Michigan State University Athletics
Malayah Long Named Big Ten Setter of the Week
10/5/2026 4:00:00 PM | Volleyball
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State volleyball redshirt sophomore setter Malayah Long has been named the Big Ten Setter of the Week, as announced by the conference Monday.Â
The Lincoln, Nebraska native earns her first Setter of the Week award from the conference with Monday's announcement and third weekly conference award overall after being named Freshman of the Week twice last season. She is the first Spartan to win a Big Ten Player of the Week award this season and the first MSU player to win B1G Setter of the Week since two-time All-American Rachel Minarick on Oct. 23, 2017. Â
Long helped the Spartans to a 2-0 Big Ten weekend on the road last week with wins at UCLA (3-0) and USC (3-2). She set the Spartans to a combined .316 hitting efficiency across their two wins, good for second in the conference in last week's matches, while MSU also ranked third in the B1G in kills per set last week with 14.75. Â
Individually, Long averaged 12.13 assists per set across last week's matches to rank second in the conference. At USC, she posted a career-best 65 assists, the most by a Spartan since Natalie Emro during the 2009 season, and just missed a double-double with nine digs while adding three kills and a service ace. She tallied 32 assists, five digs and a pair of blocks and kills in MSU's sweep at UCLA.Â
The Spartans came in at No. 22 in this week's AVCA Coaches Poll for their first national ranking since the 2018Â season.Â
Up next, MSU hosts No. 13 Oregon on Friday, Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m. inside the Breslin Center. The match will stream on B1G+.Â
