Nov. 9, 2004
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This Week: Iowa is on the road this weekend to take on Michigan State (5-9, 10-12) Friday and Michigan (7-7, 17-8) Saturday. Both matches begin at 6 p.m. CST. Live statistics and updates of the Michigan State match can be found on the results page at www.msuspartans.collegesports.com under Gametracker. Live statistics and updates of the Michigan match can be found at www.mgoblue.com/multimedia.cfm.
Last Week: Iowa fell to seventh-ranked Ohio State and sixth-ranked Penn State in Iowa City. The Buckeyes defeated Iowa in three games (30-22, 30-20, 30-18). The Nittany Lions also swept the Hawkeyes (30-23, 30-17, 30-19). Penn State’s Syndie Nadeau Nadeau earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors for her performances against Iowa and Minnesota last weekend. She posted 11 kills on an errorless 22 swings to hit .500. She recorded a team-high two blocks against the Hawkeyes. Nadeau also tallied 11 digs for her second double-double of the weekend and her 11th of the season.
The Spartans: Michigan State is eighth in the Big Ten after a five-game loss at Purdue and a 3-1 victory over Indiana last weekend. Coach Chuck Erbe’s squad is led by senior Kim Schram, who has 367 kills this season for an average of 4.71 per game, third best in the conference. Schram also leads the Spartans with 0.69 blocks per game. Six-foot freshman setter Maggie Griffin is averaging 12.77 assists per game. Schram and Griffin lead the Spartans in ace serves with 25 and 16, respectively. Michigan State is third in the conference in service aces with an average of 1.30 per game. Five Spartans have over 100 digs this season, with Marley Bellwood leading the way with 4.04 per contest.
Iowa-Michigan State Series: Iowa’s lone conference win came over Michigan State in a four game match on September 24 (30-25, 28-30, 30-17, 30-20). The Spartans lead the series 25-22.
The Wolverines: Coach Russ Rose and his Michigan team are sixth in the conference after wins over Indiana (3-0) and Purdue (3-2) last weekend. Senior outside hitter Jennifer Gandolphi paces the Wolverines with 3.11 kills per game and freshman Kate Bruzdzinski is right behind with 2.82. Michigan has a total of six players who are averaging two or more kills per game. Bruzdzinski has 33 ace serves this season, for an average of 0.38 per contest, second best in the Big Ten. Lisa Gamalski is averaging 12.04 assists per game. Lyndsay Miller and Megan Bowman lead the squad with 1.26 and 1.18 blocks per game, respectively. Miller’s average is third best in the conference.
Iowa-Michigan Series: The Wolverines swept the Hawkeyes in Iowa City on September 24 (37-35, 30-14, 30-23). Iowa holds a 24-22 advantage in the series.
In Fredrick’s words: “It’s interesting to be back around to that first and only conference win against Michigan State. We have to remember that we played them the night after they lost their starting middle hitter. If you see how they have been playing lately, it is obvious that they have improved throughout the season. I’m sure they will have revenge on their minds when we face them.
We’re not very comfortable with our lineup. We just don’t know who will be on the court at a given time. Stacey Vitali is around fifty percent and even Laura Simpson is only about 75% healthy. Chelsey Garrett will begin practicing this week, but only for 30 minuets a day. It’s just a tough road for us to be on, coming off a weekend against number-four Penn State and number-eight Ohio State.”
Making History: Senior libero Pam Kavadas has 453 digs this season for a career total of 1,425. That ranks her third on Iowa’s all-time dig list. Janet Moylan (1987-1990) is Iowa’s all-time dig leader with 1,931.
Senior middle blocker Carolyn Giese is also chasing the record books. Giese has 289 kills this season for Iowa, a team leading 3.40 kills per game. For her career, Giese has 859 kills out of 2,252 attempts. Her attacking percentage of .210 puts her at 17th on the Iowa all-time attack percentage list.
Big Ten News: In 45 conference games, Pam Kavadas has 228 digs, for an average of 4.82 per game, third best in the league. Justeen Patton is 10th in the league with an average of 8.64 assists in 42 games.
Counting all games played this season, Pam Kavadas is tenth with 25 service aces in 88 games for an average of 0.28 per game. Kavadas is also third with 453 digs for an average of 5.15 digs per game.
Iowa is sixth in service aces with 107 aces in 88 games for an average of 1.22 per game. Illinois leads the Big Ten with 143 aces this season, an average of 1.68 per game.
The Hawkeyes are fifth in digging with 1,416 digs in 88 games for 16.09 digs per game. Minnesota is tops with 19.73 team digs per game.