(BIG TEN) – For the fourth straight week, eight Big Ten volleyball programs were among this week’s AVCA/TARAFLEX Top 25: #1 Nebraska, #6 Wisconsin, #10 Purdue, #14 Penn State, #15 Minnesota, #18 Indiana, #20 Oregon and #23 USC. UCLA, Michigan State and Washington were receiving votes in this week’s poll. Indiana and Oregon rose three spots and Purdue rose one spot in this week’s poll. Washington is receiving votes for the first time this season.
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Conference play begins this week. The Big Ten regular-season schedule features 17 matches in a single, round-robin format to account for the inaugural Big Ten Volleyball Tournament in November. Nebraska went 20-0 in 2025 to win its third-straight Big Ten Championship (co-champions with Penn State in 2024).
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Michigan State, Nebraska and Washington remain undefeated and are three of just seven teams nationally with a perfect record through four weeks of play. The Spartans finished the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 10-0 record for the second consecutive season and the first time since 1975-76. Nebraska seeks an 11-0 non-conference record, hosting Missouri on Wednesday evening before beginning conference play on Friday against Rutgers. Washington completed an unblemished non-conference record (9-0) for the second time in three years.
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Indiana finished non-conference play on a five-match winning streak. It’s the fifth-straight year that the Hoosiers will enter league play with at least seven wins.
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Iowa concluded its non-conference slate with an 11-3 record. It’s the Hawkeyes’ best start to a season since 2006 and most non-conference wins since 2006.
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The Terrapins have won nine straight matches heading into conference play after a trio of sweeps last weekend. Maryland swept their eighth straight opponent, a program record for consecutive three-set sweeps. Maryland’s 10-01 start to the 2026 campaign is the program’s best start to a season since 2021 (13-0).
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Purdue finished non-conference play with five straight-set wins. The 15 straight-set wins are the longest consecutive winning streak in nine years for the Boilermakers.
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UCLA has enjoyed a 9-2 start to the 2026 campaign, marking its best 11-game start to a season since 2021.
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Against No. 25 North Carolina last Friday, Nebraska finished with 13 service aces, the most for any team at the Bob Devaney Sports Center since moving to the arena in the 2013 season. It was the most aces in a match for the Huskers since tallying 14 against Alabama A&M in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament in 2005.
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USC’s Mia Tvrdy tied the Big Ten’s rally-scoring era record for blocks in a match with 16 (one solo) in a three-set win against UC Santa Barbara. Tvrdy was named the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Week.
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Washington’s Kaitlyn Nguyen tied the three-set Husky digs record in a Washington sweep of South Dakota last week. Nguyen had 26 digs, matching a mark set in 2008 by All-American Tama Miyashiro.
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Four Big Ten teams rank among the top 10 nationally in terms of opponent hitting percentage. Nebraska leads the nation, limiting opponents to a .087 hitting percentage, followed by Michigan State (3rd, .118), Washington (4th, .138) and Maryland (6th, .142). Offensively, Michigan State, Maryland and Nebraska are among the top 10 nationally in hitting percentage. The Spartans lead the country with a .345 team hitting efficiency, Maryland is second (.335) and Nebraska is 8th (.312).
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