MSU volleyball begins NCAA tourney run in friendly confines of Jenison
EAST LANSING — To understand the value of home-court advantage for Michigan State’s volleyball team this weekend, one needs only to peruse the Spartans’ schedule. They were 14-2 at Jenison Field House this season; 10-6 everywhere else.
There is normalcy in being home — even if nothing about the NCAA tournament is exactly normal. “The familiarity, our crowd … ,” MSU coach Cathy George said on the eve of her ninth NCAA tournament in 12 seasons in East Lansing.
The Spartans, the overall No. 9 seed in the 64-team field, begin what they hope is a deep tournament run at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Fairfield, champions of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Arizona and Cleveland State meet earlier, at 5 p.m. The two winners play each other at 7 p.m. Saturday in the second around.
Home crowds can lead to massive momentum swings in college athletics. Volleyball is a sport of constant energy and focus. A crowd of 6,000 or so of your closest friends is worth a few points. Sometimes more.
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“Those little differences can make a difference. I look at the smallest detail in how it can cost you in (the Big Ten),” George said. “Home and away does make a difference in terms of energy. It helps with the momentum changes and all those other things.”
George is grateful to be playing a nonleague foe for the first time since Sept. 17. The Big Ten slate is a brutal two-month round-robin that produced the NCAA tournament’s top three seeds (Nebraska, Wisconsin and Minnesota). MSU would likely to run into top-seeded Nebraska in the regional finals, which would be hosted by the Huskers. That would be MSU’s next step — the regional semis and finals, if this weekend goes well.
“It is nice to see somebody different,” George said. “You know the conference so very well, and it is nice to get a different look and to study for somebody a little differently and get a sense of different strategies and styles around the nation.”
Fairfield, whose campus is in Connecticut, has won 22 straight matches, finishing 18-0 in the MAAC.
“They have several very good players,” George said. “Their senior middle blocker (Megan O’Sullivan) and outside hitters (Megan Theiller) and (Skyler Day) are a lot of their offense.”
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If the Spartans survive Friday, Saturday night they’ll face either Horizon League champion Cleveland State or an Arizona team that’s been up and down, but has wins over ranked opponents USC and UCLA (twice each), Stanford, Oregon and Utah.
Arizona (18-14, 10-10 Pac-12) is led by Pac-12 setter of the year Penina Snuka, the granddaughter of former wrestler Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and the niece of wrestler and actor Dwayne Johnson, better known as “The Rock.” Or, as Cathy George described him, “The sexiest man alive.”
MSU, which is hosting NCAA tournament games for the first time since 2003 and last reached a Final Four in 1995, has had a banner season, which it hopes continues beyond this weekend. MSU’s 24 wins are its most in 20 years.
“We have a lot of great players, we have great chemistry, we worked really hard to put ourselves in the position we’re in,” George said.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.
FRIDAY'S MATCHES
MSU vs. Fairfield, 7:30 p.m.
Arizona vs. Cleveland State, 5 p.m.
Where: Jenison Field House, East Lansing
Tickets: MSUSpartans.com or 517-355-1610
TV: Online at MSUSpartans.com All-Access
Radio: SpartanSportsNetwork.com