Although Big Ten football is slightly less top-heavy than in days of yore with more national contenders (Maybe? Penn State has taken a bit of air out of that claim thanks to recent events, lol), Big Ten volleyball is feeling some of the effects of both the portal era and the growing popularity of volleyball. While growing parity means that the Big Ten is not quite as dominant as in years past, it still features plenty of excellent volleyball and at least two contenders to win it all. Today, we’ll
take a look at the top teams in the conference, as well as some of the other interesting storylines throughout the Big Ten. (All rankings pulled from the October 5th AVCA poll.)
The Contenders
#1 Nebraska (14-0, 4-0)
Oh hey, it’s the Huskers at #1 in the country. This isn’t exactly a surprise, as the core of this team has been knocking around for a couple of years, and has been very good in that time. Furthermore, the rich have gotten richer with the transfer portal, picking up Taylor Landfair from Minnesota a year ago, and adding Allie Schzech from Baylor this year. The Huskers also have a host of talented freshmen, including #1 setter recruit Campbell Flynn, OPP Teraya Sigler, and Italian OH Virginia Adriano– all of whom have seen fairly significant playing time already. The Huskers are so stacked that they’ve been able to periodically rest returning stars like setter Bergen Reilly, middles Rebekah Allick and Andi Jackson, and OH Harper Murray.
It’s good to be the Huskers right now.
Nebraska started the season with a tough schedule, knocking out then #3-Pitt and then-#6 Stanford in the first weekend, dropping only one set. Other ranked wins over Kentucky, Utah, and Creighton followed. (Creighton, as has become traditional in recent years, stressed the Huskers mightily and pushed them to five, as the Jays continue to hunt for their first-ever win over the Big Red.)
Their most startling result came last Friday night against Penn State. PSU has some interesting storylines this season (see below), but they are still the defending National Champions and a long-standing rival of the Huskers. The Big Red blew into Rec Hall with fury, intent on avenging themselves of last year’s Final Four loss, absolutely smashing the Nittany Lions, 25-6(!!!!), 25-15, 25-13. It was as vindictive of an ass-kicking as you’re likely to see in any sport. As a Husker fan, I really enjoyed it. 🙂
Main Storyline: While the Good Ship Husker Volleyball chugs along merrily so far, this is all the more remarkable given that they’re breaking in a new coach in Dani Busboom Kelly (DBK). Of course, DBK isn’t exactly new to either the Huskers or to coaching high-caliber teams. A Nebraska native, DBK was a setter at Nebraska from 2003-2006, coached for several years under John Cook, and then built Louisville into a title contender. Filling the shoes of John Cook, one of the giants of college volleyball, in a volleyball-mad state is no small task, but so far, DBK is crushing it.
#7 Wisconsin (11-1, 4-0)
So far, the Badgers have sailed a bit under the radar this year. As a Husker fan, this of course makes me nervous. There’s not a ton of reason for this, as their preseason featured a few ranked wins (Kansas, Georgia Tech, and Florida). It did feature them getting swept in one match however – but that was to #2 Texas, who has at points looked genuinely terrifying this season.
This may also be due in part to the Badgers battling the injury bug – Charlie Fuerbringer, Grace Egan, and Grace Lopez have all been hobbled this season. Setter Fuerbringer’s shoulder injury is perhaps most alarming – Head Coach Kelly Shefield recently commented that they were hoping it was a “weeks, not months” injury, which is not amazing news in the middle of the season.
Still, the Badgers are 11-1, and Sheffield is as experienced and battle-hardened as they come. This weekend’s showdown at Penn State will be a telling match (6 pm CT on Friday on BTN if you’d like to watch!)
Main Storyline: Those injuries! Can the Badgers adapt?
The Top 25
#12 Purdue (12-2, 3-1)
Purdue’s presence at #12 is something of a miracle and a testament to persistence after a tumultuous offseason. Perhaps no other team has shown both the perils and promise of the portal era so clearly. December 2024 marked the departure of most of Purdue’s top playmakers, with Raven Colvin turning pro, and OHs Chloe Chicoine and Eva Hudson entering the portal. Veteran Head Coach Dave Shondell admitted that he spent several days mulling retirement in the wake of the upheaval. Instead, he turned to the portal to replace what it stole, and apparently, found more or less what he needed. The Boilermakers have notched wins over #10 SMU and #15 Kansas, and last Thursday brought a dramatic reverse-sweep victory over UCLA.
#14 Minnesota (13-2, 3-1)
In comparison with other Big Ten teams, the Gophers had a pretty chill pre-conference season. Unfortunately, in their only ranked showdown (#9 Texas A&M), Minnesota came up short. They’ve also had an unsteady start to conference play, with a four-set loss to Michigan, who is good but not great. The Gophers have a big chance this week, as UCLA comes to Minneapolis on Wednesday (catch it on BTN at 7 pm).
#19 Penn State (8-6, 2-2)
It’s rare to see a team come off a National Championship and be able to maintain exactly the same level that took them there, but it’s still surprising to witness Penn State’s struggles this season. PSU started the season strong, looking invincible as they took down #12 Creighton and #14 Kansas in the first weekend of the season. But three straight losses (#13 Arizona State, #24 TCU, and #4 Kentucky) boded ill for the Nittany Lions, and what followed was even worse – 2024’s National Freshman of the Year and arguably the top setter in the country, Izzy Starck, announced she was stepping away from the team for the rest of the season to seek care for her mental and emotional health. Starck’s post announcing this news indicates that she hopes to return to the court someday, and hopefully, her time away to heal will be effective. In the meantime, PSU has been searching for a way to replace her presence on the team. After getting stomped at home by Nebraska last week, Friday night they play host to Wisconsin, and it should be a telling match about what the rest of the season may look like in Happy Valley.
#20 Indiana (13-1, 4-0)
We’ve written much on this site about how surreal Indiana football’s rise from perennial joke to actual contender is, but you may not realize that the Hoosier volleyball team has been on a similar journey this season. Their hot start flew under the radar, because the competition was decidedly less-than-stellar prior to Big Ten play (they played something called “SEMO” which doesn’t seem a terribly tough test.) But they’ve started off conference play more notably, especially last weekend, which saw a very fruitful trip to LA. Indiana knocked off both then #17-USC and then-#24 UCLA, and officially put the conference on notice that playing the Hoosiers is no longer a guaranteed 90-minute, three-set affair.
#22 USC (10-4, 1-3)
Conference play has been unkind to Trojans, who are struggling to stay in the rankings after a challenging start to Big Ten season. Their lone conference win so far has come over struggling Ohio State, alongside a five-set loss to PSU, a four-set loss to Indiana, and a sweep by Purdue. Fellow west-coast contenders for the conference middle Oregon and UCLA are up this week – both winnable for USC, and an important chance to get off the schneid.
The Rest
There are a lot of teams in the Big Ten, and a long season! Other teams to keep an eye on include UCLA, Illinois, and Oregon, who are all flirting with being ranked. Michigan has had moments of solid volleyball under third-year coach Erin Virtue, and Rutgers is making some headway in trying to break out of the cellar.
How to Watch
Volleyball coverage continues to grow more robust, with BTN in particular offering a healthy lineup of games each week. This year has also seen other networks getting in on the action, with ESPN broadcasting the first weekend of play, and Fox and NBC offering some matches throughout the season. You can see the schedule of all conference games, as well as where they are airing here.
