What I saw from MSU's game vs Iowa, and what that means for the Michigan game!

Big time this weekend a lot of message board momentum and in Vegas moving toward the Spartans but the games aren't played online with keyboard warriors. I penciled this game in as a loss in the beginning of the season. Many have changed their outlook following the big W over Iowa. So, who ya' got?

The Spartans are gearing up to showcase their skills at the Louisville Classic.​

EAST LANSING, Mich. – With intense competition and a chance to make their mark for the upcoming season, Michigan State men's tennis aims to deliver great performances and build momentum for the season ahead.

Four Spartans will travel to participate in the Louisville Classic tournament Friday-Sunday, Oct 23-25. Freshmen Danial Rakhmatullayev and Mitchell Sheldon, junior David Saye, and senior Josh Portnoy.

Match play will begin at 2 p.m. on Friday. All four Spartans will compete in singles matches with no double matches going on this weekend.

One match will take place on Friday, followed by two matches on Saturday and ending out the weekend with the finals on Sunday.

The teams participating this weekend are Kentucky, Louisville, Tennessee, and Michigan State.

Spartans are looking forward to preparing for the upcoming weekend where they will split up and head to three different tournaments across the country.

Up next for the Spartans is B1G Indoor Championships, ITA Conference Masters and ITA Sectionals which all take place on Nov. 7-10.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Michigan State to host Michigan, Notre Dame, Northwestern, and Xavier.​

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State women's tennis is set to host their first tournament of the season, the Michigan State Classic, presented by Auto-Owners Insurance from Friday-Sunday, Oct. 25-Oct. 27.

The Green and White host the first of two home tournament weekends. The match includes five teams- the Spartans, Michigan, Notre Dame, Northwestern, and Xavier.

Each school sends four players to compete in the daily draws with singles and doubles matches both occurring throughout the day.

The matches take place at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center, all beginning at 10 a.m. each day. While the schedule is subject to change, each day will contain both singles and doubles matches from all five teams.

Michigan State sends four Spartans: freshman Amara Brahmbhatt, junior Matilde Morais, junior Issey Purser and redshirt sophomore Natalie Stasny.

Fans can follow the Tournament Central for results, updated schedule links and to watch live.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's women's golf team closes out the first half of the 2024-25 season this week, playing in The Landfall Tradition at the Country Club of Landfall's Pete Dye Course in Wilmington, N.C.

The Landfall Tradition will be played on the par-72, 6,178-yard rolling layout along the scenic Intracoastal Waterway near Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina. The field of 17 teams includes seven teams ranked among the top-50 in the country in the latest NCAA rankings.

The three-day event tees off on Friday, Oct. 25 at 8:30 a.m. with 18 holes. The tournament continues on Saturday, Oct. 26 and concludes on Sunday, Oct. 27 with a 9 a.m. shotgun start.
The Spartans tee off on the 10th hole on Friday morning at 10:09 a.m., playing alongside Florida State and UCF.

Dates: Friday, Oct. 25 - Sunday, Oct. 27
Course: Country Club of Landfall
Live Scoring: Golfstat
Par/Yardage: 72 / 6,178 yards
Format: Stroke play, 54 holes, play five, count four
Schedule: Friday – Round 1; Saturday – Round 2; Sunday – Round 3 (8:30 shotgun first two rounds, 8:45 a.m. in final round)

LINEUP
1. Brooke Biermann
2. Katie Lu
3. Taylor Kehoe
4. Catalina Monroy
5. Paula Balanzategui
IND. Ana Sofia Murcia

THE LANDFALL TRADITION FIELD
In addition to Michigan State (21), the field includes host UNC-Wilmington, Alabama, Clemson (35), Duke (20), Florida State (13), Furman, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina (12), NC State, Notre Dame, Ole Miss (17), Penn State, South Florida, UCF (40) and Virginia Tech.

LIVE SCORING
Golfstat.

