Penn State vs. Michigan State

Where: Rec Hall

When: Friday — 9-27-13 (7:00 p.m. ET)

Media: TV: Big Ten Network – Student U; CBSSports.com GameTracker

The Buzz on Michigan State:  Michigan State ended its pre-conference schedule with an 11-1 record, capturing the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational title with a 3-0 victory over Cincinnati (25-11, 25-14, 25-19), which extended its non-conference home winning streak to 18 matches and its 2013 season victory streak to nine matches.

 The Spartans were picked #5 in the 2013 preseason Big Ten Volleyball Coaches poll (Penn State, the defending Big Ten Champion, was picked #1).  Among the key returning Michigan State players is 6-1 Sr. OH Lauren Wicinski, who was a unanimous pre-season 2013 All-Big Ten selection (as was Penn State’s Ariel Scott) and who earned 2nd-Team AVCA All-America honors in 2012.  Other key players include 5-4 Jr. libero Kori Moster, who was the 2012 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year (but, in an oddity that still has us scratching our heads, only honorable mention All Big Ten) and a 2012 AVCA All-America honorable mention, 6-3 Sr. MB Alexis Mathews,   6-1 Jr. OH Taylor Galloway, 5-10 Sr. setter Kristen Kelsay, 6-4 Fr. MB Autumn Christenson, 6-2 Fr. MB Allyssah Fitterer, and 5-6 Jr. DS Ryian Hubbard.

The Buzz on Penn State: The Penn State Women’s Volleyball team (9-1, ranked #1 in the 9-23-13 AVCA poll) finished its pre-conference schedule with sweeps of Albany, Eastern Kentucky, and Yale in the Penn State Classic.  They didn’t lose a set, but though all three opponents played hard, they clearly were overmatched.

This weekend’s foes — Michigan State and Michigan, are another story.  As Russ Rose noted in an interview with Chelsea Howard, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer, “the next 10 weeks we are going to play two matches a week in a conference where we’re playing against people our size, so it’s a whole different situation.”  And it doesn’t end there.  Eight Big Ten teams are ranked in the AVCA top 25. Rose, with noticeable understatement, described it to Howard as “a pretty full schedule – that’s 18 of our 20 matches.  What concerns me is how we’re going to handle that. We have some players that have a lot experience – some have won Big Ten championships and some have won national championships, so we’ll see if they do the things they have to do to become a better team. There’s a fire that exists that makes the team better than the individuals that are playing. That’s the component they have to work on themselves.”

Although Rose may question the “fire” component, he knows he has a lot of talented players.  Just naming players who garnered All American or All Big Ten honors in 2012, the list includes 5-11 Jr. setter Micha Hancock (2012 AVCA 1st Team All-America, Volleyball Magazine 1st Team All-America, Big Ten Setter of the Year, and All-Big Ten); 6-4 Sr. Opposite Ariel Scott (2012 AVCA 1st Team All-America, Volleyball Magazine 1st Team All-America, Big Ten Player of the Year, and Unanimous All-Big Ten); 6-1 Sr. OH Deja McClendon (2012 AVCA 3rd Team All-America, Volleyball Magazine 2nd Team All-America, and Unanimous All-Big Ten); 6-2 So. S/OH Megan Courtney (AVCA Mideast Region Freshman of the Year, Unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman Team, and Big Ten Freshman of the Year); and 6-6 Sr. MH Katie Slay (AVCA 2nd Team All-America, Volleyball Magazine 2nd Team All-America, All-Big Ten).  Plus,  6-2 Jr. MB Nia Grant and  5-6 Jr. libero Dom Gonzalez are returning starters, and 6-2 OH/Opp Paulina Prieto Cerame and 6-5 OH/Opp/MH Aiyana Whitney — both highly-touted players who redshirted in 2012 —have joined the team and have seen playing time, as have 6-2 Sr. OH Maddie Martin, 5-6 Jr. DS Lacey Fuller, and 5-6 So. DS Kendall Pierce. 

