9 and Pittsburgh, 3-2 on Sept. 10 at the Michigan Challenge in Ann Arbor.
LEADERS OF THE PACK - Kim Schram and Sara Villwock have posted 4.77 and 3.12 kills per game, respectively, in the Spartans' last five matches. State has a 1-4 record in that time, with a win against Iowa and losses to No. 16 Penn State, Minnesota, Northwestern and Illinois.
NEWMAN! - This season, Penn State has become something like Jerry Seinfeld's nemesis to the Spartans. The Nittany Lions have handed State its only two five-game losses of the year, as MSU fell 3-2 to Penn State on Sept. 26 in Jenison Field House (20-30, 30-28, 28-30, 30-21, 15-11) and Nov. 15 in University Park, Pa. (28-30, 30-24, 21-30, 30-28, 8-15).
KOPKA RETURNS & GARNERS ACADEMIC HONORS - Opposite Michelle Kopka returned to the Spartans' lineup Nov. 14 after missing 12 matches to injury. Kopka wasn't far off from her pre-injury self in her return (Nov. 14-15), with 11 kills and two errors on 24 attacks (.375 hitting), 10 digs, two blocks and two assists in the nine games she played on the weekend. On Nov. 13, Kopka was named to the Academic All-District team. A physics major, she carries a 4.0.
FIRSTS FOR 2003 SENIORS - The 2003 Spartan senior class has accomplished three things this season they have not been able to do in their three previous years at Michigan State: defeat Wisconsin in Jenison Field House, win at Michigan and win in Madison against the Badgers. This year's Spartans defeated Wisconsin in East Lansing on Oct. 3, won in Ann Arbor against the Wolverines on Nov. 5 and beat Wisconsin in Madison on Nov. 8. Prior to the 2003 season, the last MSU win against Wisconsin was in 1999, and its last win in Madison was on Nov. 22, 1996; MSU's last win in Ann Arbor against the Wolverines came on Oct. 7, 1998.
FIVE'S THE LIMIT- The Spartans' five-game win streak was snapped Nov. 15 at Penn State with a 3-2 loss to the Nittany Lions. It was State's second such streak of the season, and marks the fourth time in the last three seasons MSU had a winning streak of at least five matches. In 2001, MSU had two five-match streaks from Oct. 24-Nov. 9 and Nov. 16 to Nov. 30. That year, the Spartans began the season with a seven-match winning streak.
DIG IT? - Nikki Colson and Marley Bellwood lead the team in digs with 295 and 273, respectively. The two Spartans average 2.63 (Colson) and 2.94 (Bellwood) digs per game this season.
GAMES ONE AND THREE ARE KEY - State is 13-1 when it wins game one of the match, and is 13-0 when winning game three.
FOUR OR FIVE GAMES EQUAL WINS (GENERALLY) - MSU is 9-1 in four-game matches this season, with its only loss coming at Minnesota on Oct. 25. In the last two seasons, MSU is 8-3 in five-game matches, including going 4-2 in 2003 and posting a 4-1 mark in 2002.
IN THE CLUTCH - In 2003, State is 13-2 in game fours and 4-2 in game fives.
OVERALL STRENGTH - State owns better per game numbers than its opponents in every category this season - kills, assists, digs and blocks - except service aces.
ACES AT THE SERVICE LINE - Two Spartans - Mickey Davis (4) and Kim Schram (5) - have combined for nine of MSU's 18 service aces in the last five matches.
DAVIS STEPS UP - After seeing action in just two matches early this season - Villanova (8/29) and Nebraska (9/13) - Mickey Davis has played in each of State's matches since Oct. 1 against Michigan. In the last five matches, she has 27 digs and four service aces. Additionally, Davis contributed a career-best three aces against Indiana Friday, Oct. 31 and tied that number Saturday, Nov. 8 at Wisconsin.
EXTRA POINTS BRING EXTRA STRESS - The Spartans are 5-6 in games that go to extra points; they are 7-4 in matches with extra-point games.
Date Opponent Game No. Result Score Match Result Match ScoreAug. 30 vs. Tennessee 3 W 31-29 W 3-2Aug. 30 vs. Tennessee 5 W 17-15 W 3-2Sept. 26 PENN STATE 5 L 14-16 L 2-3Sept. 27 OHIO STATE 4 L 31-33 W 3-1Oct. 10 at Purdue 1 L 31-33 L 0-3Oct. 10 at Purdue 2 L 29-31 L 0-3Oct. 18 NORTHWESTERN 2 W 32-30 W 3-0Nov. 1 PURDUE 3 W 32-30 W 3-1Nov. 5 at Michigan 5 L 29-31 W 3-2Nov. 14 at Ohio State 4 W 32-30 W 3-1Nov. 28 at Northwestern 2 L 29-31 L 0-3Nov. 29 at Illinois 2 L 29-31 L 0-3
HOME, SWEET HOME - In 10 matches at home this year, the Spartans' average of 1,486 is ranked 22nd in the nation. Once again in 2002, the Spartans were among the nation's attendance leaders, with an average of 1,802 fans per match, 12th in the nation.
ANOTHER "NOT SINCE"... - Oct. 27 marked the first time since last season (Dec. 9, 2002) that the Spartans were not ranked in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches poll. MSU, which until Oct. 31-Nov. 1, alternated wins and losses throughout the Big Ten season, began the year ranked No. 25 in the preseason poll, jumped to No. 17 on Sept. 8 and was ranked No. 14 for two weeks (Sept. 22-Oct. 5). MSU fell to No. 18 on Oct. 13 before dropping to No. 22 on Oct. 20.
SMART OFF THE COURT, TOO - MSU had a league-best 11 volleyball players honored as Academic All-Big Ten selections in 2002. Marley Bellwood, Mickey Davis, Emily Engel, Stephanie Knopp, Michelle Kopka, Brooke Langston, Angela Morley, Jenny Rood, Kim Schram, Diana Steplyk and Megan Wallin were all named to the team.