Big Ten Weekly Volleyball Central - Nov. 13-19

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BIG TEN WEEKLY RELEASE - NOV. 15

• For the third-straight week the Big Ten has four teams among the ACVA top-25 and one team receiving votes in the Week 12 poll. 

• With four matches remaining on each Big Ten team’s schedule, regular season play will conclude next Saturday, Nov. 25, with the NCAA Selection show scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 26, at 6 p.m. ET with live coverage on ESPN for the first time. 32 teams are set to automatically qualify from each of the 32 conferences, with 32 others selected to round out the 64-team bracket. 

• Nebraska has a chance to clinch at least a share of the Big Ten title on Friday with a win over Michigan coupled with a Wisconsin loss at Purdue.  The Huskers’ shared the championship with Penn State in 2017 and won the out right title in 2016. 

• Ranked No. 1 in the AVCA Coaches Poll for the fourth-straight week, Nebraska has been ranked No. 1 in 106 all-time polls, the most in NCAA history.

• Wisconsin is second in the nation and first in the Big Ten with a .310 hitting percentage and posted a season-high .475% in a 3-0 win over Maryland on Nov. 10. 

• Then-no. 19 Penn State’s 3-1 win over then-No. 2 Wisconsin was the Nittany Lions’ highest-ranked win since beating No. 1 Stanford (3-1) in 2017. Penn State snapped a four-match losing skid to Wisconsin, improving to 50-14 in the all-time series. The Nittany Lions’ 2-0 week (3-0 win vs. Michigan, Nov. 10) propelled Penn State to 14th in this week’s AVCA Poll. 

• Penn State is the first opponent to have a higher hitting percentage this season vs. Wisconsin. Holding the Badgers to a season-low .176 (50-23-153).  Penn State hit .238 (63-25-160).

• Penn State’s Mac Podraza is rapidly approaching 5,000 career assists. With 957 on the season and averaging 10.29 assists per set (both 2nd in the Big Ten), Podraza needs 42 more assists to reach the milestone. Doing so would put the grad student as just one of three active Division I players to surpass the 5,000 threshold. Podraza is third on the active career leaders list with 4,958 assists.  

• Purdue will wrap its home slate this weekend, hosting No. 3 Wisconsin and Maryland at Holloway Gymnasium. It will be the second meeting between the Boilermakers and the Badgers in 16 days, with Wisconsin coming out on top on Nov. 1, 3-1. 

• Minnesota begins a four-match homestand to conclude the regular season, hosting Iowa, Ohio State, Illinois and No. 1 Nebraska over the next two weekends. The Gophers will look for the series sweep of Iowa and Ohio State and will meet Illinois for the only time this season. The Gophers played then-No. 2 Nebraska in the opening weekend of Big Ten play (Sept. 24), falling to the Huskers, 3-0. 

• Illinois is 7-2 since Oct. 13 with its pair of losses coming at the hands of Ohio State and then-No. 2 Wisconsin. The Fighting Illini will meet Ohio State on Wednesday for the Big Ten’s lone midweek match of Week 13. In the stretch, Illinois has topped Rutgers twice, Maryland, Indiana, No. 16 Purdue, Northwestern and Iowa. 

• Indiana began a four-match homestand last week with a win over Rutgers and a five-set loss to RV Minnesota at Wilkinson Hall. In the 3-0 sweep of the Scarlet Knights, the Hoosiers tallied their 18th win of the season, the most in a single season since 2010. Indiana’s .352 hitting percentage was its best in a Big Ten match since 2019 and the fourth-best single-game hitting percentage against a conference opponent in the 25-point scoring era.  Indiana closes its home slate vs. Maryland and No. 3 Wisconsin this weekend. Ohio State will play its final two conference road matches of 2023 at Illinois (Wednesday) and RV Minnesota (Saturday). Emily Londot moved up to fourth all-time in kills (1,628) and sixth in points (1,843.5) in the Nov. 12 loss at Maryland. Londot’s 1,628 career kills is 17th among all active Division I players.