Stat Joust

 Michigan State Stats

Overall record: 11-1  Conf: 0-0  Home: 5-0  Away: 2-0  Neutral: 4-1

ATTACK  SET  SERVE  ##  Player  SP  MP-MS  K  K/Set  E  TA  Pct  A  A/Set  TA  Pct  SA  SA/Set  SE  TA  Pct  15  Wicinski, Lauren      39  12-    173  4.44  61  394  .284  8  0.21  35  .229  16  0.41  32  122  .738  18  Mathews, Alexis       39  12-    101  2.59  21  171  .468  1  0.03  4  .250  0  0.00  0  0  .000  9   Galloway, Taylor      32  11-    77  2.41  26  202  .252  7  0.22  19  .368  5  0.16  6  133  .955  3   Christenson, Autumn   33  12-    50  1.52  38  143  .084  1  0.03  6  .167  1  0.03  5  23  .783  10  Kuipers, Kelsey       35  12-    47  1.34  15  108  .296  0  0.00  7  .000  0  0.00  1  11  .909  6   Fitterer, Allyssah    34  12-    42  1.24  17  118  .212  3  0.09  7  .429  5  0.15  11  58  .810  14  White, Jazmine        23  11-    23  1.00  10  67  .194  0  0.00  3  .000  8  0.35  5  65  .923  11  Reinig, Chloe         6  2-    19  3.17  6  39  .333  0  0.00  0  .000  0  0.00  0  0  .000  12  Kelsay, Kristen       40  12-    10  0.25  2  14  .571  312  7.80  674  .463  11  0.28  8  182  .956  16  Halloran, Maggie      4  4-    3  0.75  3  14  .000  0  0.00  0  .000  0  0.00  0  0  .000  8   Scott, Ebony          6  6-    3  0.50  2  11  .091  0  0.00  0  .000  0  0.00  0  2  1.000  1   Moster,Kori           40  12-    2  0.05  1  3  .333  44  1.10  141  .312  11  0.28  13  168  .923  7   Hubbard, Ryian        38  12-    1  0.03  1  2  .000  107  2.82  310  .345  14  0.37  7  126  .944  2   Muir, Kristen         13  8-    0  0.00  0  0  .000  1  0.08  4  .250  1  0.08  0  28  1.000  4   Peterson, Halle       7  3-    0  0.00  0  0  .000  26  3.71  61  .426  0  0.00  1  28  .964      MICHIGAN STATE……  40  12-    551  13.77  203  1286  .271  510  12.75  1271  .401  72  1.80  89  946  .906      Opponents………..  40  12-    382  9.55  246  1192  .114  364  9.10  1242  .293  36  0.90  68  751  .909

			RECEPT			DIG		BLOCKING						POINTS
##	Player	SP	RE	TA	Pct	Dig	Dig/Set	BS	BA	Total	Blk/Set	BE	BHE	Points	Pts/Set
15	Wicinski, Lauren	39	11	257	.957	69	1.77	8	18	26	0.67	5	0	206.0	5.28
18	Mathews, Alexis	39	1	1	.000	7	0.18	4	47	51	1.31	5	0	128.5	3.29
9	Galloway, Taylor	32	3	126	.976	74	2.31	2	10	12	0.38	5	0	89.0	2.78
3	Christenson, Autumn	33	0	5	1.000	13	0.39	1	17	18	0.55	3	0	60.5	1.83
10	Kuipers, Kelsey	35	0	0	.000	4	0.11	2	21	23	0.66	2	1	59.5	1.70
6	Fitterer, Allyssah	34	0	8	1.000	9	0.26	5	25	30	0.88	2	0	64.5	1.90
14	White, Jazmine	23	0	6	1.000	6	0.26	3	16	19	0.83	2	0	42.0	1.83
11	Reinig, Chloe	6	0	0	.000	1	0.17	0	3	3	0.50	0	0	20.5	3.42
12	Kelsay, Kristen	40	0	1	1.000	72	1.80	1	3	4	0.10	0	0	23.5	0.59
8	Scott, Ebony	6	0	0	.000	0	0.00	1	2	3	0.50	1	0	5.0	0.83
16	Halloran, Maggie	4	0	1	1.000	0	0.00	0	2	2	0.50	3	0	4.0	1.00
1	Moster,Kori	40	10	258	.961	178	4.45	0	0	0	0.00	0	1	13.0	0.32
7	Hubbard, Ryian	38	1	6	.833	47	1.24	0	0	0	0.00	0	5	15.0	0.39
4	Peterson, Halle	7	0	0	.000	1	0.14	0	0	0	0.00	1	0	0.0	0.00
2	Muir, Kristen	13	0	2	1.000	10	0.77	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	1.0	0.08
	TEAM		10
	MICHIGAN STATE……	40	36	683	.947	491	12.27	27	164	109.0	2.72	29	7	732.0	18.30
	Opponents………..	40	72	857	.916	446	11.15	13	123	74.5	1.86	18	7	492.5	12.31

