Big Ten Weekly Volleyball Central Aug. 20-26

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Big Ten Statistics | NCAA Statistics | Big Ten Record Book | Big Ten Weekly Release - Aug. 20

• 79 Big Ten volleyball matches will be televised nationally on Big Ten Network, FOX, FS1, NBC and Peacock for the 2025 season. Big Ten Network will broadcast at least 63 matches, featuring all 18 conference schools. NBC will broadcast two matches this fall: UCLA vs. USC on Saturday, October 11 at 3:30 p.m. ET, and Minnesota vs. Nebraska on Saturday, November 8 at 3:30 p.m. ET. Both matches will also be streamed live on Peacock.
• Seven Big Ten volleyball programs were among the AVCA/TARAFLEX Preseason Top 25, announced on Aug. 6: #1 Nebraska, #2 Penn State, #8 Wisconsin, #11 Minnesota, #15 Purdue, #18 UCLA and #21 USC. Oregon and Washington received votes in the poll. For the first time in conference history, the Big Ten had the top two teams in the preseason rankings. 
• Minnesota, Penn State and Nebraska will participate in the 2025 AVCA First Serve on Aug. 22-25 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb., and the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. Nebraska will play Pittsburgh to begin the 2025 season on Friday, Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. ET on FOX. Penn State will begin its season on Saturday against Creighton at 5 p.m. ET in Lincoln. Nebraska finishes its opening weekend against Stanford on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and Penn State heads to Sioux Falls on Monday for a 6:30 p.m. ET first serve against Kansas on BTN. Minnesota and Texas A&M. will complete the BTN doubleheader on Monday night in Sioux Falls. The field for this year’s AVCA First Serve includes five participants that made the elite eight in 2024, including three semifinalists. Nine of the 10 teams were ranked in the top 20 of the final AVCA poll rankings. The tenth team is Vanderbilt who is in its first season of competition as it restarts its program for the first time in 45 years. 
• The Big Ten welcomes three new head coaches to the conference, including Michigan State’s Kristen Kelsay, Nebraska’s Dani Busboom Kelly and Oregon’s Trent Kersten. Kelsay and Busboom Kelly are two of five Big Ten head coaches to lead their alma mater. 
• Wisconsin will begin the 2025 season with the Opening Spike Classic over Labor Day Weekend at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. The four-team invite will feature Creighton, Kansas, Texas and Wisconsin, all four teams who were ranked in the AVCA’s preseason top 25. 
• Illinois, Nebraska and Purdue will participate in the inaugural Broadway Block Party at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. on Aug. 31. The triple-header will begin with Nebraska vs. Kentucky, followed by Purdue vs. Tennessee and Illinois vs. Vanderbilt. All three matches will be available on the ESPN family of networks. 
• The second annual State Farm Women’s College Volleyball Showcase heads to PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Aug. 31 - Sept. 1. Penn State will play Arizona State on Sunday and TCU on Monday. 
• The Big Ten led the nation in attendance for the 17th consecutive season in 2024. The conference totaled 918,615 fans across 267 matches, which was over 440,000 more fans than the ACC who finished second in attendance rankings, and over 470,000 more fans than the SEC (3rd). The Big Ten averaged 3,215 fans per match, the only conference to surpass the 3,000 threshold.
• Five of the top 10 teams in average attendance were in the Big Ten. Including Nebraska (8,713) and Wisconsin (7,638) at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. Minnesota (5th - 4,917), Purdue (8th - 4,076) and Washington (10th - 3,640) were also among the top 10. Ten Big Ten schools were among the top 25. 
• Seven All-Americans from 2024 return to fill Big Ten rosters in 2025. Nebraska returns Andi Jackson (First Team), Harper Murray (Second Team) and Bergen Reilly (Second Team). Penn State returns Freshman of the Year and Second Team honoree Izzy Starck and adds Florida transfer Kennedy Martin who was a First Team selection in 2024. Wisconsin returns Charlie Fuerbringer and adds Oregon transfer and Second Team selection Mimi Colyer.