The Support Group of
Michigan State University Women's Volleyball

Note: Because many of the news items on this page link to current-news sites that are updated frequently, some links in the archive may no longer work.

2014 Annual Awards Presented

The following awards were presented at the annual volleyball banquet on January 18, 2015 at the Kellogg Center:

SideOut Club Service Award: David Kirkby
Academic All-Conference Selections: Maggie Halloran, Taylor Galloway, Brooke Kranda, Kori Moster, Kristen Muir, Halle Peterson, Chloe Reinig, and Megan Tompkins
Kirkby Scholar-Athlete Award: Maggie Halloran
Most Improved Award: Allyssa Garvelink
Most Inspirational Award: Allyssah Fitterer
Playmaker Award: Chloe Reinig
Extra Mile Award: Abby Monson
MVP Award: Kori Moster

The SideOut Club presented Coach George with a check for $11,000 for use by the volleyball program.

Three All-America Awards for Spartans

Three MSU volleyball players won Honorable Mention status December 17 in the AVCA All-America awards. Senior Kori Moster was chosen for the third time in her career, while sophomore Chloe Reinig and freshman Rachel Minarick were first-time winners. Kori becomes the first player in history to earn an All-America award three times while playing as a Spartan. [full story]

New Coaching Positions, Familiar Faces

Congratulations are in order for Spartans Kristen Kelsay and Mike Gawlik! On December 11, Mike was promoted to Associate Head Coach for MSU volleyball, after years as assistant coach. At the same time, former MSU setter and three-year captain Kristen Kelsay was announced as Mike's replacement as assistant coach. [full story]

Eight Spartans Earn Academic Honors

Eight Spartan volleyball players earned Academic All-Big-Ten honors for fall 2014. Junior Maggie Halloran has maintained a perfect 4.0 average, one of five volleyball players in the conference to do so. Taylor Galloway, Brooke Kranda, Kori Moster, Kristen Muir, Halle Peterson, Chloe Reinig, and Megan Tompkins all had cumulative GPAs of 3.0 or higher. [full story]

Kori Moster Jersey on Auction

The MSU Athletics Official Online Auction has for sale a game-worn long-sleeve green volleyball jersey from the 2012-14 seasons. It does not have a player name and the description does not say who wore it or what size it is, but any fan knows who wore #1 for the Spartans the last four years. The auction will end on Wednesday, December 17. Follow-up: The jersey sold for $180 plus shipping, after 31 bids from 7 bidders. [auction site]

Spartans Earn All-Conference Honors

Four Spartan volleyball players were honored as the Big Ten announced its 2014 All-Conference awards December 2.

Sophomore Chloe Reinig was named to the All-Big-Ten team, with senior Kori Moster an honorable mention selection. Setter Rachel Minarick was chosen for the All-Freshman team, while Senior Jasmine White was the Spartan honoree for the Sportsmanship Award.

Congratulations to all of them, and to the entire team for getting to the second round of the NCAA tournament![full story]

Garvelink Honored for Second Consecutive Week

On December 1, Alyssa Garvelink was chosen as Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the second time this season and the second week in a row. She averaged 2.0 blocks per set and 3.2 kills per set for the week. [full story]

Spartans Make Fourth Straight NCAA Tournament

The MSU volleyball team got great news on November 30 when the 64 NCAA tournament selections were announced. The Spartans earned an at-large berth and will start the tournament Friday December 5 in a match versus Loyola Marymount to be played at Stanford at 7:30 p.m. EST. The winner of that match will play either Stanford or Cal State-Bakersfield the following day at 10:00 p.m. EST. Typically first and second round matches are not televised.

Loyola Marymount was 23-7 for the regular season and is ranked at number 29 in the Pablo computer rankings, compared with MSU's number 19 ranking. [full story]

Alyssa Garvelink is Freshman of the Week

Alyssa Garvelink has won her first Big Ten honor on November 24, being named the Freshman Player of the Week. She had outstanding matches against Northwestern and Indiana, excelling in both blocks and hitting percentage. [full story]

Associate Coach Russ Carney to Retire

Russ Carney, Associate Head Volleyball Coach, announced on November 21 that he will retire at the end of the 2014 season after 10 years at Michigan State. Russ started his volleyball career as a player at Kellogg Community College in 1973, and also started his coaching career there as an assistant in 1978. This is his 21st year coaching with Cathy George. A successor has not been named. [full story]

Moster a Finalist for Senior CLASS Award

MSU libero Kori Moster is one of ten finalists for the Senior CLASS award (Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School) in collegiate volleyball. Chosen athletes must show excellence in community, classroom, character and competition.

