Big Ten Weekly Volleyball Central Aug. 27 – Sept. 2
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- 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 August 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.
- Friday’s matchup between Nebraska and Pittsburgh recorded 771,000 viewers on FOX, making it the second most-viewed regular season women’s college volleyball telecast in history. On Sunday, Penn State vs. Creighton drew 132,000 viewers on FS1, while Stanford vs. Nebraska totaled 573,000 viewers on ESPN.
- In front of a sold-out Pinnacle Bank Arena to begin the AVCA First Serve and Dani Busboom Kelly’s tenure at Nebraska, the Huskers became the first Division I volleyball program to reach 1,500 all-time wins.
- Nebraska’s Rebekah Allick and Laney Choboy and Penn State’s Izzy Starck were named to the AVCA All-First Serve Team.
- Nebraska last beat two top-10 teams to begin the season in 2016 (#10 Florida (3-1) and #2 Texas (3-0)). Like 2025, Penn State started its 2008 campaign with a pair of top-25 wins (#12 Hawaii (3-0) and #6 UCLA (3-0)), a 38-0 season which culminated with a National Championship.
- 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 August 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 August 31 – September 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.
- Abbott and the Big Ten Conference are kicking off Season 2 of the We Give Blood drive. The competition begins on August 27, with fans receiving a custom Homefield school-specific t-shirt when they make a donation on that day (while supplies last). Every donation can help save up to three lives — and someone in the U.S. needs blood every two seconds.