On Aug. 3, the Big Ten Conference hosted its Volleyball Media Day to preview each team’s 2026 season. The head coaches of all 18 teams voted on preseason All-Conference selections and the preseason poll. Nebraska was the unanimous favorite for the conference championship, while Michigan slotted in at No. 11.
In 2025, a conference record nine Big Ten teams — including the Wolverines — were selected for the NCAA Volleyball Tournament, which is within striking distance of Michigan’s projected finish.
Particularly in the year of the inaugural Big Ten Volleyball Tournament, the Wolverines could be poised for new success. Michigan finished the 2025 season with its best record since 2018, with 22 wins, and returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021.
Here’s everything head coach Erin Virtue, junior outside hitter Ella Demetrician and senior outside hitter Sydney Schnichels said at Media Day, courtesy of ASAP Sports.
THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Michigan. Coach, just an opening statement.
ERIN VIRTUE: Amazing. Thank you for having us here. Excited to be here and thanks to all those that put on Media Day, the Big Ten, the network. It’s so great to be able to be here and have media in the room and just be able to talk about our team, our season.
Since we finished training in April till now — I love to read. Sometimes someone will give me a book recommendation, and it will be in a queue. I get excited to read that back. I like the anticipation, finally going to open it, chapter and chapter, go through this book.
Now we’re in it. I opened a new book, first chapter. We had three practices so far. They’re in their fourth right now while we’re here. I am just excited to go chapter by chapter with this team. That is something that we talk about, development. The story, we don’t know what that looks like for this season.
We have two incredible leaders here. We just selected our leadership council with Ella and Sydney, Lydia and Morgan. We have incredible returners, of course. Like every program in colleges, one of the best things you see, this change. Every team looks different this year than they looked last year.
Ours is not unique in that. So we have some different pieces, some that left, some that came. But we also have some new positions, development that has happened over the last eight months that we’re really excited to just go and put on the court.
But looking forward to it. We added one staff member to helped our defense, Jason Gibbs, along with Bjarne Huus and Kassie Kadera, my coaching staff, incredible coaching staff. They’re leading practice right now with the three of us gone.
I’m lucky to work around and with incredible people in our program.
THE MODERATOR: Questions.
Q. (No microphone.)
ERIN VIRTUE: Yes, I think we graduated five people from our graduating class in May. So we’ve been able to work without those grads. We had last fall three freshmen that didn’t play, so they’re itching. They were formerly redshirts but now that’s changed, brought in four. Seven kind of new faces that haven’t yet played in a match. It’s been fun to just bring them into the fold as they’ve joined us in this pre-season.
But we also have four seniors, four fourth years if I’m looking at it the right way. We have a really big junior class. While we have some fresh faces that will contribute, we also have a lot of veteran faces that came and competed for us last year, have competed in the Big Ten at pretty high levels.
One of our rising sophomores, Ece, she played for Team Turkey all summer. Really, really high level.
I also forgot to mention in my opening statement, I’m really, really fortunate, honored to be part of the Big Ten where our commissioner, Tony, has been really pushing volleyball. Looking forward to the Big Ten tournament at the end of the season to prep us for the NCAAs. Really grateful for how that has transpired. So really, really grateful to be part of this conference.
Q. (No microphone.)
ERIN VIRTUE: Yeah, so now with athletes with fifth year of eligibility, if I look out a few years, I think it’s a positive thing where we know how to build a roster. You know the eligibility. There’s been unfortunate situations with injury and other things. We just know what that looks like.
I think in the immediate term it takes a lot of really good communication. When this went through, not only with our current roster, we met about what that looks like. It changes degree paths if someone was all of a sudden planning to finish in four, maybe what does that look like if there’s a master’s or a minor or something else with a degree path.
On our team there’s a lot of different pathways that that goes. Really good communication, which I strive to have for our team. Then also for the incoming classes that have verbally committed, what that looks like, how that may compress our roster.