Liz McMahon of Illinois is the only other finalist from the Big Ten. The winner will be determined by the votes of Division I head coaches and the media, as well as fans. Voting by fans goes through December 8th, and you can vote once per day. [Vote for Kori][full story]

Rachel Minarick Wins Weekly Award for October 20

Setter Rachel Minarick was chosen as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for October 20 for her performances against Maryland and Rutgers. She averaged 11 assists per set, while hitting .500 with eight total kills and 11 total digs for the weekend. [full story]

Moster Nominated for Senior CLASS Award

MSU libero Kori Moster was announced September 9 as one of 30 nominees for the Senior CLASS award (Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School) in collegiate volleyball. Chosen athletes must show excellence in community, classroom, character and competition.

The list will be narrowed to ten finalists by midseason, at which time fans will have a chance to vote for their favorite player. The outcome of that vote will be one factor in the choice of a winnner. [full story]

Spartans Welcome Jim Stone to Coaching Staff

In a surprising and exciting development, MSU has announced that former Ohio State volleyball coach Jim Stone is now the volunteer assistant coach for the Spartans. Stone retired from the head coaching position at Ohio State in 2008 after a very successful 26-year career. Stone and MSU associate head coach Russ Carney both played volleyball at Ball State. [full story]

Kelsay Named Michigan Student Athlete of the Year

Former setter Kristen Kelsay has been selected by the Detroit Athletic Club as the 2014 Student Athlete of the Year. The award is based on athletic ability as well as academic and humanitarian efforts. Huge congratulations to Kristen! [full story]

2014 Schedule Available

The Spartan volleyball team will open the 2014 regular season on August 29 in Birmingham, Alabama and will finish up November 29 in Iowa City, Iowa. The pre-conference season will include 2013 NCAA tournament participants Oregon, Duke, North Carolina, LIU-Brooklyn, and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The Big Ten schedule will look quite different than in previous years due to the addition of Maryland and Rutgers to the conference. MSU will play seven opponents --Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, and Rutgers -- both home and away. They will play Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin at home only and Maryland, Ohio State, and Penn State on the road only.

An interesting twist will have MSU playing rivals and traveling partners Michigan for an away/home series in the same week, on a Tuesday and Friday. In the first half of the Big Ten season, the Spartans will play only three games out of ten at home, and then in the last half seven out of ten will be at home. [full_schedule]

MSU Volleyball Apparel from Nike Available for a Limited Time

Johnny Mac's Sporting Goods will be taking orders online until October 13 for Nike-branded MSU Volleyball shirts in several styles. These are different than what is currently being sold at the SideOut Club merchandise table. Visit the special website to see what is offered and to place an order. [Visit the website]

Volleyball Alumni Tailgate Party Prior to Football

SideOut Club members are invited to the MSU Volleyball Alumni Tailgate taking place this Saturday, October 4th, from 4pm-6pm before the football game behind Jenison Field House in between the baseball fields.

We will have our alumni and current players intermingling and we wanted to extend the invitation to you as well! Hamburgers, hot dogs, snacks, and drinks will be provided! We ask upon your arrival that you bring a dish to share. We plan on having about 50 alumni (including family members) and our players, so we anticipate a big group!

If you are interested and plan on attending—please send a confirmation email to Director of Volleyball Operations Brittany Holbrook <bholb@ath.msu.edu> with the dish you would like to pass. We could also use items such as paper plates, napkins, and silverware!

Coaches' Dinner at Peppino's September 4

Our first Coaches' Talk will be held September 4th at 6pm at Peppino’s Restaurant (on Albert Street between Abbot and MAC) in East Lansing. Coach George will highlight the home openers on September 5/6th against North Carolina and Duke and give us an update on the Team. In addition, the team captains, Kori and Jasmine, will be in attendance. The excitement for MSU Volleyball is in the air so please join in on the fun next Thursday at the Coaches Talk.