LAST TIME OUT

• Michigan State entered the final round in the lead and battled back and forth through the final 18 holes with several teams before finishing in a tie for second place among 17 teams at the Tar Heel Invitational on Oct. 13
• The Spartans shot a final round 10-over par 290 and finished the three-day, 54-hole tournament with a score of 19-over par 859 (286-283-290).
• Senior Brooke Biermann shot an even-par 70 in the final round and was the top finisher for Michigan State, tying for 11th place at 5-over par 215 (71-74-70). She was named the Big Ten Golfer of the Week for the second time this year after her finish.
• Senior Katie Lu was one shot back, tying for 15th place at 6-over par 216 (73-69-74).
• Junior Taylor Kehoe and freshman Catalina Monroy both posted scores of 7-over par 217 and tied for 19th place. Kehoe shared low MSU round of the day honors with Biermann at even-par 70 (71-76-70), while Monroy closed with a 6-over par 76 (74-67-76).

ABOUT THE SPARTANS

• The Spartans are looking to close out the Fall season with another strong finish as the team has finished among the top-five in three events during the Fall season.
• Michigan State is ranked No. 21 in the country in the NCAA rankings.
• MSU opened the season tying for fourth place at the inaugural Folds of Honor Collegiate and followed that up with back-to-back second place finishes.
• The Spartans shot a 2-under par 862 and placed second at the Mary Fossum Invitational and then tied for second place at the Tar Heel Invitational.
• Senior Brooke Biermann, who is ranked No. 21 individual in the NCAA rankings, leads the team with a 71.11 scoring average and has been the team's top finisher in the first three events.
• Senior Katie Lu is third on the team with a 72.89 scoring average and has a top-10 finish and two top-20 this year, her best finish a tie for ninth place at the Mary Fossum Invitational.
• Junior Taylor Kehoe is fourth on the team with a 73.11 scoring average and has a top-10 finish and two top-20 this year, her best finish a tie for ninth place at the Mary Fossum Invitational.

SPARTANS AT THE LANDFALL TRADITION

• This year will mark the Spartans' 15th consecutive appearance at the Landfall Tradition.
• Overall, it's MSU's 17th time playing in the tournament, the second-most appearances overall.
• Michigan State finished in sixth place among 18 teams in last year's event, with Paula Balanzategui tying for seventh place at 6-under par 210.
• The Spartans had one of their best finishes in the tournament in 2017, taking third in the rain-shortened, two-round event.
• MSU holds the tournament record for the lowest team round with a 13-under-par 275 in 2015, while Sarah Burnham's 6-under-par 66 is tied for the lowest individual round and the lowest round by any player on Sunday in the event.
• A pair of Spartans in Sara Brown (2006) and Burnham (2015) have both claimed medalist honors at the Landfall.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

QUICK STRIKES FOR THE WEEK AHEAD ...

• Michigan State hosts its final two games at Ralph Young Field this season, welcoming Iowa and No. 1 Northwestern to East Lansing for Big Ten Contests.

• Lisa Cellucci is in her 11th season as the head coach of the Hawkeyes, and has been on staff for 25 years following a standout career as a goalkeeper for the Hawkeyes. No. 17 Iowa won back-to-back games last weekend after dropping its previous three, two in overtime. Dionne van Aalsum leads the Hawkeye offensive attack with eight goals, with Annika Herbine the team's assist leader (7) and is tied for second in goals with Lieve van Kessel (3). Mia Magnotta has played all 14 games for Iowa, with a .760 GAA and 1.18 GAA.

• Northwestern comes into Sunday's game after a showdown with No. 7 Michigan on Friday afternoon in Ann Arbor. Tracy Fuchs has guided the Wildcats for 16 seasons, including back-to-back title game appearances in 2021 and 2022, capturing the NCAA title in 2021. The Wildcats rolled through their first 15 games undefeated, allowing nine total goals - including non-conference victories over Stanford (7-0) and UC-Davis (11-1) last weekend in Evanston. Ashley Sessa took over the Big Ten scoring lead after last weekend's victories, with 17 goals and 45 points. Ilse Tromp (6-6-18) and Maddie Zimmer (8-5-17) also rank seventh and eighth among Big Ten scorers. Annabel Skubisz leads the Conference with a 0.48 GAA and .891 save percentage.

