Big Ten Weekly Volleyball Central - Oct. 30 - Nov. 5

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• Seven of the Big Ten’s 18 teams are mentioned in this week’s AVCA Coaches Poll, announced on Monday. The poll includes No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Penn State, No. 7 Wisconsin, No. 10 Oregon, No. 11 Purdue, No. 15 Minnesota and No. 21 USC. Three teams are receiving votes, Michigan, UCLA and Washington. 

• Illinois’ Raina Terry became the program’s all-time points record holder on Sunday against Iowa. Terry paced the Illini attack with 18 kills and 22.5 points in the match. Terry also surpassed 200 career service aces, the first-ever Illinois player to reach 200 service aces in program history. 
• Wisconsin continued it’s climb among the AVCA’s Top-10, reaching No. 7 in this week’s poll after defeating then-No. 10 Purdue and Indiana. The Badgers own a nine-match win streak and prepare to host No. 2 Nebraska on Friday on BTN. 
• With Wisconsin’s win vs. Indiana last Thursday, Head Coach Kelly Sheffield became the winningest coach in program history with 306 Wisconsin career victories. 
• Penn State has a 16-match Big Ten regular season win streak, which is the longest active streak in the conference. Their last regular season loss in conference play came on Nov. 5, 2023. Penn State will host Michigan and Iowa this week, and will look to extend its 14 match win streak inside Rec Hall. 
• Michigan State earned its first ranked-win since Oct. 28, 2023 with a five-set reverse sweep over then-No. 16 USC on Thursday. It was the Spartans’ first Big Ten win of the 2024 season.
• The Spartans’ Julia Bishop was named an AVCA Coaches 4 Coaches Scholarship Recipient on Wednesday. Funded by AVCA members, the scholarship program was developed as a way to provide a head start to young coaches and recent college graduates who have interest in coaching volleyball. This year’s 18 Coaches 4 Coaches recipients join more than 165 program alums.
• Saturday’s second NBC match of 2024 drew an average of 421,000 viewers for the Purdue vs. Wisconsin matchup. It was the second-most watched Big Ten conference matchup of the season. 
• BTN will carry a trio of doubleheaders this week, starting on Wednesday with Penn State vs. Michigan and Washington vs. Oregon. BTN’s volleyball coverage continues on Thursday with Ohio State vs. Iowa and UCLA vs. USC on Big Ten Network. Friday features Maryland vs. Purdue, followed by Wisconsin vs. Nebraska at 9 p.m. ET. 
• The second half of Big Ten play begins this week and Nebraska and Penn State remain undefeated in conference action (10-0). 
• The AVCA added 16 players to its 2024 National Player of the Year Watch List on Friday, Oct. 18. Added to the list from the Big Ten were Minnesota’s Julia Hanson, Nebraska’s Andi Jackson, Oregon’s Onye Ofoegbu, Penn State’s Izzy Starck and Taylor Trammell and USC’s Ally Batenhorst. 
• The NCAA committee announced its in-season top-16 rankings on Oct. 20. Seven Big Ten teams were among the top-16 including No. 1 Nebraska, No. 3 Penn State, No. 9 Wisconsin, No. 10 Oregon, No. 12 Purdue, No. 15 USC and No. 16 Minnesota.