Penn State Stats

Attack Leaders - 2013 (Final)

#	Name	Cl	SP	MP	MS	K	K/S	AE	TA	%
1	Scott, Ariel	4/Sr.	115	35	31	383	3.33	103	971	.288
18	McClendon, Deja	4/Sr.	126	36	36	378	3.00	117	953	.274
17	Courtney, Megan	2/So.	120	35	34	297	2.47	96	740	.272
16	Slay, Katie	4/Sr.	127	36	36	274	2.16	54	531	.414
7	Grant, Nia	3/Jr.	118	35	33	208	1.76	64	411	.350
12	Hancock, Micha	3/Jr.	127	36	36	129	1.02	36	281	.331
	Team	n/a	127	36	36	1814	14.28	523	4231	.305
	Opponents	n/a	127	36	36	1367	10.76	776	4270	.138

Setting Leaders - 2013 (Final)

#	Name	Class	SP	MP	MS	Asst	Asst/ Set	TA	Pct.
12	Hancock, Micha	3/Jr.	127	36	36	1425	11.22	2999	.475
7	Grant, Nia	3/Jr.	118	35	33	10	0.08	47	.213
4	Gonzalez, Dominique	3/Jr.	127	36	0	91	0.72	339	.268
33	Fuller, Lacey	3/Jr.	118	36	0	9	0.08	50	.180
3	Pierce, Kendall	2/So.	83	34	0	1	0.01	5	.200
n/a	Team	n/a	127	36	36	1669	13.14	4030	.414
n/a	Opponents	n/a	127	36	36	1296	10.20	4233	.306

Recept/Dig Leaders - 2013 (Final)

#	Name	Class	SP	MP	MS	RE	Rcpt TA	Rcpt Pct.	Digs	Digs /S
4	Gonzalez, Dominique	3/Jr.	127	36	0	--	571	.991	416	3.28
18	McClendon, Deja	4/Sr.	126	36	36	--	857	.981	363	2.88
17	Courtney, Megan	2/So.	120	35	34	--	466	.970	301	2.51
12	Hancock, Micha	3/Jr.	127	36	36	--	6	.667	289	2.28
33	Fuller, Lacey	3/Jr.	118	36	0	--	27	1.000	141	1.19
	Penn State Total	n/a	127	36	36	49	2061	.976	1809	14.24
	Opponents	n/a	127	36	36	166	2736	.939	1632	12.85

Blocking and Points Leaders - 2013 (Final)

#	Name	Cl	SP	MP	MS	BS	BA	TB	B/S	BE	Pts	Pts /S
1	Scott, Ariel	4/Sr.	115	35	31	3	91	94	0.82	9	432.5	3.76
18	McClendon, Deja	4/Sr.	126	36	36	22	55	77	0.61	6	438.5	3.48
16	Slay, Katie	4/Sr.	127	36	36	30	177	207	1.63	19	392.5	3.09
17	Courtney, Megan	2/So.	120	35	34	28	59	87	0.73	14	355.5	2.96
7	Grant, Nia	3/Jr.	118	35	33	12	85	97	0.82	12	285.5	2.42
12	Hancock, Micha	3/Jr.	127	36	36	5	69	74	0.58	8	250.5	1.97
	Penn State	n/a	127	36	36	107	561	387.5	3.05	71	2367.5	18.64
	Opponents	n/a	127	36	36	38	369	222.5	1.75	66	1638.5	12.90

