The Official Support Group of
Michigan State University Women's Volleyball

MSU's first opponent, on Friday night will be Southern California, who finished 2008 ranked #13 in the nation. MSU has not hosted a Pac-10 team since 1996.

Saturday night's foe will be North Carolina who reached the second round of the NCAA tournament last year. The Tar Heels will be led by East Lansing's own Heather Brooks, who was named an honorable mention All-American in 2008. [full schedule]

Another New Spartan for 2009

According to richkern.com, Barbara "Cebo" Conceicao will be transferring to MSU after an outstanding career at Iowa Western Community College. Cebo is a 6-1 middle blocker from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil who was named a 2008 1st Team All-American, 1st Team AVCA, and won All-Tournament honors at the NJCAA Championships, where her team finished fourth. (Trivia: Juliana Paz, who was the kill leader for the Michigan Wolverines this past season, also played at IWCC, one year ahead of Cebo.)

2008 Annual Awards Presented

The following awards were presented at the annual volleyball banquet on January 11, 2009:

SideOut Club Service Award: John Bond
Academic All-Conference Selections: Allyson Karaba, Heather McDaniel, Mischelle Nelson, Megan Schatzle, Vineece Verdun
Kirkby Scholar-Athlete Award: Jenilee Rathje
Blue Collar Award: Allyson Karaba
Newcomer Award: Natalie Emro
Most Valuable Player: Vanessa King
Coaches' Award: Heather McDaniel

The SideOut Club presented Coach George with a check for $9,000 for use by the volleyball program.

Transfer Added to 2009 Spartans

Nicole Peter, a 5-11 setter from Grand Rapids Community College, has transferred to MSU and will start play with the Spartan volleyball team in the spring. Nicole was chosen as a first-team All-American for the National Junior College Atheletic Association Division II. [full story]

Two Spartans Win All-Conference Awards

Junior Vanessa King was named to the All-Big-Ten Team for 2008, capping off a season in which she hit .348, the fourth best single-season hitting percentage in school history. Natalie Emro was a unanimous selection to the All-Big-Ten Freshman Team. Along with her fourth-best-in-the-conference average of 10.6 assists per set, she ranked second among all Spartans with 71 blocks and a .275 hitting percentage.

Heather McDaniel was nominated for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. A winner for this award is chosen from each Big Ten School at the end of the school year.
[Big Ten story] [MSU story] [King story]

Spartans Announce Three Recruits

One outside hitter and two middle blockers will join the MSU volleyball program for fall 2009. Amy Dentlinger is a 6-1 outside hitter from Arcadia, Iowa, who is ranked first academically in her high school class. Bizl Egerer is a 6-1 middle blocker from Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, who holds the all-time state high school record for kills. Alexis Mathews (right) is a 6-3 middle blocker from Detroit, Michigan, who first played volleyball her freshman year and by her senior year was named to the all-region team. Read the following stories to learn more about them. [Dentlinger story] [Egerer story] [Mathews story] [MSU release]

Previous 2009 News

Annual Meeting April 27

The Sideout Club 2009 Annual Meeting will be held on April 27 at noon at the Hall of Fame Café on Lake Lansing Road in East Lansing. The annual meeting will be held to elect board members and review the Club financial report. Coach George will update us on the progress of the volleyball team so far this spring and give us an inside peek into the 2009 season and outlook. We hope to see you all on the 27th.

Spring Tournament Schedule

Spartan volleyball will host Western Michigan for a competition/practice event on Saturday, April 11, 2009. This will take place in the women's basketball auxiliary gym on the east side of the Breslin Center. Fans can enter at the ticket office entrance, located on the south side of the arena; the auxiliary gym is located on the mezzanine level.

Also participating will be alumni teams from both schools, who will play an exhibition against each other. The morning (9:00 to 11:30) will be devoted to training exercises, with the actual matches played in the afternoon (alumni at 1:30, MSU vs. WMU at 3:00). The gym will be open all day, with no admission charge, so fans can come to watch whatever portion interests them.

For the two weekends preceding the home event, the Spartans will compete in tournaments in Illinois. On March 28, they will be at the Great Lakes Center in Aurora Illinois, and on April 4, they will be at the Three Wise Men Tournament at Loyola University in Chicago.

Big Ten and Other News

Illinois Chooses Hambly

Kevin Hambly has been promoted to head volleyball coach at the University of Illinois, replacing the retired Don Hardin. [full story]

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