A lot of communication. I think how I feel about it, not that it doesn’t matter, I have feelings, but it more is like, What do we do about it? This is the nature of college athletics. Things have changed a lot in the last 18 months.
So for us, we have to be able to be agile in that space. For me, that’s how I decide to tackle it, is this happened, this is a new rule, there may be others that come up, we’ll just tackle them as they come.
Q. (No microphone.)
ELLA DEMETRICIAN: Yeah, obviously you want to build a great résumé for the NCAA tournament in December. You want to strive for greatness there. But I think it’s super fun to have any kind of single elimination tournament. I think we’re just super hyped for that.
SYDNEY SCHNICHELS: Yeah, I think it might change things a little bit just because we’re only playing every team once now, whereas before there were some teams we would play twice.
I think that definitely changes, like, just the dynamic of the season. We only have I think — I don’t remember how many regular-season matches we have now. I think it’s like 17. Yeah, 17. So it definitely changes things in terms of we only see these teams once, then try to get them in the Big Ten tournament.
I’m super excited about it. I think it’s going to be a great opportunity. Also just is fostering the continued growth of our sport. So it’s great.
Q. (No microphone.)
SYDNEY SCHNICHELS: I mean, those matches are always very fun and have a ton of energy. Yeah, it is disappointing, but we’ll get another chance to see them in the Big Ten tournament hopefully. Yeah, we’ll be excited for that.
Q. (No microphone.)
ELLA DEMETRICIAN: Every team is different every single year. I think we’re still in the process of trying to figure that out. I think you’re going to see a lot of competitiveness, especially from me and Sydney, a lot of fun, maybe some new cheers in there, yeah.
SYDNEY SCHNICHELS: That’s a good one, yeah.
I think our team has always had, like last year as well, a lot of energy, a lot of competitive drive. A very gritty team. I think that you are going to continue to see more of that.
Like Ella said, we’re still trying to figure out who this team is. We just welcomed in some new freshmen. We have a lot of new players on our team. You’re going to see a lot of those key values still showing very strong this year.
Q. (No microphone.)
ELLA DEMETRICIAN: Yeah, we loved playing Pitt. They are an amazing team, amazing program. I think it’s going to challenge us in ways that not every team can. We’re just looking forward to going tested and play some great volleyball.
SYDNEY SCHNICHELS: We played Pitt in the spring as well. I think it’s going to be interesting to see how much we have developed even over the summer since we last played them.
Yeah, like Ella said, it will be a great challenge, a good way to figure out where we are as a group right off the bat at the start of the season.
Q. Sydney, you’ve talked about being able to play with freedom. How has that allowed you to find more of your game, more of your ceiling, what you’re looking forward to showing this year individually?
SYDNEY SCHNICHELS: Yeah, I’m really grateful for this coaching staff. They’ve really just given me the ability to play free, really be myself, and to go for it.
As a player, that’s really all you can ask for, is to have coaches who trust you to just go for it, see what you can do. So I’m really excited to come out this season.
I’m playing a new position. I’m playing outside now instead of opposite. I’m excited to show off what I’ve been working on, to just keep seeing how high I can climb, how great I can get at the position, and how I can help my team be successful this year.
Q. (No microphone.)
ERIN VIRTUE: So with Morgan Burke coming into her fourth season, we’re really fortunate to have three returning setters. No matter what combination we put together at practice, we are running our offense at a really high level with the three of them.
Morgan is certainly on our leadership council. She’s been a leader, a starter. She’s somebody that is super consistent in her demeanor, but also in her delivery. We’re really fortunate of where her level of play is.
She’s certainly capable of running the show on her own. With the personnel we have, we haven’t decided what system we’ll run. I love the fact we have choices and depth.
She’s been an amazing teammate in that. She’s been between a 5-1 and a 6-2. Being a setter, you want to be on the court all the time. It’s not easy to have a changeover. It’s like a relay race, have to pass the baton. It’s not easy. It can slow you down. She embraces that as a really good teammate, as do the other two. They want our team success more than just their own minutes on the court.
