Type: Giant Ten Weekly Volleyball Central – Aug. 31-Sept. 7

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Following a strong start to the 2022 season, all 14 Big Ten Conference programs enter week two of non-conference play starting Wednesday night with a top-five showdown as No. 4 Minnesota visits top-ranked Texas (8 p.m. ET on the Longhorn Network). It’s the first of seven Top 25 matchups involving Big Ten teams during the next week, including three on Sunday afternoon — Minnesota hosting No. 13 Florida (1:30 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network), No. 8 Ohio State visiting No. 3 Louisville in the Cardinal Classic (2 p.m. ET on ACC Network) and No. 19 Illinois taking on No. 14 Washington at the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge in Boulder, Colo. (1 p.m. ET on Pac-12 Insider).

Big Ten schools went a combined 31-7 (.816) during the opening week of the 2022 season, with eight teams going unbeaten. Among that success were 20 victories via three-set sweeps, with both Nebraska and Northwestern winning all three of their matches last week in 3-0 fashion (Northwestern pulling off that feat to open a season for the first time since 2015).

Rutgers also opened its season with three consecutive victories at the College of Charleston Classic, starting 3-0 for the first time since 1998. The last time the Scarlet Knights began with four or more consecutive wins was two years earlier in 1996, when they debuted 8-0 en route to a 20-win season.

Northwestern posted a .500 hitting percentage in its Aug. 27 win over Northeastern at Welsh-Ryan Arena to cap off the Wildcats Classic. It was the fourth-highest hitting percentage in program history (highest under the current rally-scoring format) and Northwestern’s best since logging a program-best .689 mark in a win over Towson nearly 24 years ago (Sept. 18, 1998).

Purdue freshman outside hitter Eva Hudson was chosen as both the Big Ten Player and Freshman of the Week on Monday. She is the second rookie in conference history to earn both honors following the opening weekend of her freshman season, joining Minnesota’s Stephanie Samedy, who began her career by earning both awards to start the 2017 campaign. Hudson was named the MVP of the Tennessee Classic last weekend in Knoxville, Tenn., averaging 4.70 kills and 5.10 points per set with a .343 hitting percentage in leading the Boilermakers to a 3-0 weekend and the tournament title.

The Big Ten’s three newest head coaches began their conference tenures in fine fashion, going a combined 8-1 last weekend. Michigan State’s Leah Johnson and Penn State’s Katie Schumacher-Cawley led their squads to three victories in as many tries at home (MSU winning a pair of five-set thrillers along the way) to claim tournament titles at the Auto Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational and Penn State Classic, respectively. Meanwhile, Iowa’s Jim Barnes piloted the Hawkeyes to a 2-1 weekend at the Oklahoma Invitational.

Once again this week, the Big Ten leads all conferences with exactly half (7) of its teams ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll. Nebraska is currently ranked No. 2 (picking up 23 first-place votes), with Minnesota rising to No. 4 and Wisconsin checking in at No. 6. Ohio State is next at No. 8, with Purdue following at No. 11, Illinois at No. 19 and Penn State at No. 21. In addition, Michigan continues to be among the contingent receiving votes in the coaches’ poll.

Wisconsin was selected by the 14 conference coaches to earn its fourth consecutive Big Ten title, according to the Big Ten Preseason Poll announced Aug. 1 at the start of the inaugural Big Ten Volleyball Media Days in Chicago. The Badgers have won the past three conference championships on the way to berths in the NCAA Final Four (including last year’s national championship) and are seeking to be the first Big Ten volleyball program to earn four consecutive conference titles since Penn State won a Big Ten-record eight in a row from 2003-10. Nebraska was second in the Big Ten preseason coaches’ poll, followed by Minnesota, Ohio State and Penn State. The full poll, along with the 2022 Preseason All-Big Ten Team, can be found on page 3 of this release.

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).