EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State volleyball is set to open the Breslin Center for the first time in 2024, hosting the second annual Kathy DeBoer Invitational presented by Auto-Owners Insurance on September 6-8. Action gets underway for the Spartans on Friday night when they face Western Kentucky at 7:00 p.m.

Every match this weekend will stream on B1G+, including neutral site matches. All three games will have a live radio broadcast on MSUSpartans.com with John Kreger calling the action in his 20th season.

Parking is $5 in Lot 63 and Ramp 7. Re-Entry is allowed each individual day if wanting to attend multiple matches.

ABOUT WESTERN KENTUCKY (RV)​

Entering the weekend at 2-1, Western Kentucky is garnering votes in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll following wins over Morehead State (3-1) and Northern Kentucky (3-0) last weekend. The Hilltoppers dropped their lone match of the weekend at then No. 9-ranked Kentucky, 3-1. WKU finished the 2023 season with a 30-5 record and an unblemished 16-0 mark in CUSA matches en route to a second round appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Under the direction of Travis Hudson, Western Kentucky is one of the premier mid-major teams in the country with a 754-228 record over the last 30 seasons.

Kaylee Cox and Alivia Skidmore paced WKU in kills last week with 32 apiece, with Cox leading the team in points per set at 3.45. Callie Bauer handled the setting with 115 assists on the weekend, good for 10.45 per set. As a team the Hilltoppers hit .240 on 391 attempts.

Izzy Van De Wiele put up a strong block all weekend tallying 21 blocks on 1.91 per set. Van De Wiele ranks No. 10 nationally in blocks per set and No. 11 in total blocks as WKU ranks No. 17 in blocks per set as a team (3.00). Libero Abby Schaefer led the team in digs with 40 on 3.64 per set.

ABOUT MARIST​

Marist was 0-3 in its opening weekend of matches falling to Old Dominion (3-0), Virginia (3-0) and UTSA (3-0). The Red Foxes were 14-16, and 12-6 in the MAAC a year ago for head coach Sean Byron who is entering his sixth season at the helm.

Sara Dasic led Marist in kills last weekend with 15, hitting .104 on 48 attempts. Taylor Miller and Alyssa White both finished the weekend with 11 kills. White was the team's leading blocker with five blocks (three solo). As a team, Marist hit .008 over three matches. Jamison White tallied 54 assists on 6.00 per set. At libero, Katherine Thompson collected 21 digs for Marist on 2.63 digs per set.

ABOUT LOYOLA (CHICAGO)​

Loyola is 1-2 after defeated Loyola Marymount (3-0) in Kalamazoo, Mich. last weekend. The Ramblers were defeated by Clemson (3-0) and Western Michigan (3-1) to open the 2024 season. Head Coach Amanda Berkley is no stranger to the B1G as a 2008 graduate from Wisconsin, now in her seventh season as head coach at Loyola owning a 115-67 overall record.

Libero Jae Fitting ranks No. 24 nationally in digs per set at 5.10, helping the Ramblers to rank No. 38 in digs per set nationally as a program (16.5). Avary DeBlieck led Loyola in blocks last weekend with 11 on 1.10 blocks per set.

Offensively Loyola hit .181 as a team in Kalamazoo, led by Marta Cvitkovic's 31 kills and 3.50 points per set. Kate Maley (23) and Ann Marie Remmes (22) each finished with 20+ kills last weekend, with Remmes hitting a team-best .306. Bree Borum tallied 89 assists on 8.90 assists per set and posted a double-double against Western Michigan (39 assists, 13 digs).

SERIES HISTORY​

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Western Kentucky
- Michigan State is 2-0 all-time against Western Kentucky, last facing the Hilltoppers on the road in 2016 in a 3-2 victory over the then No. 23-ranked WKU.

- This is the second time WKU has played in an Auto-Owners Insurance sponsored invitational, falling to MSU 3-0 at the Spartan Invitational in 2014.

Marist
- MSU is 1-0 all-time against Marist, winning 3-0 at the San Diego State Aztec Invitational in 2016.

Loyola
- Michigan State is 2-1 against Loyola all-time, having never hosted the Ramblers in East Lansing. MSU is 2-0 in neutral site matches and 0-1 on the road.

- The Spartans last faced Loyola at the Western Michigan Invitational in 1999, winning 3-1.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

MSU will celebrate the Red Cedar Rowdies.​

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's soccer will conclude its season-long four-game homestand against Air Force on Friday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m.

The Spartans fell to 1-2-1 this season after a hard-fought loss to then-No. 5 Oregon State on Sept. 2. Freshman forward Mohamed Saad scored his first collegiate against the Beavers.

Charles Schmidgall and Kyle Keegan are on the call for B1G+.

LOOKING AT THE FALCONS
Air Force is looking for its first win of the season. The Falcons started the season with a 1-0 loss to then-No. 10 SMU in Dallas. Air Force then suffered a pair of 2-1 home losses to Army and new Big Ten opponent Washington.

Nick Bisagno and Logan Zaa are leading AFA in scoring with one goal each for two points. William Collins has started all three games this season in goal. He has allowed three goals in 182 minutes for a 1.48 GAA. Collins has made 13 saves this season.

SERIES HISTORY
Michigan State and Air Force have only met four times. The Spartans lead the overall series 2-1-1, but the teams haven't met since 1973. In 1967, MSU won in Colorado Springs, 4-0, while the Spartans had a dominating 8-0 win in East Lansing in 1968. The Falcons only victory came in 1973 in East Lansing, 4-0.

