Volleyball

Big Ten Weekly Volleyball Central - Oct. 21-27

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Big Ten Statistics | NCAA Statistics | Big Ten Weekly Release - Oct. 21

  • A nation-leading eight volleyball programs are ranked in this week’s AVCA/TARAFLEX Poll: #1 Nebraska, #6 Wisconsin, #10 Oregon, #12 Purdue, #16 Penn State, #18 Indiana, #20 Minnesota and #21 Washington. Michigan State, Illinois and UCLA received votes in this week’s poll. 
  • Eleven Big Ten teams are among the top 30 in terms of RPI this week including, #2 Nebraska, #5 Wisconsin, #7 Oregon, #10 UCLA, #15 Penn State, #16 Washington, #19 Indiana, #20 Purdue, #22 Minnesota, #24 Michigan State and #30 Illinois. 
  • The NCAA Division I volleyball committee announced its in-season top 16 rankings on Sunday. Seven Big Ten teams are among the 16 seeds, led by No. 1 Nebraska. Wisconsin was selected as a potential No. 4 seed, followed by No. 10 Oregon, No. 13 UCLA, No. 14 Penn State, No. 15 Washington and No. 16 Purdue. 
  • Through three weeks of the Discover Volleyball Challenge, Michigan State, Nebraska, Oregon, Penn State and UCLA are all 3-0 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.
  • Indiana beat No. 20 Washington last week for Steve Aird’s 11th ranked win as head coach. Aird could match the program record for ranked wins (12) by a head coach, hosting the 16th-ranked Nittany Lions on Sunday at 3 p.m. on FS1. 
  • With a 19-0 start, the Huskers have posted an unbeaten record through the first 19 matches of a season and are searching for the program’s 10th 20-0 start. This is the first time the Huskers have recorded consecutive 19-0 starts since a four-season run from 2005-08. 
  • The Boilermakers return home to take on their seventh opponent ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA poll in the last eight matches, hosting #20 Minnesota on Friday at 7 p.m. ET on B1G+. The Boilermakers stole a set from the top-ranked Huskers last week, handing Nebraska its first set loss against a Big Ten opponent since November 14, 2025. 
  • UCLA earned its first ranked win of the season against then-No. 15 Penn State on Friday night. The Bruins enter the fifth weekend of conference play on a five-match win streak, meeting No. 1 Nebraska and Iowa on the road this weekend. 
  • 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. 
  • 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.