Fresh off their sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance – and fourth consecutive with at least one victory – the Michigan State Spartans released their 2017 road map. Playing in the rugged Big Ten, Michigan State already has its work cut out for itself but also is provided with plenty of high-level RPI matches to guide its way on the path.
The season starts in Atlanta, Georgia against Furman as part of the Georgia Tech invitational. Furman last made the NCAA Tournament in 2015. Then Michigan State will get to face two other power five opponents in Auburn (SEC) and Georgia Tech.
The first day (and weekend) of September represents the first home matches for Michigan State. The Auto Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational will feature San Diego State, Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Marshall. A&M Corpus Christi made the NCAA Tournament in 2016 out of the Southland, as Michigan State faces them on Saturday night at the Jenison Field House.
Following Labor Day weekend, the Spartans head southeast to Gainesville to take on 2016 Patriot League champ American, UNC-Wilmington and projected top-25 opponent and host Florida. The reigning SEC Champions took Michigan State out 3-0 in East Lansing last season as the Spartans will look for revenge in 2017.
The non-conference finishes up with Central Michigan, Southern Illinois and the Fighting Irish in a tournament hosted by Notre Dame. In total, the Spartans will take on 10 opponents in the non-conference who finished in the RPI top 116. Three of them made the NCAA Tournament in 2016.
“We feel we’ve got a competitive schedule that will prepare us for the high-level grind of the Big Ten, but also looking to that preparation to serve us well when it comes to the post-season,” said Michigan State head coach Cathy George in the release. “We’re fortunate that we had some practice before our foreign tour as well as those four matches that allowed us to really take a look at our personnel and how some of our new roles may be established or evolve. It was a really productive time with the freshmen involved.”
In conference play, the road gets tougher, as nine teams from the Big Ten made the NCAA Tournament last season. Michigan State plays the other eight teams who made it a total of 12 matches, making for a difficult schedule.
The Spartans draw Wisconsin, Maryland, Nebraska, Penn State, Northwestern and Michigan for home-and-home series, while they’ll face Minnesota, Purdue, Rutgers, Ohio State, Illinois and Iowa just once. Between Wisconsin (Sep. 22, Oct. 7), Nebraska (Oct. 4 & 27), Penn State (Oct. 13, Nov. 1), Michigan (Oct. 18, Nov. 15), Minnesota (Sep. 24) and Ohio State (Sep. 30), that’s six teams and 10 matches against 2016 Sweet 16 opponents.
“No one ever has an easy Big Ten schedule, but we face a pretty tall task in the opening three weeks with getting Wisconsin twice, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Ohio State,” George said of the news. “Our Conference keeps getting better, upping the level of play and the quality of the competition night-in and night-out. So many teams have improved from last year, and taking any match lightly is not advised. We want to be ready and prepared for the task at hand, and we are excited to attack each week of our schedule.”
The long road ahead won’t be easy for Michigan State, but with a talented bunch that features the return of 2016 kills leader Autumn Bailey, the Spartans should be able to maneuver the many opportunities for resume building wins.
Full Schedule:
August
Georgia Tech Invitational
Fri. 25 vs. Furman Atlanta, Ga. 8 pm
Sat. 26 vs. Auburn Atlanta, Ga. 1 pm, at Georgia Tech Atlanta, Ga. 8 pm
September
Auto Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational
Fri. 1 vs. San Diego State East Lansing, Mich. 11:30 am, vs. Marshall East Lansing, Mich. 7 pm
Sat. 2 vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi East Lansing, Mich. 7:30 pm
Active Ankle Challenge at Florida
Fri. 8 vs. American Gainesville, Fla., TBA, vs. UNC-Wilmington Gainesville, Fla TBA
Sat. 9 vs. Florida Gainesville, Fla. TBA
Notre Dame Shamrock Invitational
Fri. 15 at Notre Dame South Bend, Ind. 7 pm
Sat. 16 vs. Central Michigan South Bend, Ind. 10 am, vs. Southern Illinois South Bend, Ind. 4:30 pm
Big Ten:
Fri. 22 at Wisconsin * Madison, Wis. 7 pm CT/8 pm ET
Sun. 24 at Minnesota * Minneapolis, Minn. TBA
Fri. 29 MARYLAND * East Lansing, Mich. TBA
Sat. 30 OHIO STATE * East Lansing, Mich. TBA
October
Wed. 4 at Nebraska * Lincoln, Neb. TBA
Sat. 7 WISCONSIN * East Lansing, Mich. TBA
Fri. 13 at Penn State* State College, Pa. 7:30 pm
Sat. 14 at Rutgers * Piscataway, NJ TBA
Wed. 18 MICHIGAN * East Lansing, Mich. TBA
Sat. 21 at Maryland * College Park, Md. TBA
Fri. 27 NEBRASKA * East Lansing, Mich. TBA
Sat. 28 IOWA * East Lansing, Mich. TBA
November
Wed. 1 PENN STATE East Lansing, Mich. TBA
Sat. 4 at Northwestern * Evanston, Ill. TBA
Fri.. 10 ILLINOIS * East Lansing, Mich. TBA
Sat. 11 NORTHWESTERN * East Lansing, Mich. TBA
Wed. 15 at Michigan * Ann Arbor, Mich. TBA
Sat. 18 INDIANA * East Lansing, Mich. TBA
Fri. 24 at Purdue * West Lafayette, Ind. 7 pm
Sat. 25 at Indiana * Bloomington, Ind. Indiana 7 pm
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