GETTING IN THE LINEUP
Through four games this season, MSU has used three different starting lineups. In the first four games, six Spartans have started all three games in Zac Kelly, Shion Soga, Cristiano Bruletti, Jeremy Sharp, Will Eby and Josh Adam. Adam, Kelly and Eby played every minute this season.

BIG TIME B1G
Seven teams in the Big Ten are ranked in either the United Soccer Coaches Poll or the Top Drawer Soccer Poll. In the USC poll, UCLA is No. 6, while Northwestern and Wisconsin stand ninth and tenth, respectively. In the Top Drawer Poll, UCLA stands No. 4, while Indiana is No. 9. Oregon State (No. 23), Washington (No. 24) and Wisconsin (No. 24) round out the poll.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly is fourth in the Big Ten in saves with 11. Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout is tied for sixth in the league in shots with 11.

UP NEXT
The Spartans hit the road to take on in-state rival Oakland on Monday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

QUICK STRIKES FOR THE WEEK AHEAD ...

• Michigan State kicks off the home portion of the 2024 season this weekend when it hosts Vermont (Friday) and Ohio (Sunday). The two visiting squads will play a neutral-site game on Saturday (1 pm) at Ralph Young Field.

• Live statistics and webstream links can be found for both games on the field hockey schedule page at MSUSpartans.com.

• Vermont dropped both of its season-opening games, at Lafayette (3-1) and at Rutgers (5-0). Marie Dijkstra had the lone Catamount goal on the weekend, and UVM played two keepers - Ila Gunner made eight saves and allowed four goals in 90 minutes, and Merle Vaandrager let in three scores in 30 minutes of action, making seven stops. Kate Pfeifer enters her 11th season as head coach of the Vermont field hockey program, and owns a 66-110 record in that time.

• Ali Johnstone is in her seventh season as the head coach at Ohio (29-62-0). The Bobcats have begun the 2024 season with an 0-2 mark, dropping games to Stanford (4-1) and UAlbany (4-0). Both Macy Lotze and Ash Stephenson have each gotten a game in the goalcage for the Bobcats, each making five saves in their start. Natalie LaFleur scored the lone Ohio goal against Stanford last Friday.

• MSU opened the year with a split in games on the west coast. The Spartans outlasted UC-Davis in Friday's opener (4-3) before dropping a heartbreaker at Cal in overtime (2-1).

• Maddie Lawlor returned to the lineup after missing the entire 2023 season, and scored a goal in each of MSU's first two games. The two goals is her career best in a season. Her Friday goal against the Aggies stood as the game-winner.

• Bianca Pizano came off the bench to score a pair of goals for MSU in Friday's game. Pizano scored two goals for the Spartans as a freshman in 2023.

• Senior Ellie Rutherford earned a pair of assists last Friday at Cal. Rutherford is MSU's top returning scorer from a year ago (4-1-9).

• Freshman Lilian Knorr also had a two-assist effort on Friday, picking up two helpers in her first collegiate game.

• Sophomore Lyra Gavino played the entirety of both games in California. She earned her first win of the year on Friday without making a save, and then put up a career-best seven saves in the tough OT loss at Cal.

• Jillian Bonczewski gave MSU its fourth (insurance) goal in Friday's game at UC-Davis, putting the Spartans back up by a pair after the Aggies had cut MSU's 3-0 lead down to 3-2. It was her first goal since the 2022 season.

• Freshman back Caro Schäfer wasted little time in earning her first collegiate point, earning the assist on Lawlor's opening goal in the game at UC-Davis.

• Seniors Ellie Wheatley and Emma O'Neill picked up the first points of their senior seasons on Lawlor's goal at Cal. The trio converted on a corner play. O'Neill is MSU's second-leading returning scorer (3-1-7 in 2023), while Wheatley had a pair of assists a year ago.

• Michigan State goes back on the road for a contest at Bellarmine next Friday (12 noon) before hosting Colgate on Sunday afternoon at Ralph Young Field (11 am).

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

First-year Michigan State defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Joe Rossi knew he had his work cut out for him when he made the move to East Lansing from Minnesota this season, and his fresh approach seems to already be paying dividends.

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I found this video to be the best and most comprehensive behind the scenes look at the new football building.

College sports, as a whole, are in the middle of a shake up period with multiple lawsuits in progress that will most definitely alter the entire landscape of how the NCAA and the schools move forward in the new reality of student-athletes being paid (beyond tuition, room, board) for their services.

How Michigan State handles this will define Alan Haller's legacy at MSU far beyond anything he has done to date.

This ESPN article explains how the judge presiding over the biggest trial isn't thrilled with the current settlement terms. In short, the NCAA is trying to level the playing field by gaining agreement that NIL Collectives will go away in exchange for school revenue sharing with the student-athletes. Kind of an either/or type thing. But the judge is saying both/and.

Both sides have a few weeks to see if the settlement can be salvaged or if the case will proceed to trial. If the settlement is scuttled, we're in for a few more years of no-man's land where NIL Collectives are very important to the success of the program.

I'm hearing mixed reviews from sources in and around MSU about the health of the university-endorsed collective, Spartan Nation NIL.

Anyway, here's the article if you want to read further:

While it is much harder to change the talent level and experience, one thing that the new coaches can do is to nail down the travel and road preparation. They should already have a trailer or two on the way with all they need to set up shop in college park.

Time will tell whether they have that function covered better than the last regime. Logistics are extremely important in running a high end sports team. Typically the team stays at the University of Maryland Hotel. Which is at the front gate of campus. So they should be rested and ready to go. However if they stay up all night at the bar downstairs, they won’t be. With a new staff and 60 new players, this will be their first field trip. On Saturday we will find out quickly if they have improved logistics and preparation.