A Top-10 Battle Highlights This Week's Big Ten Volleyball Action
A Top-10 Battle Highlights This Week's Big Ten Volleyball Action
Only four weeks remain in the Big Ten women's volleyball regular season, and the stakes only get higher from here on out. This weekend, we've got top-10 matchups, a team on fire, a battle for the most digs per set, and a middle-of-the-pack face-off.
Only four weeks remain in the Big Ten women's volleyball regular season, and the stakes only get higher from here on out. This weekend, we've got top-10 matchups, a team on fire, a battle for the most digs per set, and a middle-of-the-pack face-off.
Maryland scored its first big-time Big Ten victory of the 2017 season on Sunday when it upset Purdue in five sets. This week, Maryland will hope to keep that momentum rolling, but the Terrapins have a tough couple of matches ahead of them as they travel to Minnesota on Friday and Wisconsin on Saturday.
With five in-conference wins, Maryland will at the very least match its best league record since joining the Big Ten prior to the 2014 season. The Terrapins are ranked 29th in the latest NCAA RPI list, and freshman Erika Pritchard leads the conference with 0.47 aces per set.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/TerpsVolleyball/status/925776583125880832" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Watch Maryland take on Minnesota Friday at 7 PM ET and Wisconsin Saturday at 8 PM ET.
Michigan State is getting ready for its penultimate meeting with a ranked opponent. On Wednesday, the Spartans will host No. 1 Penn State. In the first meeting between these two teams, Penn State won in four sets in Rec Hall.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/PennStateVBALL/status/919317837516328961" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Penn State holds a 43-7 lead in the head-to-head record between these two teams, and the Spartans haven't earned a victory over the Nittany Lions since 2013. Two current Michigan State players, redshirt seniors Megan Tompkins and Brooke Kranda, were on that team that pulled off the conference season opening upset of Penn State.
Watch Penn State's second match of the week, versus Rutgers Saturday at 7 PM ET, right here on FloVolleyball.
Iowa's junior libero Annika Olsen is holding down the top spot in the conference's dig per set category with 4.84, but Maryland's senior libero Kelsey Wicinski is not far behind at 4.78. With only 0.06 of a dig per set separating the two extraordinary defensive players, any small change in the numbers could result in a new category leader.
Watch Olsen and her Iowa squad in action versus Indiana on Friday and Purdue on Sunday. Wicinski and the Terrapins will take on Minnesota Friday and Wisconsin Saturday.
Illinois made a big statement over the weekend, pushing Minnesota to five sets, but with the loss the Fighting Illini's losing streak grew to three in a row and the team fell to 7-5 in conference competition. Illinois is now tied with Purdue for fifth place in the Big Ten standings.
The Illini will face Northwestern on Wednesday (and for a good laugh, check out the Spike Squad's tweets hyping up the match), and then take on Michigan on Saturday night. The Wolverines are tied for eighth in the Big Ten standings with a 5-7 conference record, but they recorded their best hitting percentage of the season (.465) in their sweep of Iowa last weekend. Senior middle blocker Claire Kieffer-Wright led the way with eight kills and one error on nine swings to hit .778.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/umichvball/status/924308465618751488" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Watch Episode One here.
Watch Episode One here.
1. All eyes on Maryland.
Maryland scored its first big-time Big Ten victory of the 2017 season on Sunday when it upset Purdue in five sets. This week, Maryland will hope to keep that momentum rolling, but the Terrapins have a tough couple of matches ahead of them as they travel to Minnesota on Friday and Wisconsin on Saturday.
With five in-conference wins, Maryland will at the very least match its best league record since joining the Big Ten prior to the 2014 season. The Terrapins are ranked 29th in the latest NCAA RPI list, and freshman Erika Pritchard leads the conference with 0.47 aces per set.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/TerpsVolleyball/status/925776583125880832" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Watch Maryland take on Minnesota Friday at 7 PM ET and Wisconsin Saturday at 8 PM ET.
2. A top-10 clash in East Lansing.
Michigan State is getting ready for its penultimate meeting with a ranked opponent. On Wednesday, the Spartans will host No. 1 Penn State. In the first meeting between these two teams, Penn State won in four sets in Rec Hall.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/PennStateVBALL/status/919317837516328961" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Penn State holds a 43-7 lead in the head-to-head record between these two teams, and the Spartans haven't earned a victory over the Nittany Lions since 2013. Two current Michigan State players, redshirt seniors Megan Tompkins and Brooke Kranda, were on that team that pulled off the conference season opening upset of Penn State.
Watch Penn State's second match of the week, versus Rutgers Saturday at 7 PM ET, right here on FloVolleyball.
3. The heated battle for the title of Big Ten's best digger continues.
Iowa's junior libero Annika Olsen is holding down the top spot in the conference's dig per set category with 4.84, but Maryland's senior libero Kelsey Wicinski is not far behind at 4.78. With only 0.06 of a dig per set separating the two extraordinary defensive players, any small change in the numbers could result in a new category leader.
Watch Olsen and her Iowa squad in action versus Indiana on Friday and Purdue on Sunday. Wicinski and the Terrapins will take on Minnesota Friday and Wisconsin Saturday.
4. Big Ten middle-dwellers face off.
Illinois made a big statement over the weekend, pushing Minnesota to five sets, but with the loss the Fighting Illini's losing streak grew to three in a row and the team fell to 7-5 in conference competition. Illinois is now tied with Purdue for fifth place in the Big Ten standings.
The Illini will face Northwestern on Wednesday (and for a good laugh, check out the Spike Squad's tweets hyping up the match), and then take on Michigan on Saturday night. The Wolverines are tied for eighth in the Big Ten standings with a 5-7 conference record, but they recorded their best hitting percentage of the season (.465) in their sweep of Iowa last weekend. Senior middle blocker Claire Kieffer-Wright led the way with eight kills and one error on nine swings to hit .778.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/umichvball/status/924308465618751488" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
See below for the complete schedule of Big Ten matches live on FloVolleyball this week.
| Date |
Visiting Team |
Home Team |
Site |
Time (ET) |
Live Stream |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 1, 2017 |
Rutgers |
Michigan |
Ann Arbor, MI |
7:00 PM |
WATCH LIVE |
| November 3, 2017 |
Maryland |
Minnesota |
Minneapolis, MN |
7:00 PM |
WATCH LIVE |
| November 3, 2017 |
Purdue |
Nebraska |
Lincoln, NE |
8:00 PM |
WATCH LIVE |
| November 3, 2017 |
Indiana |
Iowa |
Iowa City, IA |
8:00 PM |
WATCH LIVE |
| November 3, 2017 |
Ohio State |
Wisconsin |
Madison, WI |
8:00 PM |
WATCH LIVE |
| November 4, 2017 |
Rutgers |
Penn State |
University Park, PA |
7:00 PM |
WATCH LIVE |
| November 4, 2017 |
Indiana |
Nebraska |
Lincoln, NE |
8:00 PM |
WATCH LIVE |
| November 4, 2017 |
Maryland |
Wisconsin |
Madison, WI |
8:00 PM |
WATCH LIVE |
| November 4, 2017 |
Ohio State |
Minnesota |
Minneapolis, MN |
8:00 PM |
WATCH LIVE |
| November 4, 2017 |
Michigan State |
Northwestern |
Evanston, IL |
8:00 PM |
WATCH LIVE |
| November 5, 2017 |
Purdue |
Iowa |
Iowa City, IA |
3:00 PM |
WATCH LIVE |
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