Another week, another batch of dramatic matches and movement in the polls for the Big Ten teams. How did your team do? Read on to find out!

(All ranking numbers are from last week’s AVCA poll, published October 2, 2017, unless otherwise noted, as these were current at the time of the matches covered.)

Quick Hits

• The #7 Badgers had a heartbreaking few weeks. Since September 22nd, the Badgers have lost three five-set matches to ranked opponents: #14 Michigan State, #4 Nebraska, and #6 Minnesota. Over the weekend, the Spartans bested the Badgers again, this time in only four sets. There is still a lot of season left, but these were some big chances for the Badgers to move up the national rankings. Still, for a young team, I’m sure the experience will still be valuable.
• #14 Michigan State continues to prove it’s the real deal. Though they fell in their mid-week trip to Lincoln, they bounced back by beating the Badgers. The Spartans are playing several seniors, and their aggregate experience is showing.
• Maryland had a live DJ (no, not our writer) at their match with Rutgers, which is... a thing that happened. East Coast schools, man. Who knows. ;)
• Per bigten.org: “Based on average attendance, the Big Ten currently has five of the nation’s top 10 teams. Nebraska leads the nation, averaging 8,175 fans per contest, Wisconsin is third with 5,948, Minnesota is fourth at 4,812, Penn State is sixth with 3,334, while Illinois checks in at No. 7 with 3,311 patrons per contest. Michigan State (2,493), Purdue (2,019) and Michigan (1,858) round out the top-20 at No. 11, No. 16 and No. 19, respectively.” Great job supporting your teams, Big Ten fans! If you live anywhere near a Big Ten campus, make it a goal this season to go check out a game if you haven’t already.
• Last week saw Indiana and Rutgers locked in a battle to not be the last team in the conference to win a B1G-set. As you probably guessed, Rutgers walked away with the “honors” for this one, as Indiana won not just one, but three sets over the course of the week, and Rutgers... well, Rutgers is still trying.

Game Results

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Iowa 3 - #22 Michigan 1: This was a quality win for Iowa over then-#22 Michigan. Iowa made some strides last season in moving up the Big Ten pecking order, and this is another step on that path for the Hawkeyes.

#4 Nebraska 3 - #14 MSU 1: An exciting match in Lincoln that saw the home team victorious. As noted above, MSU is an experienced team, and also a very tall one. However, there is one exception—the freshman libero, Jamye Cox, and the Huskers picked on her for much of the night.

#6 Minnesota 3 - #7 Wisconsin 1

Friday, October 6, 2017

Maryland 3 - Rutgers 0: I actually watched some of this one for you guys. Rutgers looked better than I expected—they had leads in each set, but just couldn’t close it out.

#3 Penn State 3 - Ohio State 2: OSU took advantage of its home court in order to make this a match, though they came up short. Still, this shows they have the potential to perhaps make things interesting from time to time this season.

#18 Purdue 3- Illinois 0

Northwestern 3 - Indiana 2: Yay! Indiana won some sets!

Saturday, October 7, 2017

#6 Minnesota 3 - #22 Michigan 0: Thus ended a very disappointing weekend for the Wolverines.

#14 Michigan State 3 - #7 Wisconsin 1

#3 Penn State 3 - Maryland 0

OSU 3 - Rutgers 0

Illinois 3 - Indiana 1

#4 Nebraska 3 - Iowa 0

Sunday, October 8, 2017

#18 Purdue 3 - Northwestern 0: Purdue has been quietly putting together a solid season, and is currently in a three-way tie for second in the conference. They’ve not had a tough rotation of opponents, however—it will be interesting to see what they do as they enter a tougher portion of their schedule.

Next Serve

There are quite a few (five!) matches on TV this week—I give BTN a lot of crap for not airing volleyball, but they’ve done well this week, so take advantage of that!

Wednesday, October 11, 2017—Make some popcorn, settle in, and check out the excellent mid-week double-header that’s on TV!

Iowa at Indiana - 7:00 pm (ET)

Purdue at Minnesota - 7:00 pm — As mentioned above, here’s a chance for Purdue to show what they’ve got. (TELEVISED on BTN!)

Nebraska at Wisconsin - 9:00 pm — The Huskers travel to Madison to take on a Badger team that’s sick of close losses. Will that be enough to knock off the red-hot Huskers? You’ll want to watch this one. (TELEVISED on BTN!)

Friday, October 13, 2017

Michigan at Rutgers - 7:00 pm

MSU at PSU - 7:00 pm —This is a big one for MSU—they’ve impressed so far, and this is another huge opportunity to continue their surge. (TELEVISED on BTN!)

OSU at Illinois - 9:00 pm (TELEVISED on BTN!)

Maryland at Northwestern - 8:00 pm

Indiana at Wisconsin - 8:00 pm

Saturday, October 14, 2017

Michigan at PSU - 7:00 pm

Nebraska at Purdue - 7:00 pm

MSU at Rutgers - 7:00 pm

Maryland at Illinois - 8:00 pm

OSU at Northwestern - 8:00 pm

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Iowa at Minnesota - 5:00 pm (TELEVISED on BTN!)

Players of the Week - Week #7

Player of the Week: Haleigh Washington of Penn State repeats for the second straight week as POTW. Impressive! She had 20 kills against OSU.

DPOTW: Molly Lohman, Minnesota. Lohman is named DPOTW for the second time this season.

Setter of the Week: Samantha Seliger-Swenson of Minnesota averaged 12 assists a match in the Gophers’ pair of Top-25 victories, and collects this award for the third time this season.

Freshman of the Week: Jasmyn Martin of Minnesota. Hmmm, starting to see why Minny had a good week, huh? Martin had 17 kills against #7 Wisconsin.

National Rankings - Week #6, October 2, 2017

#2 Penn State (PW: 3)

#4 Nebraska (PW: 4)

#6 Minnesota (PW: 6)

#10 Michigan State (PW: 14)

#11 Wisconsin (PW: 7)

#16 Purdue (PW: 18)

RV: Michigan (PW: 22, 47) Illinois (10)

www.bigten.org