Rosters

Michigan State Roster

No.		Name	Pos.		Ht.		Elig.	Hometown/Previous School
1		Kori Moster	L		5-4		JR	Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy
2		Kristen Muir	DS		5-7		RS FR	Plymouth, Mich./Canton
3		Autumn Christenson	MB		6-4		FR	Whitehall, Mich./Whitehall
4		Halle Peterson	S		5-10		SO	Rockford, Mich./Rockford
5		Megan Tompkins	MB		6-4		FR	Petoskey, Mich./Petoskey
6		Allyssah Fitterer	MB		6-2		FR	Barrie, Ont./Assumption Catholic Secondary
7		Ryian Hubbard	DS		5-6		JR	Battle Creek, Mich./St. Philip Catholic Central
8		Ebony Scott	OH		5-11		SO	Powhatan, Va./Powhatan
9		Taylor Galloway	OH		6-1		JR	Portage, Mich./Portage Central
10		Kelsey Kuipers	MB		6-1		SR	Otsego, Mich./Otsego
11		Chloe Reinig	OH		6-4		FR	South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon
12		Kristen Kelsay	S		5-10		SR	Wheaton, Ill./St. Francis
13		Brooke Kranda	MB/OPP		6-6		FR	Westfield, Ind./Westfield
14		Jazmine White	MB/OH		6-1		JR	Oshawa, Ontario/R.S. McLaughlin Institute
15		Lauren Wicinski	OH		6-1		SR	Geneva, Ill./Northern Illinois
16		Maggie Halloran	MB/OH		6-3		SO	Ann Arbor, Mich./Ann Arbor Skyline
18		Alexis Mathews	MB		6-3		SR	Detroit, Mich./Renaissance

Penn State Roster

Updated as of 8-21-2013

Number	Name	Position	Year/Class	Height	HS (Club)	State
1	Scott, Ariel	RS	4/Sr.	6-4	Immaculate Heart Academy (Team Complete Athlete)	NJ
2	Caraway, Lara	DS	2/So.	5-4	Evans City (Renaissance)	PA
3	Pierce, Kendall	DS	2/So.	5-6	Eden (Niagara Frontier Volleyball)	NY
4	Gonzalez, Dominique	DS	3/Jr.	5-6	Sandra Day O'Connor/ (Alamo Volleyball)	TX
6	Martin, Maddie	OH	4/Sr.	6-2	H.B. Plant (Tampa Bay Juniors)	FL
7	Grant, Nia	MB	3/Jr.	6-2	Howland (Cleveland Renaissance Volleyball Club)	OH
8	Denny, Erica	MH	3/Jr. (RS)	6-5	Grandview (Front Range Volleyball Club)	CO
9	Prieto-Cerame, Paulina	OH	1/Fr. (RS)	6-2	Palmer Trinity (Boomers Volleyball)	FL
10	Muller, Carley	DS	1/Fr.	5-7	Mira Costa (Tstreet Volleyball)	CA
12	Hancock, Micha	S	3/Jr.	5-11	Edmond Memorial (Oklahoma Peak Performance)	OK
13	Krause, Taylor	DS/S	1/Fr.	5-6	Parkland High (Synergy Volleyball)	PA
14	Whitney, Aiyana	OH	2/So. (RS)	6-4	Northern Valley Regional (Downstate Juniors)	NJ
15	Harding, Maggie	DS	4/Sr.	5-6	State College Area	PA
16	Slay, Katie	MH	4/Sr.	6-6	Wakefield (Triangle Volleyball Club)	NC
17	Courtney, Megan	S/OH	2/So.	6-2	Archbishop Alter (Team Z)	OH
18	McClendon, Deja	OH	4/Sr.	6-1	Dupont Manual Magnet (KIVA)	KY
23	Robertson, Kelly	MB	1/Fr.	6-0	Parkland High (Synergy Volleyball)	PA
24	Broerman, Laura	DS	1/Fr.	5-4	St. Mary's (Colorado Juniors)	CO
33	Fuller, Lacey	DS	3/Jr.	5-6	Torrey Pines (Coast Volleyball)	CA