I’ve been really impressed with Morgan’s development over time. She’s put in the work. We have to pull the reins if she’s wanting to do extra time. We’re always constrained with not only the hours we’re allowed by the NCAA, but her load on her body, making sure that she’s working smarter as well as she’s gotten older.
Q. (No microphone.)
ERIN VIRTUE: Yeah, it’s really fun being a fan of Team USA. Just like international volleyball in general, instead of scouting Italy and Japan, I’m watching them as a fan. That’s a different lens for me, very fun.
I am a huge Karch Kiraly fan. One of my closest friends. Nothing against the national women’s team, I love women on that team, and Erik, what he’s done, what a tremendous summer they’ve had. I feel personally invested with what Karch is building with the men. I was up early cheering them on in the last two games, semifinals and finals. Big steps from where they were last year, figure out how they want to propel themselves towards L.A.
It’s fun being a fan. People ask me all the time do I miss it, miss my time with the national team. Of course, I had amazing memories. I love having my sole focus on Michigan and developing these wonderful women. I love being a fan. Me and those that are no longer on the staff, I feel like I’m still part of that in a cool way. I talk to Karch pretty much every day. He texted me 10 minutes after they finished their match on Sunday. It’s cool to hear his perspective and still learn from him.
Q. (No microphone.)
ELLA DEMETRICIAN: Yeah, it’s been incredible what Erin has done with this program. We’re just so grateful to have joined it during such a great building time. We’re always striving for more.
On the minor level, I was talking about this earlier, she’s very organized with our whiteboard. That’s something I love. We did just crank out our drills and not have to worry about where I am during this drill, stuff like that. Little things like that. Communication is a big thing on any Big Ten team. She’s amazing at that, as well.
SYDNEY SCHNICHELS: Yeah, I would also just say they just bring such great encouragement and feedback to the gym. I think, like, there’s so many little things that a coach can tell you. I think they do such a good job of they don’t give us too much feedback. They give us just enough so we can work on things but not think about it too much.
They do a great job in the way that they coach us. I think that’s showing through with the improvement in the program over the last couple years.
Q. (No microphone.)
ERIN VIRTUE: Maddie was, yeah, starting ‘bro for us last couple seasons. Similar to the arc that she had as she played five years at Michigan, came in, didn’t play very much, then earned space. We have four liberos in our program that are really vying for this space. They’re raising the level for each of them as they go.
It’s been fun to see that in the winter term for us, see that development of the three, then adding Meredith to that mix as a freshman. Jason Gibbs, he’ll be our position coach for the ‘bros. Bjarne Huus and Jason work really closely together to design our blocking defense and how that marriage goes together.
So the two of them have eyes on that. They’ve developed both passing and defensive traits for all of our ‘bros. I’m excited about that. I think we’re going to be — right now in practice, I’m seeing a higher level of play as a team in defense than I did a year ago. The same in passing. We’re taking leaps there. Certainly those ‘bros are a big part of that. The level of coaching we’re getting from those two is really exceptional.
Q. Allison Jacobs joining the Purdue staff. From your perspective, seeing that transition for her…
ERIN VIRTUE: Yeah, I’m really proud of any of our women that want to go on and have careers in whatever they want, I love seeing people stick around in volleyball. It’s cool to see Allison having played in the MLV, then she’ll play in League One this year. Sharpen her sword a little bit with making sure she stays fit and ready to go for the Signal in San Francisco. She’s also going to bring a lot in mentorship and her role within Purdue.
Of course, as an opponent, I wish them well, but it’s good for us too, also. She was so ingrained in what we had. It’s so important that we continue to move on as she goes and moves her direction and we move ours. She’s going to be such a big part of Michigan as an alumni forever. We wish her well.
I got to see Dave and the student-athletes from Purdue this morning. They are really enjoying having her there, and that doesn’t surprise me at all, the level of joy she brings to this game. She loves it.
As a coach, I never want to be someone’s last coach or last boss that they work with in this sport. I love that she’s carrying on.
