Michigan State volleyball announces move to Breslin Center for 2022 season

Big changes have come to the Michigan State volleyball team once again ahead of the 2022 season. Not only will the Spartans be playing under new head coach Leah Johnson, but the team will also be moving venues for all 16 home matches to the Jack Breslin Student Events Center. The move will mark the first matches played by the team at the Breslin Center since 2010.

The MSU Volleyball squad tentatively has all 16 home matches scheduled for the Breslin Center this season, including six non-conference matches and 10 home Big Ten matches across 14 dates for the upcoming 2022 season. The team’s previous home of Jenison Fieldhouse remains a potential venue to return to should any scheduling conflicts arise. The volleyball squad will continue to hold some of its practices at Jenison Fieldhouse. The staff office space will remain at Jenison, too.

However, the team intends to use the Breslin Center and its practice facilities, too, which can support volleyball poles and nets, as much as possible. Michigan State volleyball has played a limited number of games at the Breslin Center between 1995 and 2010, posting a 6-2 record overall in those matches. The last match played at the Breslin Center was a 3-0 sweep of No. 19-ranked Michigan on Nov. 24, 2010 in front of a then record crowd for the program of 6,824. That was later broken by a crowd of 6,838 at Jenison on Nov. 12, 2016.

“Big Ten Volleyball is the best show in the country and moving to the Breslin Center this season will allow us to create one of the best and most unique home court advantages in the country,” Coach Johnson said in a statement. “We could not be more excited to open the new era of Spartan volleyball at Breslin this season. Playing at an electric venue like Breslin will enable us to provide an even better gameday atmosphere for our student-athletes and fans. I’d like to thank Vice President and Director of Athletics Alan Haller and Associate AD of Sport Administration Julee Burgess for their support, and to both Tom (Izzo) and Suzy (Merchant) for enthusiastically welcoming us!”

The move to the Breslin Center is for the 2022 season only at this time. The administration intends to review how the move for this season goes before making any determination regarding the future primary venue for the program. Jenison Fieldhouse, opened in 1940, is home to multiple other athletic programs at Michigan State and suffers from congestion problems as a result.

Michigan State kicks off volleyball season at home, as it hosts the Auto Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational on Aug. 26 and Aug. 27.