Lansing Sun

Michigan State Athletics has a busy week ahead, with several teams in action from September 11-17.

In cross country, the men's and women's teams will host the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational on Friday morning at Forest Akers East Golf Course. The Spartan women, who have won two consecutive Big Ten titles, are ranked No. 18 nationally.

The volleyball team will face Western Michigan at home on Wednesday night at 6 p.m., following a perfect 3-0 weekend. Although there are no weekend matches scheduled, MSU will travel to Eastern Michigan on Monday and host Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday for Hometown Heroes night. Fifth-year libero Nalani Iosia was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after leading MSU with 56 digs in the Kathy DeBoer Invitational presented by Auto-Owners Insurance.

Michigan State football is set to host Prairie View A&M on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The Spartans enter the game with a 2-0 record after a come-from-behind victory against Maryland, capped by a last-second field goal from Jonathan Kim. Nick Marsh was named both Big Ten Freshman of the Week and Shaun Alexander National Freshman of the Week following his breakout performance with eight receptions for 194 yards.

The field hockey team will play at Bellarmine on Friday before returning home for a Sunday morning match against Colgate. The Spartans currently hold a 2-2 record, with both losses occurring in overtime.

Men's golf wraps up play at the Folds of Honor Collegiate on Wednesday. Senior Ashton McCulloch is near the top of the individual leaderboard through two rounds, while the Spartans are positioned within the top five in team standings. Golf Channel will broadcast live from 4:30-7:30 p.m. The team returns to action next Monday and Tuesday at the Golf Canada Collegiate in MacTier, Ontario.

Women's golf is participating in its first-ever women's Folds of Honor Collegiate tournament and will complete its third round on Wednesday. The Spartans are aiming for a Top 10 finish after posting their best round during day two.

Women's soccer begins conference play on Thursday with an away game against Maryland. Ranked No. 5 nationally, Michigan State holds a non-conference record of 5-0-2. Emily Mathews was named to TopDrawerSoccer's National Team of the Week following her seven-point performance against Queens.

Men's soccer opens Big Ten play by hosting Washington at DeMartin Stadium on Friday night at 7 p.m. Washington enters this contest with a record of 3-1-2 after defeating No.11 Seattle earlier this week.

Lastly, men's tennis starts its fall season this weekend with players competing across various locations including San Francisco for the Battle in the Bay tournament and Louisville for the Louisville Invite. Redshirt-sophomore Aristotelis Thanos will represent Greece in this weekend’s Davis Cup Tie against Novak Djokovic and Serbia.