- The 14 Big Ten Conference volleyball programs begin the second half of the 2022 season this week, with matches each night through the weekend. Highlighting this week’s Big Ten schedule is a televised tripleheader on Wednesday, including a twinbill on Big Ten Network as part of its #B1GBlockParty (No. 11 Penn State at Illinois, followed by No. 1 Nebraska at No. 5 Wisconsin) and the rivalry match between Michigan and No. 6 Ohio State in Columbus live on ESPNU. BTN also is slated to televised No. 12 Purdue at Northwestern on Friday, as well as a Saturday night doubleheader spotlighting two top-11 matchups (No. 9 Minnesota at No. 5 Wisconsin, along with No. 6 Ohio State at No. 11 Penn State).
- Nebraska moved back atop the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 poll this week, picking up 48 first-place votes. It’s the second time this season the Huskers have been ranked No. 1, holding down the top spot in the preseason AVCA poll with 24 first-place votes. Nebraska is one of six Big Ten Conference programs appearing in this week’s poll, all in the top 12, with the Big Ten leading all conferences in Top 25 teams each week during the 2022 season.
- Wednesday night’s replay of the 2021 NCAA national championship match between No. 1 Nebraska and defending national champion/No. 5 Wisconsin at the UW Field House (9 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network and the FOX Sports app) will mark the 13th top-10 contest this season to feature at least one Big Ten Conference program, as well as the fifth top-10 conference match this year. In addition, it’s the first of two top-10 Big Ten matches this week, both hosted by Wisconsin, as the Badgers welcome No. 9 Minnesota to Madison on Saturday night (6:30 p.m. ET on BTN/FOX Sports app).
- The Big Ten continues to be tops in the country with six schools in the top 25 (four in the top 10) of this week’s NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) rankings. By comparison, only one other conference currently has multiple teams in the RPI Top 10 (ACC with two) and just one conference has more than half as many teams in the RPI Top 25 as the Big Ten currently does (the Pac-12 has four).
- The Oct. 22 match featuring Nebraska at Illinois registered 206,000 viewers on Big Ten Network, the eighth Big Ten Conference match this season to draw at least 200,000 viewers on the conference’s network partners (BTN, ESPN and FS1). The most-watched Big Ten match this season to date came on Sept. 3, when 271,000 viewers tuned into Big Ten Network for Nebraska’s sweep of Ole Miss.
- Indiana captured a noteworthy 3-1 win at No. 25 Michigan on Oct. 21, the Hoosiers’ first victory over a Top 25 team since Sept. 14, 2019 (at No. 15 Kentucky) and their first on the road at a ranked Big Ten opponent since Oct. 26, 2013 (No. 10 Michigan State). Indiana followed that victory with a five-set win at Michigan State two days later, completing the program’s first season sweep of the Michigan schools since 1989 and representing the first time the Hoosiers have won both matches on a Big Ten weekend since 2015. Indiana has now won three consecutive Big Ten matches for the first time since a similar three-match conference run in 2014 (the Hoosiers’ last four-match Big Ten win streak came in 2008 and their most recent five-match conference success string was in 1995).
- Three Big Ten student-athletes are nearing career milestones. Maryland’s Rainelle Jones needs three blocks to move into the top five in Big Ten Conference history, currently standing seventh with 680 blocks. Minnesota’s CC McGraw needs 35 digs to enter the top 25 in the Big Ten career record books (she currently has 1,753 digs). In addition, Nebraska’s Nicklin Hames has 4,835 assists, closing in on becoming the 27th setter in Big Ten history with 5,000 career assists.
- A pair of milestones could be on the horizon for Big Ten coaches this week. Wisconsin’s Kelly Sheffield needs one victory to reach 250 for his career with the Badgers (he comes into the week with a 249-56 record in his 10th season in Madison and has a 22-year career record of 522-168). Purdue’s Dave Shondell is also in position for a career landmark, as he is expected to coach his 400th Big Ten match Sunday afternoon (Oct. 30) when his Boilermakers play host to Indiana in the battle for the Monon Spike. Shondell enters this week with a 240-158 record in Big Ten play during his 20 seasons at Purdue.
- The Big Ten Conference remains the standard bearer at the turnstiles this season with nine conference programs among the nation’s top 19 in this week’s NCAA attendance rankings (including three of the top four and five of the top seven). Wisconsin (8,293 fans per match) holds a narrow lead over Nebraska (8,186), with Minnesota fourth (4,738), Michigan State sixth (3,639) and Ohio State seventh (3,537), Illinois is next at No. 14 (2,642), with Purdue 16th (2,359), Penn State at No. 18 (2,285) and Michigan at No. 19 (2,276).
- The Big Ten has announced the most robust volleyball television package in its history with a record-setting 55 matches scheduled for linear television coverage (47 on Big Ten Network, six on ESPN2/ESPNU, two on FS1), with the possibility of further broadcasts to be announced at a later date. In addition, all non-televised Big Ten volleyball home matches are scheduled to be broadcast live on B1G+, the Big Ten Network’s subscription streaming service (bigtenplus.com).
- On Aug. 1, the Big Ten Network announced a groundbreaking, multi-year distribution partnership with Volleyball World that will enhance the promotion and coverage of Big Ten Conference volleyball across the globe. As part of that agreement, 70+ Big Ten volleyball matches will appear worldwide on VolleyballWorld.tv. There will also be live streaming of nearly 50 televised Big Ten Network volleyball matches outside of North America and certain Caribbean islands, as well as worldwide streaming of an additional 28 matches from B1G+ inventory, with those matches airing concurrently on B1G+.
- For the 16th consecutive season, Big Ten volleyball honored more than 70 Academic All-Big Ten standouts in 2021, as a record-setting 153 volleyball student-athletes were recognized, including a pair of Academic All-America selections in first-team honoree Sydney Hilley (Wisconsin) and second-team choice Diana Brown (Illinois).