• MSU went on the road and dropped a pair of tough decisions at Rutgers (2-0) and in overtime at No. 16 Penn State (2-1). The Spartans fell to 0-5 in Big Ten play with the results, with three games remaining on the docket.

• The Spartans fell to 2-4 in overtime games this season, with three going to a second OT period and one advancing to a penalty shootout.

• The Spartans have surpassed their win total from a year ago (4) and have scored 31 goals through 15 games in 2024. The 2023 offensively-challenged Spartans scored 17 goals in 16 games combined.
• With five players boasting double-digit points, it is tied for second-most in the last 10 years - the 2015 team also had five in double figures, and the 2022 team had seven. MSU has seven returning players who have established new career highs in goals, assists AND points (all three categories). Five players have either four or five goals.

• Sophomore keeper Lyra Gavino was the story of last weekend - after a five-save performance in a 2-0 loss at Rutgers, she came back with a career-high 17 saves on Sunday in the 2-1 OT loss to Penn State. Gavino made six saves in both the third quarter and the OT period, and withstood 18 penalty corner attempts by the Nittany Lions. She has three double-digit save performances this season.

• Gavino owns a 2.00 GAA and .707 save percentage, both career bests. She leads the Big Ten in saves (70) and is 25th nationally in saves per game (5.00).

• Emma O'Neill maintains the team's scoring lead (5-10-15, 11th B1G), with classmate Ellie Rutherford (4-6-14. T-14th B1G) right behind. Rutherford leads the team in assists, while O'Neill shares the team's goal-scoring lead with sophomore Bianca Pizano. Those are career bests in all those categories for these Spartans.

• Maddie Lawlor and Jillian Bonczewski have joined O'Neill and Rutherford with career-best offensive seasons. Lawlor, who returned to the lineup this year after battling injury in her first three seasons, ownsd a 4-2-10 scoring line. Bonczewski has contributed three goals and two assists (eight points). Each of the seniors entered the season with just one career goal.

• Freshman Lilian Knorr has four goals and a pair of assists on the season to put her into double figures (10 points). Classmate Carmen Pucheta, with her goal last Sunday at Penn State, has a 3-2-8 line. The pair rank fifth and sixth on the team in scoring.

• MSU has one remaining game on the regular-season schedule, next Friday at Indiana.


Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

EMU Fall Classic
Date: Friday, Oct. 25
Time: First race 4:30 p.m. (women's 5k), 5 p.m. (men's 5k)
Location: Hudson Mills Metropark (Dexter, Mich.)
Live Results

EAST LANSING, MICH. - Michigan State men's and women's cross country will close out the regular season at the EMU Fall Classic at Hudson Mills Metropark in Dexter, Michigan on Friday, hosted by Eastern Michigan University. The women's 5k race will begin at 4:30 p.m., while the men's 5k will start at 5 p.m.

After the teams competed in both the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals and the Bowling Green Invitational last week, the Spartans have another group of runners who will compete one last time before the Big Ten Championships.

Regional schools Eastern Michigan, Michigan and Oakland will join Chicago State in the meet on Friday.

The women will be led by Mia Rogan, who set a 5k personal-best time of 18:53.4 at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational and Allison Chimielewski, who also had a PR at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational (18:05.7). Abbey Carvey also had strong showings at both the Bowling Green Invitational and the Notre Dame Invitational.

On the men's side, Matt Zeleke is among the competitors at the EMU Fall Classic. He set a 5k personal best at the Jeff Drenth Memorial in August with a time of 16:00.9. Gage Killewald also set a PR at the Jeff Drenth Memorial, just besting Zeleke with a time of 16:00.8.

Following the EMU Fall Classic, the Spartans will prepare for the Big Ten Championships in Champaign, Illinois and hosted by the University of Illinois. The Spartan women are back-to-back champions and have won four of the last five. Last season, the men finished third.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.