Dinner will be held in the “Skybox”, on 2nd floor of Peppino’s ,which is a really cool venue as it has some outdoor seating overlooking Albert Street. A pizza, salad, desert buffet will be served for $15/ person. The Coaches Lunches/ Dinners are open to all, so bring a friend along.

Meet the Team August 23

The first SideOut Club event of the season will be held on Saturday August 23 immediately after the Green & White game in Jenison Field House. The volleyball team will join SideOut Club members for a picnic-style meal, with food provided by the Club. Look for the area with tables and chairs set up on the Jenison floor, and expect a starting time of approximately 5:30 following the 4:00 p.m. exhibition game.

Spring Tournament at Jenison

The Spartans will host a six-team spring tournament in Jenison Field House on Saturday, April 12, 2014. Teams will include IPFW, Akron, Kent State, Ferris State, and GVSU. We'll have the day's schedule a little later.

The spring schedule will open three weeks earlier on March 22 with the Grand Rapids Hall of Fame Volleyball Showcase in the Mol Arena at Cornerstone University. MSU will play Western Michigan at 6 p.m. Preceding this at 4 p.m., Cornerstone will play Aquinas College and Grand Rapids Community College will face Davenport. Admission is $5.

On March 29, the Spartans will be at the Great Lakes Center in Aurora, Illinois for the Great Lakes Center Invitational. The Spartans will play Southern Illinois and UW-Milwaukee. For the last road trip, MSU will be one of 14 teams competing at the Capital Sports Center Tournament in Indianapolis. Other teams will include Ball State, Purdue, Kent State, Illinois, Ohio State, Univ. of Indianapolis, Kentucky, Xavier, IUPUI, Lipscomb, Indiana, Western Kentucky, and West Virginia.

(Note: because of the nature of spring scheduling, all times are subject to change, but will be more firm as the events get closer.)

Moster Chosen for Collegiate National Team

Following tryouts in February involving almost 300 players, junior libero Kori Moster has been named to the 2014 U.S. Collegiate National Team. The 12-member team is composed of college players with at least a year of remaining eligibility.

In June the team will train for three days at the University of Southern California with head coach Mark Rosen of the University of Michigan and will then embark on an 11-day trip to China where they will play six exhibition matches against Chinese teams. [full story]

Annual Meeting in Jenison April 12

The SideOut Club’s Annual Meeting will be held Saturday, April 12, 2014 in Jenison Field House, during the spring tournament (see below). We'll have more details about time and place shortly.

All members are encouraged to attend. The Club’s annual financial statement will be presented and there will be an election for the Board of Directors. The Annual Meeting also serves as a forum for members to voice any suggestions or concerns. Hope to see you on the 12th.

Wicinski To Play Pro Volleyball

Senior Lauren Wicinski is leaving to play professional volleyball in Puerto Rico for the 2014 season starting in January. She will play for the Carolina Giants (Las Gigantes de Carolina). The league starts play in late January and continues through early April.

The city of Carolina is about 10 miles from San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. Lauren says there will be at least one other U.S. player on the team. She will take 2014 off from school and then return to MSU for spring 2015 to finish the requirements for her degree. [Las Gigantes web site]

Big Ten and Other News

Natalie Emro Named Head Coach at North Park

North Park University in Chicago has announced the promotion of former MSU setter Natalie Emro (now Dietz) from graduate assistant coach to head coach for the 2014 season. [full story]

Another Wicinski for the Big Ten?

Spartan fans are likely to see a Wicinski on the opposite side of the net over the next few years. Kelsey Wicinski, the youngest sister of MSU alumna Lauren Wicinski, announced that she has committed to play volleyball at Maryland starting in the fall of 2015. [full story]

Big Ten Reveals 14-Team Scheduling for 2014

The newly-expanded Big Ten conference will not split into divisions for volleyball scheduling, and will stick with a 20-game conference season. Each team will meet seven of their opponents twice (home and away). They will play each remaining team only once, three at home and three away.

Two mainstays of Big Ten volleyball scheduling will also be modified. Although each school will have a nominal "travel partner", there will be many weeks during the season when the two teams play against different opponents. We will also see fewer consecutive-day (Friday/Saturday) games. In many cases, there will be one to three days in between scheduled games. [full story]

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