Volleyball

Big Ten Weekly Volleyball Central - Oct. 14-20

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Big Ten Statistics | NCAA Statistics | Big Ten Weekly Release - Oct. 14

  • A nation-leading nine volleyball programs are ranked in this week’s AVCA/TARAFLEX Poll: #1 Nebraska, #6 Wisconsin, #11 Oregon, #13 Purdue, #15 Penn State, #18 Indiana, #20 Washington, #21 Minnesota and #22 Michigan State. Illinois, UCLA and USC received votes in this week’s poll. 
  • Twelve Big Ten teams are among the top 40 in terms of RPI this week including, #2 Nebraska, #6 Wisconsin, #9 Washington, #10 Oregon, #12 Penn State, #15 UCLA, #17 Purdue, #19 Michigan State, #21 Indiana, #30 Minnesota, #37 Michigan and #40 Illinois. 
  • Through two weeks of the Discover Volleyball Challenge, Michigan State, Nebraska, Oregon, Penn State and UCLA are all 2-0 in Challenge matches. Play will continue through the end of this month with the winner determined by the highest win total across the five designated matches.
  • The Illini’s three ranked victories in 2026 are their most in a season since 2021. Illinois has multiple sweeps over ranked opponents for the first time since the 2018 campaign. Illinois meets No. 22 Michigan State on Oct. 15. 
  • The Spartans remain at No. 22 in this week’s AVCA Poll and are nationally ranked in back-to-back weeks for the first time since 2017. 
  • Nebraska was the unanimous No. 1 team in the country this week for the first time this season. Nebraska, the lone undefeated team across Division I, has yet to drop a set in Big Ten play. 
  • Oregon continued its rise in the national rankings after earning a pair of sweeps against No. 22 Michigan State and Michigan last weekend. The Ducks are ranked 11th in this week’s AVCA poll, their highest ranking of the season to this point. 
  • Nebraska and Washington are among the top 10 nationally in terms of opponent hitting percentage. The Huskers lead Division I, limiting opponents to a .105 hitting percentage, while the Huskies are seventh with a .150 opponent hitting percentage. Neither team has allowed an opponent to hit over .300 so far this season. 
  • The AVCA announced the addition of 16 players to the Watch List for its 2026 Division I Player of the Year Award, presented by Nike Volleyball. New additions from the Big Ten include Minnesota’s Stella Swenson and Mckenna Wucherer and Nebraska’s Manaia Ogbechie. The Big Ten accounts for 13 players on the 46-player watch list. A list of semifinalists will be announced in November, and finalists will be revealed in early December. 
  • Nebraska and Wisconsin are set to play in the inaugural AVCA Match Point, a two-day women’s volleyball championship event taking place at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky., on April 10-11, 2027. The event will feature six of the nation’s top programs, Nebraska, Louisville, Kentucky, Pitt, Stanford and Wisconsin, with two additional programs to be announced at a later date that round out the eight-team field.
  • The Big Ten Conference will usher in a new era of collegiate volleyball this fall with the launch of its inaugural tournament November 20-25, 2026, at Fishers Event Center in Fishers, Ind. The top 15 teams in the regular-season standings will qualify for the tournament, bringing the nation’s premier volleyball programs together in one venue for the first time. Three matches will be played in the opening round of the tournament, followed by four second-round matches. The competition will then progress through the quarterfinals and semifinals, culminating with the championship match slated for November 25 on FOX. One off day will be built into the tournament schedule.